It's a wonderful thing when technology works in your favor, isn't it? One way managers can have that experience is with a phone time clock. Thanks to an old-school standard, the telephone, and modern-day Internet capability, telephone time clock systems are extremely simple and effective. Just in case you're wondering if phone-based time attendance tracking would work for your company, here's a quick review of the technology behind these innovative systems.
Telephone time clocks require, as we mentioned, only a telephone and access to the Internet. Here's where the telephone portion comes in:
* Employees at remote locations or seasonal employees call a toll-free number to start their shifts.
* They key in their employee and location codes to register their attendance.
* When their shift ends, they again call in and key in the same information and the hours worked are automatically calculated.
But how does the Internet come into play?
* Individual accounts are set up for every company implementing this type of time attendance tracking.
* The server which houses the phone time clock software also stores each employee's hours.
* Managers and payroll department staff for each company can log in twenty four hours a day, from any Internet-compatible computer, to check real-time employee attendance.
* Via the Internet, it's also possible to log in, print time cards and review historical data for all employees.
* In a top-quality phone time clock system, the central server synchronizes itself daily to ensure complete accuracy.
So, what does all that well-blended technology really mean for frustrated managers? For one thing, being web-based means being able to manage remote locations from a central office (or even from home!) It means not having to call in and verify with shift managers that a full crew has reported for duty.
It means saving your payroll department hours of time chasing time cards, recalculating inaccurate time records and waiting for manager signatures. It can also mean a gold star in some manager's file if she's the wise person who suggested this time-saving, budget-conscious innovation.
Thanks to the amazing flexibility of the Internet and almost universal access to telephones, phone time clocks work, period. Very large companies and small, single owner firms have benefited from the technology that makes this all possible. Do your homework and find the righttelephone time clock system for your firm. Technology just made your life a whole lot simpler.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
The Technology Behind Phone Time Clocks
Thursday, December 10, 2009
A Day in the Life of a Payroll Manager
Tick, tick, tick...your time clock is counting down the time to your next payroll, and you're missing timecards AGAIN. Why didn't you listen when you heard about that new telephone time clock system last month? If you had, your life as a payroll manager could be so much different right now.
For one thing, you wouldn't be grinding your teeth chasing timecards, because your offsite employees would be calling in to a phone time clock system instead of punching in. They'd simply call in to a secure line (that lets you check where they're calling from) and record exactly when they arrived at work.
Imagine how much less-stressed you'd be right now, if only that phone-based time attendance tracking system was in place. No more calling employees and managers at remote locations, begging them to deliver the timecards that are holding up payroll.
No more driving around from store to store, hoping all the timecards you need are up-to-date and signed by a manager. And here's a really big difference -- you'd no longer be held captive by timecards that need corrections!
How, exactly, would a day in the life of a payroll manager look in a telephone time clock world? Imagine logging in to a secure website and seeing displayed, with a few clicks of the mouse, real-time payroll data for the current time period.
Picture printing every employee's time card, no matter where they work, on your own desktop printer. Allow yourself to feel how wonderful it would be to never have to track down a manager again in order to verify a timecard.
Right now, you may be saying, "Nothing is that simple. They just don't understand how difficult payroll processing is!" You're correct, in the old-school, mechanical time clock world, payroll processing can be a real pain. Chasing timecards, requiring manager signatures, manually calculating time worked and, finally, beginning to feed each employee's time into some sort of payroll system. With all that hassle, it's a wonder any company is able to hire someone to process payroll!
But that's definitely a thing of the past. Your life as a payroll manager can be transformed by the implementation of a phone time clock system. With a little initial training, every employee will learn to love not having to keep track of their timecard. Every manager will appreciate not having to calculate, verify and sign those timecards, too.
And you, my friend, will be free to actually manage the payroll process instead of chasing timecards. Your payroll clerks will no longer have to cower outside your door, afraid to tell you that payroll's going to be late, again. A click here, a report there, and this week's payroll's on its way to being finished. Now, isn't that a nicer sort of life to contemplate?
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Using a Telephone Time Clock
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Keeping Track of Employee Hours
Our employees had no problem with the new clocking-in procedure. In fact, our hard working employees loved the new way that they could clock in and out. It made it so much easier on everyone and our receptionist was thrilled about how it had simplified her job at our catering company.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Reduce Remote Employee Babysitting with a Phone Time Clock
What could be more aggravating for a manager than the following scenario? You're safely home and ready to sleep when a night shift manager at a remote location calls in to say she's ill. Since her crew is relatively new, you check in with that office only to find that no one is answering the phone. Panicked, you climb out of bed and drive across town to find everyone working peacefully!
How could this scenario have been improved? Three words: Telephone time clock. Had your company already had in place a phone time clock system, the scenario would have been much different.
For instance, not every manager remembers to call in immediately when she's ill. Not to worry; a telephone-based time attendance tracking system can alert you by email when someone fails to report. Even if the manager hadn't called, you would have been aware of the situation.
The second way things would have been different with a phone time clock is that, rather than calling frantically to learn if employees were on the job, you could have learned their status online.
