GEOFENCE: THE BASICS
Geofence can be used for many different purposes related to your Mobile application! You may look to use geofencing for a) allowing fans to check-in when they are at your venue(s) b) sending them push notifications when they have entered the geofence or c) automatically checking them in for an event or membership points. A geofence can really be used for anything that you would use an audience for!
Before using Geofence, here are a few things to consider:
Fans/Patrons must agree to share their location services: fans must have location services turned on and allowed the app access to their location
You do have the ability to adjust the venue’s radius
Communications can be sent to fans entering the geofence, but cannot be sent to fan’s leaving a geofenced area
Devices must have strong data signal
There are a few configuration steps to consider when preparing to use the mobile geofence. Work with your Client Success Team to walk you through your configuration options; here are the decisions you will need to land on:
3 configurable options related to Geofence:
# hours before start of event: This configuration decision determines how long before an event start time that fans can check in.
Auto Check-In: Checking in can be done manually or automatically. If this feature is enabled, a fan can be automatically checked in when he/she/they enter a geofence area. Fans must be sharing their location in order for Auto Check-Ins to work. When a fan checks-in for the first time, they are prompted to enable auto check-in. This can also be adjusted by the fan on the settings (gear icon) page. Auto check-in will occur when a fan crosses the geofence tied to an event during the pre-check-in time.
Check-In Requires Geofence: Once you have configured an event to have a geofence associated with it, you have the ability to decide if checking-in requires a fan to be in the geofence or not. This is an on (required) /off (not required) configuration. If this configuration is off, fans can check in and not actually be at an event. If fans had selected to NEVER share their location, and this is on - fans would not be allowed to check in.
There are a few rules that must apply for a fan to be able to check in:
There must be an event configured for fans/patrons to check-in to
The event has a geofence/ location configured on the event
Check-in time is within the allowed pre-check-in time. This defaults to 0 hours, but can be configured differently
Setting hoursBeforeStart = 2 will allow fans to check-in 2 hours before the event start
Fan is within the geofence
During check-in, the fan's location is validated against the event's geofence to ensure they are actually at the event
This requires the fan to enable location within the app
If you are wanting to set up comm to be sent based off of a fan/patron entering the geofence, please check out the Knowledge Center post here: Geofence Communications
For any further questions regarding the geofence configuration or set up, please work with your client success team or log a ticket to support@fanthreesixty.com.