Recorder setup

Before the kit arrives

Each recorder needs a few things ready before the setup call. Go through this list with the owner.

• They read the crew sheet and said yes. Recording is each person's choice.
• Every place they will record has a written OK. See the building letter.
• They have a personal email (Gmail, Yahoo, iCloud) that they can read on their own phone.
• They know the company's invite code. It comes from Colby or the owner, and the kit guide link can carry it.
• The setup call with Colby is booked. Recording starts after it.

Step 1: check the kit

• The iPhone, already set up by Colby. The passcode is on the kit sheet.
• The head strap with the phone clip.
• The battery pack.
• The Lightning charging cable.

If anything is missing, call or text Colby at (480) 542-7526 before the first shift.

Step 2: make the recording app account

1. Open the phone with the passcode, join Wi-Fi and open the recording app. Its buttons are in English.
2. On Time to login, tap Have an invite code? Create an account.
3. Enter your own personal email. Never a work or company email.
4. The app emails a code. Read it on your own phone, then type it into the kit phone.
5. Type the company's invite code in the Invite code box.
6. Tap Allow for the camera, motion and notifications. The app can't record without the camera.

Every 2 weeks the app emails a new code. The recorder reads it on their own phone and types it in. If no code arrives, they tap Didn't get a code?.

Step 3: put the phone on the strap

1. Wipe the camera lenses.
2. Open the clip's jaws and set the phone in sideways, screen up and cameras facing down.
3. Center it. The jaws must not cover the cameras or press the side buttons.
4. Tug it gently. It should not slide.
5. Look at the screen: the picture must be right side up before the strap goes on.

Step 4: battery pack and fit

1. Connect the battery pack to the phone with the Lightning cable.
2. Put the pack in a pocket and run the cable behind the ear, out of the picture.
3. Wear the strap like a headband, with the mount at the top of the forehead.
4. Pull it snug. Shake your head and bend over. If it slides, tighten it more.

Step 5: aim at the hands

1. Stand the way you work, hands out in front.
2. The phone sticks straight out from the forehead, like the brim of a cap.
3. Tip the front edge down until both hands are in the middle of the picture. Point it down at the hands, not forward.
4. Tighten the side screw so it holds that angle.

Step 6: the 10-second test

Record 10 seconds and look at it. Both hands should be in the middle of the picture, with the whole palm and all fingers in view.

Step 7: record

1. Open the recording app. On Tasks, tap the task that matches the crew's work. Cleaning tasks are marked Commercial Cleaning or Janitorial.
2. Tap start task. The camera opens.
3. Tap the red button to start recording, then do the work at a normal pace.
4. Tap the red button again to stop.
5. Each video runs 1 to 30 minutes. Stop before 30 minutes and start a new video of the same task.

Keep out of the picture

• Other people. If someone walks in, pause.
• Computer screens, phones and papers on desks.
• Restrooms with anyone else inside.
• Any room the building asked the crew to skip.

Not paid

• Hands out of the picture, dark or blurry video.
• Sitting still, or a phone left on the floor.
• Pretend work, like wiping a clean counter over and over.

Before every shift

• Phone charged.
• Battery pack charged.
• Lens clean.
• Strap snug, and the tape on the joint lines up.
• Room lights on.
• Both hands in the picture.

After every shift

1. Connect to Wi-Fi.
2. Upload the videos, and keep the app open until the uploads finish.
3. If the phone is full, upload first. Then record.

If a video gets feedback, fix it before recording more. A strap that slips and hands out of view are the usual first notes.

Troubleshooting

Recorders can call or text Colby at (480) 542-7526. The full guide with pictures is at the kit guide, in English and Spanish.

How you can help

• Send the owner the kit guide and the crew sheet before the kits arrive.
• Ask the owner, after the first shift, whether everyone uploaded and what the test videos looked like.
• When a video gets feedback, make sure the crew fixes it before the next shift, not after a week of the same problem.
• If nothing here solves it, have the recorder stop and contact Colby. A short pause costs less than a night of bad video.

Questions

Read next

• Phones and kitsWhat comes in a camera kit, how Colby sets up each phone, how kits ship, and what to do when a phone breaks, goes missing or changes hands.
• Camera setupHow a recorder puts the kit together and wears it so the camera sees both hands for the whole shift: clip, strap, angle, light, battery, storage and upload.
• What gets acceptedAn accepted hour is real work at a normal pace, filmed from the forehead with both hands in the middle of the picture, in good light, on an accepted task. Only accepted hours count, for the company and for your $2.00 per accepted hour.
• Helping crews improveYou can raise a company's accepted hours without seeing a single video: watch the numbers in your portal, call the owner early, send the crew sheet and the kit guide, and give one clear fix at a time.