When prospects ask us who our biggest competitor is and we reply, “It’s the Dixon Ticonderoga Company,” most look completely befuddled. They’ll realize a short time later it’s a half-joke. But there’s a certain element of truth to it when you think about how many jails and prisons today rely on a shift logbook.
For Boomers and Generation X, there’s no doubt you’ve used shift logbooks and sheet logs for a substantial portion of your career. And you probably have the calluses on your fingers to show it.
So, how can Command Cloud help replace your shift logbook once and for all? In this blog, we’ll discuss:
A shift logbook is a record kept by employees working in shifts. It’s where they document important information about their work during their shift, including ongoing tasks, issues encountered, equipment status, and any critical details that need to be communicated to the next incoming shift. A shift logbook essentially serves as a handover log to ensure a smooth transition between shifts.
Every facility using shift logbooks, particularly paper-based ones, encounters challenges that can lead to safety risks and operational inefficiencies, including:
Imagine this - at the end of a long shift, you’re jotting down your notes in a worn-out paper shift logbook. In the rush of shift change, the ink on pages gets smudged. Because of this, and without you realizing it, an important detail you just noted gets overlooked by the next officer on duty. Now, this crucial context creates potential security risks.
Would this have happened if your team didn’t rely on paper-based shift logbooks? The answer is, probably not.
Correctional officers are entrusted with the care, custody, and control of every individual within their facility. Thus, they need reliable tools for maintaining efficiency, security, and accuracy in their daily operations.
Digital shift logbooks offer a modern solution to many of the pervasive shortcomings of traditional paper shift logbooks by providing a secure, efficient, and easily accessible way to document and share information. The most notable improvements in transitioning from paper shift logbooks to digital logbooks include:
Ultimately, transitioning from paper-based logbooks to digital shift logbooks leads to a more organized, efficient, and secure method of record-keeping, benefiting both correctional staff and facility operations.
Most shift logbooks are used to manually document a wide range of facility operations, many of which, however, are not related to inmate activities. Some of the most common ways shift logbooks are used today include documenting items such as:
Digital logbooks automate all manual entries. Mobile Command XR, for example, automates more than 95% of all shift logbook activities through what we call the “Core Six” modules. These are:
The advantage of using a mobile inmate tracking system, such as Command Cloud, is that every officer holding a mobile device, such as a SPARTAN, is effectively holding a digital logbook of sorts. You’ve now immediately decentralized your logging activities rather than everyone coming to one central location, such as an old-fashioned shift paper logbook.
But how do you log the other 5% of activities that don’t pertain to inmates? How can Command Cloud help? There are several options.
The first one is creating one-time and scheduled tasks. If you’re using (or thinking about using) Command Cloud’s task management system, this can easily capture the remaining activities you may be capturing in your logbook. Tasks can be assigned to a location, such as a housing unit, and an on-shift officer.
With task management, officers can create and visualize the status of a task from any device. You are empowered to update the task, as well as have multiple collaborators providing comments on a task.
Another option is to create a custom module, which we call a workflow module. This module could be called “Daily Log,” which is accessible from Mobile Command XR. This Daily Log can be used in multiple areas, such as housing units and booking. You can also assign a Hard Tag to the Daily Log, so that whenever an officer in that area scans your Daily Log Hard Tag, your staff can use custom WordBlocks associated to this new “Daily Log” workflow.
Each WordBlock is associated with various tasks your officers must log or perform throughout the day. Because there are no inmates associated with the Hard Tag, the location is what retains the information, much like an officer's logbook. For example, you can use the Daily Log to capture:
With the flexibility of creating unlimited WordBlocks, you can effectively create virtually any task that staff need to perform. Staff can also use the talk-to-text feature on their SPARTAN to supplement their Daily Log activity at the point of responsibility.
Plus, if there were ever a future dispute over anything that might have been captured on your Daily Log, you can build a custom report over any date range you choose and filter for specific WordBlocks or activities. Additionally, WordBlocks can capture images and video to enhance record-keeping, communication, and most importantly, defensibility.
The Daily Logbook is a critical artifact. It’s a legal record that can be subpoenaed. Every activity should be recorded chronologically and thoroughly as they occur. When you rely too heavily on manual, paper-based logbooks, you’re creating a difficult circumstance for staff to log important information as it occurs – and undoubtedly – staff will struggle to log with the consistency and thoroughness you expect of them.
By replacing paper-based logs with a digital system, correctional facilities can improve accuracy, enhance communication, and ensure vital information is always available when it’s needed most.