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Release Spotlight - October 17, 2023
Child Care Seer Release Spotlight
October 17, 2023
On October 17, 2023, Child Care Seer® will release our latest upgrade. You’ll find many exciting new features and updates including admission forms, expanded documents capabilities (including signatures), new Family Connection features, and much more! Keep reading for more information on everything that is included.
Admission Forms
We are happy to introduce a brand-new feature--Admission Forms. Designed to assist with collecting information during first contact with a family, you can send an admission form directly to a new prospect or put a link on your website so that anyone may express interest in your center. Families will receive a mobile-friendly admission form which collects basic child and guardian information, as well as details about services of interest.
Found on the Requests page (available on your Dashboard), the new Admissions tab helps you track all incoming forms from those interested in enrollment or any other service you might offer. When a family is a good fit for your center, easily add their information to Child Care Seer and send invitations to create a Seer account with just a few clicks.
Please note, in order to make room for Admissions, we’ve combined several tabs used to track Requests for service into “Bookings”. Learn more about Admission Forms here.
Documents, Documents, Documents
We all know that documentation makes (or breaks) any childcare center, but sometimes keeping track of all that paperwork turns into another full-time job! A large focus of our latest release helps our customers use Child Care Seer to distribute, track, and easily update all the documents in your center!
Class & Center Documents
In addition to documents on children, staff, and adults, we’ve added a Documents tab to each Class and also the Center (on your Dashboard). Not only can you store documents in these new locations, but you can also share them with staff and families, giving them access to important documentation, such as policies and handbooks, right on their Seer mobile app! We’ve also made documents available on classroom devices, allowing your teachers to view them when needed.
As with all of our document locations, files of any type may be stored, which allows you to simply take a photo of any paper copy and store it electronically in Child Care Seer. We’ve also added privacy settings for documents to help manage access to all your information.
Documents and Messaging Connected
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could easily save the latest immunization chart sent by a parent via Seer’s Inbox to the child’s profile page? Now you can! Simply click the three-dot action menu next to the document in the message and save it to anyone connected to the account. We’ve also added the ability to attach documents already in Seer to outgoing messages. You’ll find this new option when you click the button to Browse for a file when creating an outgoing message.
Collect and Track Signatures for Documents
New in this release, any document stored in Seer can be designated as “Signature Required”. After making this designation, easily send a Request for Signature to families and/or staff. This option will send a message via Seer’s Inbox and allow parties to sign right in the app! We’ll track who signed and when, as well as keep a running list of who still needs to sign each and every document. We’ll even let admin staff make a note when someone refuses to sign or manually signs a document at the center! After you’ve collected all signatures, easily export a summary report of all the details to keep in your paper files. Learn more about this exciting new feature here!
Upload New Versions
In our own centers, we’ve found that keeping track of the latest version of our most important documents is difficult if not impossible! Just when we think all parents have signed the latest version of our family handbook, it’s time to make another update! New in this release, Child Care Seer will help you make sure everyone literally on the same page by making sure your latest document version is the one that everyone is actually reading!
Whenever it’s time to make an update, simply visit the document location and select “Upload New Version”. Families and staff will automatically see only the newest version, and, if the document is marked Signature Required, be requested to sign the new version as well! Admin staff will still have access to older versions, as well as signature histories for those documents.
There is no way for me to include all the details of our new Document Management features, so be sure to check out our Knowledge Base for details and step-by-step instructions, or reach out via the Help Button!
Family Connection Features
Check-in/out from Class Device
New in this release, teachers can check-in or check-out students from the Class Device. Visit Devices & Kiosk in My Center settings to enable this new feature. Students may be checked-in individually via the Upcoming tab, or select several children using the option on the +Create menu.
Activity & Menu Previews
Now on the Upcoming tab of the class device, teachers may preview all Activities and Meals planned for their classroom today. In addition to looking at what's coming up next, teachers may easily add an entry for daily journals right from the preview screen.
Tummy Time
We’ve added Tummy Time as an individual entry for our youngest friends. Simply click the +Create button to start and stop Tummy Time and automatically include this information in the child’s Daily Journal. Do you want to “turn off” Tummy Time for devices in older classrooms? As with all entry types, this can be adjusted via “Customize Entries” on the action menu of the Class.
Class and Center Photo Gallery
Along with the Gallery feature in the new parent mobile experience, we’ve also added a Gallery to the Family Connection tab on each class as well as the whole center. Next time you need a great picture for this month’s newsletter or your Facebook page, simply go to the gallery and download a cute photo of any recent classroom activity.
Kiosk Enforcement
Are you tired of receiving licensing violations for missing paperwork or expired staff certifications? We are too! Now, let Child Care Seer help make sure everything is up to date no matter when the inspector arrives.
