Setup & How-To Guide
Get your team running on GatherSafe
A step-by-step walkthrough for security directors and team members. From creating your organization to your first encrypted PTT broadcast, with everything in between.
Before You Start
What you'll need
A short checklist so the rest of setup goes quickly. Most teams have everything they need already.
For the admin
- An email address for your account
- The name of your church or organization
- A list of your security teams (parking, lobby, medical, etc.)
- Names and emails (or phone numbers) for each volunteer
- Optional: Planning Center credentials if you want to sync rosters
For each team member
- iPhone (iOS 16+) or Android (Android 10+)
- The 6-digit invite code from your admin
- Permission to install apps on the device
- Optional: A Bluetooth PTT button (Retevis, Baofeng BT-PTT, or any BLE HID accessory)
Part 1
Admin setup
Done by one person, usually the security director. Takes about 20 minutes.
Create your admin account and organization
Go to gathersafeapp.com/admin and click Create account. Enter your name, email, and a strong password.
After verifying your email, you'll be prompted to create your organization. This is usually your church or campus name (e.g. "Grace Community Church").
Tip: The organization name appears at the top of the app for every member. Keep it short and recognizable.
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Admin web console — Create Organization screen
admin-create-org.pngBuild your team hierarchy
Open Groups → Create lead group. Name it something like "Security Lead" or "Command." Lead group members see and hear every sub-team simultaneously.
Then create sub-groups for each area. Common patterns:
- Parking Team
- Interior / Lobby
- Children's Wing
- Medical Response
- Greeters
Sub-groups are isolated from each other. Only the lead group bridges them.
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Admin web console — Group hierarchy editor
admin-group-hierarchy.pngInvite your team
For each group, click Invite members. You can:
- Paste a list of emails or phone numbers (one per line)
- Or generate a single 6-digit invite code and share it on a printed sheet at your next team meeting
Set each member's role: Admin (can manage groups), Lead (can broadcast to all sub-groups), or Member.
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Admin web console — Invite members modal
admin-invite-members.pngConnect Planning Center (optional)
If you use Planning Center for volunteer scheduling, GatherSafe can sync your rosters automatically. This is an $8/month add-on.
Open Settings → Integrations → Planning Center and click Connect. Sign in with your Planning Center admin account, then map each Planning Center team to a GatherSafe sub-group.
After connecting, scheduled volunteers are added to the right groups automatically each Sunday.
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Admin web console — Planning Center integration
admin-pco-connect.pngPart 2
Member onboarding
What each volunteer does on their phone. Takes about 5 minutes per person.
Install the GatherSafe app
Download GatherSafe from the App Store (iOS) or Google Play Store (Android). Search "GatherSafe" or scan the QR code your admin sent.
The app is free to install. Active service requires an organization invite from your security director.
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App Store / Play Store — GatherSafe listing
app-store-listing.pngSign in with your invite code
Open the app and tap Join with invite code. Enter the 6-digit code from your admin, your name, and a password.
If you received an email or SMS invite link, tapping it opens the app and pre-fills the code automatically.
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Mobile app — Invite code entry screen
app-signin-invite.pngSet up your device lock
Choose a 6-digit PIN. If your phone supports Face ID or fingerprint, you'll be asked to enable biometric unlock too.
The app locks automatically after 5 minutes of inactivity (configurable in Settings). Encrypted message contents stay locked behind your PIN even if someone takes your phone.
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Mobile app — PIN and biometric setup
app-pin-setup.pngGrant permissions
The app will request a few permissions. Each is required for a specific feature:
- Microphone — for push-to-talk voice
- Notifications — for alerts and messages when the app is closed
- Location (always) — for the team map and panic alert GPS
- Bluetooth — only if you plan to use a hardware PTT button
You can change any permission later in your phone's Settings app.
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Mobile app — Permission prompts (mic, location, notifications)
app-permissions.pngApp Tour
The five tabs at the bottom
A quick visual orientation before we dig into individual features.
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Home — Dashboard tab
app-tab-dashboard.pngDashboard
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Home — Chat tab
app-tab-chat.pngChat
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Home — PTT tab
app-tab-ptt.pngPTT
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Home — Map tab
app-tab-map.pngMap
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Home — Alerts tab
app-tab-alerts.pngAlerts
How To
Send an encrypted message
Text, photos, and voice notes — all encrypted at rest with a per-group key.
Sending your first message
Messages are encrypted on your device using your group's AES-256 key, sent over TLS, and decrypted only by other members of that group.
- 1Tap the Chat tab at the bottom of the app.
- 2Choose the group you want to message. Lead group members see all sub-group threads here too.
- 3Type your message in the input bar and tap send. The lock icon next to each message confirms encryption.
- 4To send a photo, tap the paperclip icon. Photos are encrypted before upload.
- 5Long-press any message to copy, reply, or delete (admin and sender only).
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Mobile app — Chat room with encrypted messages
app-chat-room.pngHow To
Push-to-talk voice
Sub-second walkie-talkie voice powered by LiveKit WebRTC. Three ways to transmit: on-screen, hardware buttons, or Bluetooth.
