Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How Do I Download the App?

No download or installation necessary, just go to http://app.headcount.io in Safari web browser on your iPhone or Chrome on Android / Windows / Mac
Also available on the Apple App Store and the Android Play Store.

What If The Power Goes Out?

If the power goes out and on-site systems are down, Headcount will still be fully operational since it operates from the cloud.

What If The Cell Towers Go Down?

If the cell towers go down and local WiFi is not working, you will still be able to account for people in-person and by scanning badges using Headcount.

The accountability process will be similar to paper rosters where a Group Leader will account for their people, then cross reference their roster with others to get the short list of people missing / in danger.

What If I’m Travelling, Working Remote, Working From Home, or On Vacation?

You can receive the email and SMS message and reply to it to mark yourself safe remotely

Your Group Leader will contact you, your manager, or your team to determine your location the best they can

Does Everyone Need to Download The App?

No. Group Leaders need the app to account for people, but your general population does not need the app, they just need to be registered in the system via an import by the Headcount import admin.

What If an Employee Doesn’t Have Their Phone?

They can be accounted for in-person or by badge scan at assembly point.

How Do You Get Data Into Headcount? How is employee data entered? Is there a mechanism for easily updating the app with employee information? How are new employees added and departing employees removed?

Low Tech Option: email an Excel spreadsheet to Headcount’s automatic importer email address

High Tech Option: sync people data in real-time and automatically from an HR, time management, access control, payroll, or visitor management system

What About Privacy?

Personal Identifiable Information (PII) is only used for the purpose of providing the emergency headcount process. No data is mined, sold, or marketed to. Specific details are in the privacy policy.

What happens if a Group Leader is out sick or on vacation - who accounts for their people?

Anyone with Group Leader permission to use the app can account for everyone in the emergency, regardless of assignment.

At which price point does single sign on (SSO) come into play? Is this supported across all your plans? Is there a cost associated with setting this up?

SSO counts as an integration. (See pricing plans for exact price)

What is your process for requesting/approving/administering and monitoring accounts and access privileges for our information?

You control who gets access through the Roles tab on the import spreadsheet

You can contact us about adding additional people allowed to import the spreadsheet - it is a whitelist

Physical security controls for environments housing our data?

We host our services on Microsoft Azure, which has multi-layered access control and physical security guards 24/7/365.

Third parties that may have access to our data?

SMS Provider - Twilio will only be processing mobile phone numbers and message contents to deliver SMS messages

Email Provider - MailGun will only be processing email address and email messages to deliver email messages

Security management policies?

We operate on a policy of "Least Privilege Access" with user actions, system accounts, and user interaction with data.

Who is the cyber security contact?

infosec@headcount.io

Backups and data archiving?

Our production (customer and operational) data is backed up in geo-redundant stores across the United States.

Our source code is backed up as part of the cloud service we use to host our source code repositories.

Business continuity plan?

We have geographically distributed data stores that are active/active or hot standby, should one of our data centers be affected by an outage.

Our app itself is resilient and stores local changes during an evacuation and where devices used for accounting for people have limited or no connectivity.

In the case of loss of operators at Headcount, we store and share data as much as possible.

We aim to be transparent in all of our actions and this extends to our operational philosophy.

Do you have any published SLAs?

Subscription Agreement

Is It Secure?

Absolutely. The software follows and exceeds many industry best practices. Headcount data is fully encrypted when being sent (“in motion”) and when being stored (“at rest”).

Encryption in transit and at rest?

Data in Transit: AES-256 encryption

Data at Rest: Transparent Data Encryption (TDE)

Can Headcount integrate with ____?

Yes, Headcount is built around an API and can integrate with any modern system
HRIS Examples:
- Workday
- ADP Workforce Now
- UKG Pro
- Ultipro
- BambooHR

Time Management Examples:
- Kronos (UKG Pro)
- Replicon
- Attendance On Demand
Access Control Examples:
- Lenel
- Genetec
- SiPass
- Brivo
Other Examples:
- Active Directory

What required data is needed in Headcount?

Name and Primary Structure are the only required fields

Optional, but recommended: mobile number, email, badge ID, who accounts for them in emergency

How are employees categorized by team/supervisor?

You can customize who is assigned to account for them (eg: in the Manager column of the import spreadsheet).

Note: everyone with the Group Leader role can account for anyone in the emergency regardless of assignment.

How does the "scanning in" feature work? Is it done with the phone camera or does it require a special device? Does this require a sticker or is this something we would have to be added to our employee badge so it is permanent and won't peel off?

You can scan your existing employee badges using our wireless badge scanners. No stickers, camera apps, or badge modifications needed.

What type of report is generated (ie Excel, PDF, etc)?

In app reports and downloadable Excel reports.

Is tiered reporting available so several levels of management can view results / communicate with emergency responders?

Yes, reports can be downloaded and sent to emergency responders during an emergency.

How do we go about customizing the email templates users receive in the event of an emergency?

Messaging templates can be customized in the Admin > Templates screen.

See the Admin Screen Training video for further details.

Can Headcount be used for non-emergency messaging like an emergency mass notification system for road closures, weather warnings, and work outages?

Headcount is concentrated on emergency scenarios. Several customers use it as a mass notification tool, but it is a workaround. After a little setup, you can use Headcount to send one-way and two-way messages outside of an emergency. Keep in mind Headcount doesn’t send live or recorded voice messages. It sends messages over SMS and email.

What is the purpose of the Photo URL in the import spreadsheet and what is the source of this information?

The Photo URL column of the Contacts tab in the import spreadsheet enables you to add photos to your contacts inside of Headcount. The source of these links should be from any publicly accessible photo URL. For example, someone's LinkedIn profile photo.

What is the purpose of the Keywords column in the import spreadsheet?

Keywords are for searching purposes inside Headcount during an emergency. For example, you can add the keyword ‘executives’ to all executive leadership contacts then search for 'executives' in a search box during an emergency to filter people by that keyword.

Do I need to complete the Backup column on the import spreadsheet?

No, you can ignore this column. Based on low usage of this feature, and the fact that anyone with the Group Leader role can account for anyone regardless of assignment, we have plans to sunset this feature.

Can more than one person start the same emergency event at the same time?

No. Only one emergency can be active for a given structure at any time. Once the first person starts an emergency, it becomes the active event for that structure and other users cannot start a second, separate emergency for it. Instead, they will see that an emergency is already in progress and can open the active event to participate.

Support

The Headcount support team is available to you via email at support@headcount.io

Expect a reply to your email within 24 hours.

If you need more immediate assistance, contact your Headcount rep directly.