SCRAM Optix

On June 6, 2024, SCRAM Systems will release three SCRAM TouchPoint Location feature enhancements:

1. The SCRAM Optix Location tab will display “Compliant” or “Non-Compliant” depending on the location service settings the client has chosen for the SCRAM TouchPoint Mobile app.
2. For clients on a Nexus Supervision Plan with Location Verification enabled, Location Records will now indicate whether the location record was captured before, during, or after the scheduled appointment.  
3. The TouchPoint Location Verification service may now be disabled at the client level for clients who do not need to report their location as part of their monitoring program.

	The latest version of the TouchPoint app will be available to clients in the app stores. As a best practice, SCRAM Systems recommends that all TouchPoint app users enable their smartphones to automatically update their apps to make this process easier.
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Compliant and Non-Compliant Smartphone Location Access

During a client’s TouchPoint monitoring program, you may now view in real-time whether or not the client has the SCRAM TouchPoint application’s location access permissions set to “Always Allow” the location data to be shared. The SCRAM TouchPoint Location tab will display “Compliant” when the client’s smartphone location permissions are set to Always Allow for the TouchPoint app, and will display “Non-Compliant” when the client has selected something other than Always Allow.

Additionally, when location services access is set to any option other than Always Allow, an event will be generated with a time and date stamp indicating when location services were disabled.

As soon as the client updates the location service settings on their smartphone to “Always Allow” location access, a new event will be generated with the updated “Compliant” status.

Android smartphones only: An event of Non-Compliant is reported within one minute of the change to the smartphone’s location service settings, however, the update from Non-Compliant to Compliant (location services enabled) may take up to 12 hours to be reported to the monitoring software.

Location Verification Notation “Prior to” and “After” an Appointment

For clients on a Nexus Supervision Plan with Location Verification enabled, when accessing the Location page, the “Time” column for an individual Location Record will now clearly indicate whether the location record was captured prior to, during, or after the scheduled appointment timeframe, thus aiding in interpreting the location data presented. 

When viewing the Location Record for a client’s appointment, the “Time” column displays “Prior to Appt.” for location points gathered before the appointment start time, and “After Appt.” for location points gathered after the appointment.

When there is no notation, the location points were captured within the appointment timeframe.

Disable Location Verification Services

Currently, any time the client restricts access to their smartphone’s location data, the SCRAM TouchPoint application prompts the client to allow access to this data by sending push notifications, a pop-up, and a red banner within the application itself. These notifications will continue until the client updates the application’s location permissions.  

With this update, you may disable the Location Verification feature on the client’s Profile page when it is not required for client monitoring. Once disabled, regardless of the smartphone location access settings, the client will no longer be prompted to share their smartphone’s location data. Additionally, the on-demand Locate Now feature will no longer be available.   

At 1:00 PM MDT today, March 21, 2024, SCRAM Systems^® will introduce a new Location Verification feature in the SCRAM Nexus^® caseload management system. Working in conjunction with the SCRAM TouchPoint™ client smartphone app, the Location Verification feature will provide officers, agents, and case managers with useful information regarding a client’s whereabouts during Supervised Appointment Activities.

This article is for Nexus/TouchPoint Administrators as well as Officers. If you are an Officer-only user, you may skip to the Officer process.

Enable Location Verification for Your TouchPoint Caseloads

Before the new Location Verification feature can be used, a Nexus/TouchPoint Administrator will need to enable the feature for your caseloads. As an Administrator:

Access the SCRAM Optix TouchPoint Facility:

Select the New Location Verification Tab:

Select the Caseload You Wish to Enable:

Enable Location Verification and Establish Settings:

Please see the corresponding numbered pointers in the image below.

1. Toggle the Caseload Status to Enabled. This will reveal the rest of the options.
2. Select Yes to enable Location Verification services for all client profiles in the Caseload. If No is selected, all clients will have Location Verification services disabled in their profiles and will have to be enabled individually.
3. Begin tracking the client’s smartphone location between 0 and 30 minutes (in five-minute increments) prior to the Supervised Appointment’s scheduled start time.
4. Continue tracking the client’s smartphone location between 0 and 30 minutes (in five-minute increments) after the Supervised Appointment’s scheduled end time.
5. Set the “Compliance Radius” for Supervised Appointment locations. This establishes the distance (200 to 500 feet in 100-foot increments) from the center of the verified location address within which the client will be considered at the address and in attendance at the appointment.

6. Set the frequency (every 1, 5, or 10 minutes) at which client smartphone location information should be collected.
7. Set the acceptable “Compliance Percentage.” The Compliance Percentage is the number of actual client smartphone location data points collected from within the Radius, divided by the number of location points expected during the Supervised Appointment time period.

Example: If we collect location points from the client’s smartphone every five minutes, and the client is scheduled for a 30-minute appointment, then we would expect to collect seven location points inside the Radius of the appointment address for the duration of the appointment. But, if the client runs late to the appointment, and the appointment ends early, then, even though the client was in compliance, we may only collect five out of the expected seven location points within the Radius, which is only 71% of the expected points. Keep this in mind when setting the Compliance Percentage.

8. Select Yes to apply these Location Verification settings to all clients in the Caseload.
9. Save the Location Verification settings.

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Enable Location Verification for Your SCRAM Nexus ‘Conditions’

The Location Verification feature is only available to Supervised Appointment Condition Types, however, the feature must be enabled for each Condition before it can be used. As an Administrator:

Access Admin > Settings > Conditions and Select the Condition to Enable:

Select ‘Edit’ on the Condition Details Page:

Scroll Down to the New ‘Location Verification’ Toggle

Select Enable and then Save Changes:

Your Condition is now enabled for Location Verification. Repeat the process for each Condition you wish to enable.

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Enable Location Verification for a Supervised Appointment Activity

The Location Verification feature is only available on Supervised Appointment Activity Types. Your SCRAM Nexus/TouchPoint Administrator must first enable Location Verification for your TouchPoint Caseloads, as well as enable it for the appropriate Supervised Appointment Activities.

Once enabled, when you Add or Edit a Supervised Appointment Activity, a new Location Verification toggle switch will be available to you. Simply Enable the feature for your Activity, select a verified Location where the appointment will take place, and proceed as normal:

After the Supervised Appointment

Once the scheduled appointment time has passed, you can check for compliance by accessing the the client’s History tab. Then select the Location button for an “at-a-glance” look at the client’s Supervised Appointment status and location. For detailed location information, select the Date/Time link for the appointment in which you are interested:

The Location section of the detail page provides a breakdown of the client’s appointment compliance status as calculated by collecting location points from the TouchPoint app on the client’s smartphone during the time of the appointment:

Scroll down the Location section to access the Compliant toggle switch, which allows you to override the automatic compliance calculation if needed:

Scroll further down the detail page to reveal the Map, which displays the location points collected during the Supervised Appointment Activity and where they fall within the location’s “Compliance Radius.” The Compliance Radius is the predefined distance (from 200 to 500 feet) from the center of the verified location address, within which the client is considered at the address and in attendance at the appointment:

Below the Map you will find the Location Record, which is a matrix of the location points displayed on the Map, including the date, time, and address from which each point was collected from the client’s TouchPoint smartphone app:

COMING SOON: An update scheduled for the near future will make the Location Information available on the Supervised Appointment Activity itself, as well as on the client’s History tab.