On-screen PTT
The simplest way to start. Hold the on-screen button to transmit, release to receive.
- 1Tap the PTT tab at the bottom of the app.
- 2Choose the channel (group) you want to transmit on. Lead group members can pick any sub-group or "All".
- 3Press and hold the large blue button to talk. You will hear a short beep when the channel opens.
- 4Release the button when finished. A second beep confirms the channel is closed.
- 5You will hear other members through the phone speaker, even when the screen is off.
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Mobile app — PTT screen with hold-to-talk button
app-ptt-onscreen.pngMap a hardware button
Use the volume up/down keys, the side action button (iPhone 15 Pro+), or any Android assistive touch button as your PTT trigger.
- 1Open Settings → Push-to-Talk → Hardware button.
- 2Tap "Capture button" and press the key you want to use.
- 3Confirm the assignment. The app stays awake in the background to listen for that key.
- 4Test it from the lock screen: hold the button, speak, release. You should see the green PTT badge in your status bar.
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Mobile app — PTT button mapping screen
app-ptt-hardware-mapping.pngHow To
Pair a Bluetooth PTT button
Any BLE HID push-to-talk accessory works. Retevis, Baofeng BT-PTT, and similar models are tested.
Pairing your accessory
Operate completely hands-free, just like a two-way radio, without the expensive hardware or monthly licensing fees.
- 1Put your PTT button into pairing mode. For most models, hold the main button for 5 seconds until the LED flashes blue.
- 2Open the GatherSafe app → Settings → Push-to-Talk → Bluetooth accessory.
- 3Tap "Scan for devices". Your button will appear within a few seconds.
- 4Tap to pair. Confirm the pairing prompt on your phone.
- 5Press the button once to test — the green PTT badge should appear at the top of your screen.
- 6You can rename the accessory and set per-group default channels from the same screen.
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Mobile app — Bluetooth pairing flow
app-bluetooth-pair.pngNote for iOS users
iOS routes hardware button events through the system, so the app must be in the foreground or running a VoIP session for hardware buttons to work reliably. The app starts a CallKit session automatically when you enter the PTT tab, so background transmit works there. For other tabs, use the on-screen button or a paired Bluetooth accessory (which bypasses this limitation).
How To
Send and acknowledge a panic alert
One tap broadcasts an emergency with your GPS coordinates to every team member, even if their app is closed.
Triggering an alert
Three alert levels: Attention (something needs eyes on it), Warning (active situation), and Emergency (immediate response required).
- 1Tap the Alerts tab, or hold the panic button on the dashboard for 1.5 seconds.
- 2Choose the alert level: Attention, Warning, or Emergency.
- 3Optionally add a short text note (e.g. "north entrance, blue jacket").
- 4Tap Broadcast. The alert goes out as a push notification with your GPS coordinates.
- 5Recipients see the alert as a full-screen takeover, even if the app was closed.
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Mobile app — Alert level picker
app-alert-trigger.pngAcknowledging an alert
Leadership needs to know who's responding. Acknowledging takes one tap.
- 1When the full-screen alert appears, tap "Acknowledge" or "On my way".
- 2Your name moves to the green list visible to the lead group in real time.
- 3Tap "Open in map" to navigate to the alert location.
- 4After the situation is resolved, an admin or the alert originator taps "Resolve" to clear it from active alerts. The full timeline is preserved in the Alerts history.
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Mobile app — Alert acknowledgment screen
app-alert-ack.pngHow To
Use the team map
Live positions of every team member during services. Optional, opt-in per member.
Open the Map tab. You'll see colored pins for each team member who has location sharing enabled. Pin colors match the sub-group color you set in admin (e.g. parking team in blue, medical in red).
Geofence check-ins: When a member arrives at the church address, the app prompts "Check in for service?". One tap marks them present and starts location sharing for the duration of the service.
Privacy: Location sharing only runs while the geofence is active and turns off automatically when a member leaves the church grounds. Members can pause sharing at any time from the map screen.
For lead group only: The lead team has a second view called All Teams that shows everyone simultaneously. Sub-team members only see their own group on the map.
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Mobile app — Team map with member pins
app-team-map.pngHow To
Log an incident
Encrypted reports with photos, GPS, and timestamps create a permanent, auditable record.
Filing an incident report
Use this for anything you'd want documented after the fact: medical events, removed individuals, suspicious activity, near misses.
- 1Tap Incidents → New Report from the dashboard or via the menu.
- 2Choose a category: Medical, Behavioral, Suspicious, Property, or Other.
- 3Add a short title and a longer description. Both are encrypted before saving.
- 4Attach photos by tapping the camera icon. The app strips EXIF and encrypts each photo before upload.
- 5Add witnesses by tagging team members.
- 6Tap Submit. Admins are notified, and the report is added to the searchable incident log.
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Mobile app — New incident report form
app-incident-report.pngHow To
Broadcast a response plan
Pre-configured, one-tap actions for common situations. Created by an admin in the web console.
In the admin console
- Open Settings → Response Plans → New Plan.
- Name it (e.g. "Medical — Sanctuary").
