Want automated home/visiting teaching scheduler

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christopherlohman
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Joined: Wed Feb 06, 2013 6:20 pm

Want automated home/visiting teaching scheduler

#1

Post by christopherlohman »

We could sure use a home/visiting teaching system online. Features of it would be:

1: President assigns families.
2: I login and see the families assigned to me.
3: I indicate on a calendar which days I am available for home teaching.
4. I click a button to send a template home teaching visit request to the family. (or text message) Request includes a link back to the calendar. (Allow me to customize this with $variables$ from the portion of their records that I can see.
5: They click the link and choose a day from the calendar.
6: We both receive confirmation of the appointment.
7: We both receive reminders of the appointment.
8: Either party can cancel and request a reschedule.
9: After the visit, I login and indicate the visit is complete. We should have visit types such as face-to-face, spoke over phone, sent letter, etc.
10: The activity rolls up automatically to the EQ/RS Presidency. They should be able to see activity, such as when the last request was sent to a family, when/if family responded, when the assigned home teacher last logged in to use the tool, etc.

If we had this tool, then the online system could be sending notices to the home teachers, prompting them to go visit. It would increase accountability and serve as helpful reminders to us. This would be very helpful to the Church community.

According to the following Deseret News article, someone has started doing this: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/8656 ... tml?pg=all . How about contacting "Dax Castro of West Sacramento, California" and bringing in his tech.
jdlessley
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Re: Want automated home/visiting teaching scheduler

#2

Post by jdlessley »

christopherlohman wrote:We could sure use a home/visiting teaching system online.
HT/VT is coming for leaders to Leader and Clerk Resources in the first quarter 2015. However it is not anywhere what you and many others have been asking for since 2006.
christopherlohman wrote:If we had this tool ...
Others have taken the matter into there own hands in the past, much like Dax Castro in the site you linked to. Unfortunately there are many issues that do not permit all the features Dax or you want. Some of those limiting issues are privacy, security of personal information, and data sourcing from Church records.

Of the programs written in the past there is one that has survived to today in a modified form. It was modified to comply with Church requests to remove certain features as well as restrict data sourcing. That program is found on Return and Report.org. While I don't endorse Return and Report, you can get an idea of what has been done. You can also read many threads in these forums discussing HT/VT applications and the efforts others have made in creating and using them.
JD Lessley
Have you tried finding your answer on the ChurchofJesusChrist.org Help Center or Tech Wiki?
bthigpen
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Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2015 12:45 pm

Re: Want automated home/visiting teaching scheduler

#3

Post by bthigpen »

Another option would be to simply see who the home/visiting teachers are for my family and to be able to view the families/companion assigned to my family.

The scheduler would definitely be a nice tool.
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sbradshaw
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Re: Want automated home/visiting teaching scheduler

#4

Post by sbradshaw »

Most of these ideas are good, but I don't think the "home teaching visit request" is a good idea. It would work great for some people (especially the active members who home teach and accept home teachers every month), but to others (especially struggling members) it will be too robotic and could be seen as offensive.
Samuel Bradshaw • If you desire to serve God, you are called to the work.
moonman239
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Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2012 7:25 pm

Re: Want automated home/visiting teaching scheduler

#5

Post by moonman239 »

At the very least, it'd be nice if I could log in and see who I'm home teaching, who's my companion, and who's home teaching me.

As for invites, iCloud and Google Calendar allow you to add invitees.

Edit: Here's how to send & accept invites from an iPhone or iPad. Look's like invites appear in the Calendar app, though GCal may still send email invites:

http://www.imore.com/how-send-calendar- ... ne-or-ipad
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