Users and Staff
Understand platform users, field staff, and how skills are assigned.
The Community Wolf platform separates platform users (who log into the web app) from staff (field team members who use WhatsApp).
Roles and access
- Platform users: Admins and managers who configure the platform, create sites, and review data.
- Staff: Field operators who interact with WhatsApp agents and generate reports, patrol activity, and access control logs.
Skills are assigned to staff, not to platform users. Staff skills determine what WhatsApp actions they can perform.
Staff vs devices
In Community Wolf, "staff" really means phone numbers. A staff entry represents a WhatsApp phone that has been assigned skills.
In most guarding operations, the phone stays at the site—in the guard hut, at the gate, on the patrol route. The phone is not personal to the guard; it belongs to the post. Different guards may use the same phone across different shifts.
This is why:
- Staff = a phone number with assigned skills and a site
- People = the actual humans who work shifts (see Roster Management)
When roster management is live, you will be able to track which person was using which device at which time. For now, staff entries track the phone, not the individual.
Staff roles
The platform supports three staff roles:
| Role | Typical use |
|---|---|
| Admin | Full access to configuration, staff management, and business tools. |
| Manager | Operational management and reporting. |
| Staff | Field access with assigned skills and sites. |
Add a staff member
Create the staff profile
Add a name, role, position, and contact details. Phone numbers should be in E.164 format (for example, +27123456789).
Assign sites
Link the staff member to the sites they will cover. Site assignments influence access control and report visibility.
Assign skills
Select the WhatsApp skills they need (for example, Patrol Skills or Licence Disc Logging).
Set a manager (optional)
Assign a manager for approval workflows or visibility.
Manage staff states
Admins can adjust a staff member's agent state when required. These are used by WhatsApp agents to place staff into specific workflows:
- Menu
- Chat
- Patrol
- Access Control
- Advanced Tools
- Report
- Panic
- Help
- Reset
Skill assignment rules
Some skill combinations are restricted to avoid conflicting workflows:
- Allowed: Community Wolf Core Skills + Check Licence Plate
- Allowed: Community Wolf Core Skills + Patrol Skills
- Allowed: Patrol Skills + Check Licence Plate
- Restricted: Licence Disc skills cannot be combined with each other, and should not be combined with Core Skills
For the full list, see the Skills page.