Over the past several months, we’ve released Immunizations and Certifications tracking, and new in this release Document and Signature tracking. Now, let the Child Care Seer Kiosk do the work for you! Simply visit My Center to set your kiosk to block check-in for unpaid bills, overdue immunizations, expired certifications, missing signatures and more! We’ll start reminding your parents and staff several days before check-in is blocked to give them plenty of time to catch up on these often-forgotten items.
Please note, only check-in at the kiosk and/or class device will be affected. Check-in is always available via the Dashboard by qualified staff members.
Mobile app updates
Following several months of collecting and implementing user feedback, we are happy to move all families to our new Child Care Seer mobile experience! (Please note, updates will appear in the app stores a few days following software release.)
We’ve moved several more common system notifications to the adult mobile feed, including document and immunization expirations warnings, service request approvals, and failed auto-payment notifications. Child Care Seer keeps your parents informed so you can spend time caring for their children instead of making phone calls!
Did you know you can enter your food menu into Seer, save time recording lunch in Family Connection, and give parents access to this information at any time? Now we’ve made it even easier for parents to find out what’s for lunch tomorrow! Simply log into the Child Care Seer app and select Meals on the home screen or the blue “+” menu.
Send Staff Home
Do you find it tedious to ask for a volunteer to go home early several days a week when your attendance is low? How long does it take to complete this task? Do you feel bad asking the same teachers, or feel guilty for taking away hours?
Child Care Seer is here to help! Check out our brand-new Send Staff Home feature, found on the Actions menu on your Dashboard. We’ll tell you which teachers are available, what time they were scheduled to leave, and even how many hours they are projected to work this week. All you’ve got to do is select teachers and send the offer to go home. A banner will appear on active classroom devices, giving those selected the opportunity to respond quickly. Your dashboard will report responses, as well as what order answers come in. All you’ve got to do is make an informed decision and keep greeting families as they come to pick up! Click here to learn more! (Please note, regardless of their response, Child Care Seer does not automatically clock out any staff member.)
New Reports
Children’s Weekly Roster
Requested by several customers who previously used a competing product, the Children’s Weekly Roster can now be found on the Class detail page. Look ahead for the whole week to see which children are expected along with totals for each day. We’ve also included space to record check-in/out times and/or parent initials, or for whatever you’d like!
Incident Summary Reporting
We’ve added several new fields to the Incident Report (available in Family Connection), and we’ve also added a roll-up report that allows you to view all reported incidents over any selected time period. Export a summary of all incidents, or even export all the detailed reports for the month to include in your paper files.
Waived & Voided
Found on the Finance reports page, the new Waived and Voided reports will help you keep track of how much money you didn’t collect.
New in this release, we’ve removed “Skip” but added “Waive this charge” and a spot to leave an explanation to the check-out screen that suggests charges for late pick-up. Also, in addition to Void, staff with sufficient permission may Waive a charge via the Services page.
At the end of the financial period, you’ll want to check out the Waived and Voided reports to see exactly which charges were removed from accounts along with any comments included.
Other Things You’ll Notice...
Current Services tab removed
Did you ever wonder what the difference was between Services and Current Services? We did too! As a result, we’ve merged these two tabs on the child page, simply labeled “Services”. Don’t worry, all the features available from both tabs remain.
See All Messages
Now you can view the history of communication via Inbox for any adult! Maybe today’s message references one from last week – simply select “See All Messages” from the action menu to quickly find the one you’re looking for. Thank you to Tom, an owner in VA, for this idea to make his job easier!
Added gender, schools attended, proof of birth, employment info on adult
To be more license compliant, we’ve added sections to the child profile page for child gender, previous schools attended, proof of birth records, and employment info for related adults.
“Post” schedule sends message to employees
Child Care Seer no longer automatically sends emails to staff each time you update the schedule. Now you can work on the schedule for next week and notify all staff only when it’s finished! When you’re ready, click Post to send and Inbox message to staff, be sure to mark it important if you’d also like to send an email. Only need to update one person’s schedule? Simply select only that person when you click Post.
New Relation: Doctor
We’ve added "Doctor” as a relationship option. Look for this option when you add an adult in the family section of a child’s profile page.
One Kiosk Pin
This update is for all your staff members who are also parents. Starting in this release, use one kiosk pin to check in your child and also clock in for work! No more remembering two different numbers for your Seer accounts!
In addition, we’ve added the ability for center managers to select a pin number for any staff or adult. Do you have staff that work in multiple centers? We recommend selecting the same pin number for all locations, then they only need one number no matter where they are working today!
Certifications & Immunizations warnings updated
Look for the new settings in My Center Certifications and Immunizations to only warn about expiration dates for staff and children scheduled to be in the center. Thank you to our friends at Callahan Learning Center for this suggestion! Find more information about immunization and certification tracking in our Knowledge Base.
