What gets accepted
An 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.
On this page
The short answer
Every video a crew uploads is reviewed before its hours count. Hours that pass are accepted hours. They are what Colby pays the company for, and you earn $2.00 for every accepted hour your companies record. Hours that are turned down count for nobody: not the company, and not you.
A video is accepted when, for most of its length:
- The phone is on the head strap at the forehead, tipped down. Never on the chest, neck or belt, and never set down.
- Both hands are in the middle of the picture, with the palms and fingers showing when the recorder holds something.
- The work fills the frame: the counter, shelf, part, floor or board being worked on, with some space around it.
- The light is good enough to see the work clearly.
- The view is steady and the picture is upright.
- The work is real work that needs doing, at the recorder's normal pace.
- The task picked in the recording app matches the work on screen.
- No other people, screens, papers or private places are in view.
What the camera should see
Think of what the recorder sees when they look down at their own hands. The camera sits at the top of the forehead and tips down, so the hands and forearms sit in the lower middle of most of the video. The recorder's body, legs or shoes often show at the bottom edge. That is expected.
What fills the rest of the picture depends on the work:
| Kind of work | What a good picture shows |
|---|---|
| Cleaning | Both hands, a cloth, spray bottle or mop handle, and the counter, sink or floor being cleaned. |
| Kitchens | Both hands, the knife or spatula, and the board, pot or counter in front of the recorder. |
| Stores and warehouses | Both hands, the box cutter, scanner or box, and the shelf, pallet or tote. |
| Factories and workshops | Both hands, the hand tool or part, and the bench or machine. |
| Building trades and repair | Both hands, the tool, and the piece being cut, fastened or fixed, all in view. |
The camera does not scan the room. A video that shows the room, a hallway, the ceiling lights or a long row of equipment, with the hands only now and then, is the most common reason hours are turned down.
Accepted and not accepted, side by side
| Check | Accepted | Not accepted |
|---|---|---|
| Where the phone is | On the head strap at the top of the forehead, tipped down | On the chest, neck or belt; set on the floor, a cart or a shelf |
| Hands | Both hands in the middle most of the time, palms and fingers showing | Cut off at the wrists, stuck at the edge, or missing for long stretches |
| Aim | Down at the work | Ahead at the room, up at the ceiling, or only at the feet and floor |
| Light | Lights on and the work easy to see | Too dark to see the work, or dark for part of the video |
| Steadiness | Strap snug and the view stays put | The view drifts as the strap slips, or heavy blur from a loose clip |
| Picture | Upright, with the floor at the bottom | Sideways or upside down, above all when the hands are also missing |
| Work | Real work that needs doing, at a normal pace | Wiping a clean surface again, slowing down, sitting idle, driving, breaks |
| Task | The task picked matches the work | A task for one kind of work while the video shows another |
| What else is in view | Hands, tools and the work | Other people, screens, papers, a restroom with someone inside |
Accepted tasks, and picking the right one
The work has to be on the list of accepted tasks: 32 industries, from janitorial work and kitchens to warehouses, building trades and repair. A crew can only record work on that list.
In the recording app, the recorder taps the task that matches the crew's work before starting. The task is the label on the video, and the teams who use it rely on that label. A video whose work does not match its task is turned down, even when the camera work is perfect.
How long a video runs
- Each video runs from 1 to 30 minutes.
- For longer work, the recorder stops before 30 minutes and starts a new video of the same task.
- Accepted time adds up across videos. Part of an hour counts as part of an hour.
What review checks, and what it does not
Review looks at the video itself: where the camera was, whether the hands are in view, the light, whether the work is real and whether it matches the task. Some of these rules come straight from the AI and robot teams who use the video. Head mounting is one of them: those teams treat video from a chest or neck camera as unusable.
Review does not grade the worker. Nobody times the crew or rates how well the work is done. Say this plainly to owners and crews. A crew that thinks it is being graded tends to slow down to look careful, and slowing down is one of the things that gets video turned down.
Hours show as in review until the review finishes. Review is not instant, and a recorder's videos are often decided together, so hours can move from in review to accepted or rejected in a block. The owner's portal shows recorded hours before review, so the final count can be lower. Plan on accepted hours only.
Three habits that prevent most rejections
Rejected videos tend to come in runs: one recorder, one setup mistake, a whole shift. Three habits stop most of those runs before they start:
- Run the 10-second test before the first video of the shift: record 10 seconds, watch it back, fix the angle.
- Check the picture again after every break and every time the phone comes out of the clip.
- Stop recording when the work stops, and start a new video when it starts again.
The full setup and the test are on Camera setup. Each reason hours get turned down, with its fix, is on Why hours get rejected.
Questions
Does the quality of the work matter?
Not the way a supervisor would judge it. Review checks the video: hands, aim, light, real work and the right task. It does not rate how fast or how well anyone works.
Are recorded hours and accepted hours the same?
No. The owner's portal shows recorded hours before review, and the final count can be lower. The company's pay and your earnings both use accepted hours.
How much of a video has to show the hands?
Most of it. When Colby checks a video, it looks at moments spread across the whole length. A video where the hands show in only a few of those moments is the clearest sign it will be turned down.
Can a crew record in its own shop or yard?
Yes, if the work is an accepted task and the company has a written OK for that place, the same as any other site. See Privacy and keep-out.
Is a recorder's body in the picture a problem?
No. Forearms, legs or shoes at the bottom edge are normal when the camera is tipped down. A shirt or body filling the view is a problem, and usually means the phone is too low or on the chest.