How do I create offline profiles in my database?
Overview
An offline profile is a record you create and maintain yourself, for somebody who does not have a Vome account. You can assign them opportunities and shifts and record their hours exactly as you would anybody else.
They exist because plenty of the people you work with will never sign up, and your records should not have holes where those people are.
1. What is the difference between an offline profile and a Vome User?
Who maintains the record, and whether the person can be reached in the product.
- Vome User: they have an account, they log in, they see their own shifts and hours, they get notifications, and they can be in chatrooms.
- Offline profile: you hold the record on their behalf. Everything happens through you.
An offline profile is a real profile in every way that matters for your reporting. It is not a lesser record, it is an unclaimed one.
2. How do I create one?
- Go to Database in the left-hand navigation.
- Click Create profiles at the top right.
- Choose Single profile to add one person, or Mass import to bring in a spreadsheet.
A first name and a last name are all you strictly need.
3. Does an offline profile need an email address?
No, and you should not invent one.
If the person has no email address, select This profile does not have an email address. The profile is created and works normally.
An email address is only genuinely required if you want to invite that person to claim a Vome account, since the invitation has to go somewhere.
4. What can I do with an offline profile?
Nearly everything you can do with a Vome User, as long as you are the one doing it. From their profile you can:
- Assign opportunities
- Assign shifts
- Apply profile tags
- Record hours
Their hours and attendance count in your reports the same as anybody else's.
5. What will an offline profile never get?
Anything that depends on somebody being logged in. Worth knowing before you rely on it:
- Chatrooms. Only Vome Users are in them, so a call-out or reminder posted in a chatroom will not reach an offline profile.
- Shift cancellations. When you cancel a shift, offline profile attendees are not notified.
- Self-service. They cannot reserve their own shifts, claim their own hours, or check themselves in from the app.
Email is the exception. Where an offline profile does have an email address, shift call-outs and reminders can be sent to them, and you choose whether to email Vome Users, offline profiles, or both.
6. Can they check in on the day?
Yes, on a kiosk. An Attendance Kiosk works for anyone who turns up, with or without a Vome account, which is exactly why it exists. The Attendance QR code is the one that does not work for them, because scanning it requires the mobile app and an account.
7. What happens when they do join Vome?
You invite them to claim the profile you already built, rather than starting a new one.
You are offered this when you create or import the profile, and you can decline it then and send it later from the Database. Once they claim the account, the record becomes a Vome User and keeps its history, so their past shifts and hours are there waiting for them.
If they registered separately and you have ended up with two records for one person, merge them rather than deleting either.
Summary
- An offline profile is a full profile that you maintain for somebody with no Vome account.
- Create one from Database, Create profiles, then Single profile or Mass import.
- First and last name are required. Email is not. Select "This profile does not have an email address" instead of inventing one.
- You can assign opportunities, shifts and tags, and record hours.
- They are excluded from chatrooms and get no cancellation notices. Email reaches them only if they have an address.
- A kiosk works for them. The Attendance QR code does not.
- Invite them to claim the profile when they are ready, and the history carries over.