Employee tags comparison

Compare the different types of employee tags used for docking into TimeDock and their compatibility across devices.

Last updated - Feb 04, 2026 at 9:00AM

Key Fob

PVC fob with key ring for you to assign to employees yourself

Spare Swipe Card

Spare PVC swipe card for you to assign to employees yourself

QR Swipe Card

Printed and pre-assigned PVC employee swipe card

Self-Printed QR Swipe Card

Print swipe cards directly to your own paper or card printer

Tag preview

 TimeDock key fob TimeDock spare swipe card TimeDock QR swipe card Self-printed QR swipe card

Compatibility

TimeDock Machine

 ✔ ✔ ✔ ✘

Android App

 ✔✱ ✔✱ ✔ ✔

iOS App

 ✘ ✘ ✔ ✔

BYO Tablet

 ✘ ✘ ✔ ✔

Attributes

Printed name

 ✘ ✘ ✔ ✔

Printed photo

 ✘ ✘ ✔ ✔

Printed QR code

 ✘ ✘ ✔ ✔

NFC microchip

 ✔ ✔ ✔ ✘

Employee Assignment

Pre-assigned

 ✘✱✱ ✘ ✔ ✔

How to assign

Refer to: Programming tags

Refer to: Programming tags

N/A

N/A

Purchase

How to purchase

Order from your TimeDock dashboard: find out how

Order from your TimeDock dashboard: find out how

Order from your TimeDock dashboard: find out how

N/A

* NFC-enabled Android devices only. See Clocking in with NFC for Android for more information.

** Key fobs can be pre-assigned for selected orders.

Programming employee NFC tags

Key fobs and spare swipe cards are designed to be assigned to employees yourself, which means you can issue new or replacement tags to staff straight away, without the need to order from TimeDock.

Once a tag has been assigned to an employee, it cannot be re-assigned to a different employee. Please use a new tag for new employees.

Program NFC tags with a TimeDock machine

Tap a new (un-programmed) key fob or spare swipe card to your TimeDock machine, as if you were performing a normal dock IN/OUT. The machine will recognise the tag is unassigned and will prompt you to select an employee. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the programming. See Programming employee NFC tags with TimeTablet for more info.

Program NFC tags with a mobile device

You can use an NFC-enabled Android device, logged into the TimeDock mobile app as an Admin User to assign key fobs and spare swipe cards to employees. Open the TimeDock mobile app on an Android device, switch to NFC mode, and hold a new (un-programmed) key fob or spare swipe card to the back of the mobile device (or near where the NFC reader is located). Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the programming. See Programming employee NFC tags with TimeDock mobile app for more info.

See also