- Add the action steps in order. Each step is a short instruction.
- Set who receives it (lead group, specific sub-groups, or everyone).
- Save. The plan is now available to broadcast from any phone.
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Admin web console — Response plan editor
admin-response-plan-editor.pngFrom the mobile app
- From the Dashboard, tap Response Plans.
- Choose the relevant plan from the list.
- Tap Broadcast. The plan opens as a checklist on every recipient's phone.
- Each member ticks steps as they complete them. Lead sees real-time progress.
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Mobile app — Response plan checklist
app-response-plan-broadcast.pngSettings
A few settings worth knowing about
Quiet / discreet mode
Suppresses sounds and reduces visual prominence of incoming messages. Useful during services. Toggle from the dashboard or auto-enable on a schedule.
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Settings — Quiet mode toggle
app-quiet-mode.pngDrill / training mode
Run training exercises that look exactly like the real thing, but are clearly labeled "DRILL" in every message and alert. Admin-only.
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Settings — Drill mode banner
app-drill-mode.pngAuto-lock timer
The app locks behind your PIN/biometric after inactivity. Default is 5 minutes; configurable from 1 to 30. Lower is more secure on a shared/lost device.
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Settings — Auto-lock timer
app-autolock-setting.pngBattery optimization
On Android, ask GatherSafe to be exempt from battery optimization so background services aren't killed. Settings → Battery → walk through the prompt.
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Settings — Battery optimization
app-battery-setting.pngService Day
Your first service checklist
Run this 30 minutes before doors open. Once or twice and it becomes second nature.
- 1Open the GatherSafe app and confirm you are signed in to the right organization.
- 2Check the dashboard for any active incidents or alerts from previous services.
- 3Tap your sub-group in Chat and post a quick "Setting up at <location>" message.
- 4Open the PTT tab and do a radio check. Hold to talk: "Lead, parking, comms check." Wait for an acknowledgment.
- 5If you have a Bluetooth button, press it once to confirm it triggers PTT (look for the green badge at the top of the screen).
- 6Approve the geofence check-in prompt when it appears at the door.
- 7Confirm location sharing is on (a small green dot in the status bar).
- 8Verify your phone is at 50%+ battery and connected to power if you have a long shift.
- 9For lead group: open the Map tab and confirm you can see every sub-team's pins.
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Mobile app — Service-day dashboard with active members and channels
app-service-day-dashboard.pngTroubleshooting
Common questions and fixes
PTT works in the foreground but not when the screen is off.
On Android, this is almost always a battery optimization issue. Open your phone's Settings → Apps → GatherSafe → Battery → set to Unrestricted.
On iOS, hardware buttons only work in the foreground unless a CallKit session is active. Open the PTT tab to start a session, or use a Bluetooth PTT accessory (which bypasses this limitation entirely).
I'm not getting alert notifications.
Check three things, in order:
- System notifications enabled for GatherSafe (phone Settings → Notifications).
- Notification override for alerts is not silenced (in-app Settings → Notifications → Alerts → Critical).
- The phone is not in Focus / Do Not Disturb mode. Critical alerts can bypass DND if you allow GatherSafe in the Focus settings.
My Bluetooth PTT button connects but doesn't trigger transmit.
Most BLE PTT buttons send a media key event (typically "play/pause"). Open Settings → Push-to-Talk → Hardware button, tap "Capture button", and press the physical button. The app will learn the exact event and bind it.
If the device shows as paired but never connects, unpair it from your phone's Bluetooth settings (not just from GatherSafe), then re-pair from inside the app.
A team member's location pin isn't moving.
Two common causes: (1) the member never approved "Always" location permission, or (2) location sharing is paused. Ask them to open the Map tab — if they see a yellow banner, location is paused. Tap to resume.
Location only updates while inside the configured geofence around your church address. Outside that radius, sharing turns off automatically for privacy.
A volunteer lost their phone. What do I do?
Open the admin console → Members → find the person → tap Sign out everywhere. This invalidates their refresh tokens immediately.
Then tap Rotate group keys on every group they were a member of. New keys are issued to remaining members on their next sync. The lost device retains the old keys but cannot decrypt new traffic.
The encrypted-at-rest contents on the lost device remain protected by the member's PIN/biometric lock.
How do I remove someone from a group?
Admin console → Groups → choose the group → Members → tap the "…" next to the person → Remove. The group key automatically rotates so the removed member cannot read new messages going forward.
Older messages they had already received remain readable on their device (they have the old key cached). To prevent future access to historical content from a suspended phone, also use Sign out everywhere as above.
Can two people share one device?
Does GatherSafe work without internet?
Partially. Encrypted text messages queue locally and send when a connection returns. Push-to-talk and live alerts require an active internet connection (LTE or Wi-Fi).
For buildings with weak cellular coverage, install a Wi-Fi access point in your sanctuary or lobby and have your team join it before service starts.
Where is my data stored, and who can read it?
Still stuck?
We'll set you up over a 30-minute call
Send us a note with your church name and a few times that work this week. We'll walk through the admin console with you and get your team running before Sunday.