Telephone time attendance tracking systems are linked to an online interface for management. Once you learned of the manager's absence, a simple glance at the location's logins by phone would have told you that everyone was in place.
These terrific timekeeping systems, can't, of course, deal with the issue of employees who don't answer the phone! But in this case, you could have made a different decision about whether to race across town in the middle of the night.
This is all possible because each employee calls in to a central number and their time in and out is logged immediately in a web-based database. As a manager, you have employee time information from every office at your fingertips. Dealing with employee shortages is made so much easier when you learn, real-time, who's absent.
What a sane, orderly way to do business! If your company has remote locations and you're struggling to know if they're always fully-staffed, a telephone time clock can definitely restore your sanity.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Finding the Perfect Employee Time Clock
When my best friend and I decided to open up our small web design business, we did not expect to grow into a huge company. With the growth of our computer-based business came new and larger responsibilities. Many of the new responsibilities entailed keeping track of multiple clients to keeping accurate records of employee time recording.
telephone time clock that uses a toll-free phone number that employees use to clock in and out from home. This grabbed my attention immediately and I could not wait to check this innovative service out and share the information with my business partner.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
How Telephone Timekeeping Improves Response to Official Requests
Complying with official requests for payroll information can be very difficult with a paper-based timekeeping system. For example, if an employee files a complaint with a government agency about the way they are being paid, timecards must be gathered and copied at that agency's request. Using a telephone time card system with online access to records makes compliance much simpler.
You may not have yet experienced a request of this kind. Many companies, however, have felt the pain of responding to an official request for records for workers compensation reviews, wage and hour disputes or even an audit by the home office. Another reason an official request might be received is in the event of a lawsuit, when payroll records for a specific employee or group of employees are subpoenaed.
Firms with far-flung employees who bring in handwritten timecards are especially vulnerable when this type of request is received. Another possible obstacle is that those timecards might be sent to yet another location for storage. To determine your own exposure, why not take a quick look at how your payroll records are being collected, calculated and stored. Within your present system, would you be able to respond quickly to such a request?
Your payroll manager may reply with a terse, "I know where everything is stored, don't worry about it!" The problem is that filing systems tend to change when managers leave. Having the ability to retrieve records from a phone time card system does two things; it creates a backup to physical records being stored, and it counteracts the quirks (and failings) of individual employees.
Believe it or not, many companies that thought they had a system in place for quick retrieval of original time records have been stunned to find that records have been damaged or misfiled. In compliance situations, you must also be able to produce proof that records have been stored in a way that prevents tampering. A secure online database from which only specific employees are allowed to retrieve and print time records makes this much easier.
Simply put, a telephone-based time attendance tracking system is one in which an employee calls into a phone system and reports her stop and start times for each shift worked. From those phone calls, an online database of time records is created from which timecards can be printed and real-time payroll data managed.
None of us who own or manage a business wants to believe that we might be the subject of a regulatory audit or investigation. In today's highly-sensitized workplace, however, compliance with a whole host of payroll and benefits regulations is a formidable job. Knowing you have at your fingertips the records you need lessens the load significantly.
Why wait until you're unable to provide verifiable employee payroll data quickly? A phone time clock system with online storage of employee time records can easily keep you ahead of the curve.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Keeping Tabs the Easy Way
Managing remote employees has become a topic of interest for us as we explore opportunities available in the world of telephone monitoring. One of the most common concerns managers face when it comes to the maintenance and management of remote employees is keeping track of who is doing what. A telephone timecard system like the one developed by Chronictek is a useful way to keep track of which employee is completing what task at any given time. In fact, keeping employees accountable for their actions should be a number one goal of any manager.
As a management professional, you should pay special attention to the work ethic harbored by each of your employees. Unfortunately, when managing a telecommuting staff, keeping track of these work ethics is a more difficult and easier said than done. However, enlisting the use of the telephone timecard system will help you to keep track of whether or not your employees are where they say they're going to be.
The telephone time card is simple, easy to use, straightforward, and virtually foolproof. Not only will the enlistment of the telephone timecard system help save you money, it will also help you save quite a bit of trouble when it comes to monitoring and maintaining your telecommuters.
Then, whenever an employer chooses, they can view any or all of their employees’ time up to the minute in their internet browser. This is an excellent way to keep up with employees during the week. It will help determine who is getting to work early or late on a day-to-day basis instead of having to wait for a monthly report. And the system virtually eliminates discrepancies and problems with dishonest employees.
Don't spend another day wondering whether or not you've got all your ducks in a row, and instead, rest assured in your ability to monitor your telecommuters with ease and convenience.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Don't Just Be Busier- Be SMARTER
So, you’re trying to maximize your profits by using remote employees, that’s awesome…but to do it right, you have to do it smart.
It’s good idea to keep your home office strictly your home office. For example, in the area where you operate your online business, avoid personal distractions like your bills, children's report cards, and other things that don't have anything to do with your online opportunities. Avoid clutter and keep your desk as clean and clear as possible.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Be Your Own Business Expert
Managing remote employees can be a challenge, so in order to provide you with some of the most beneficial information we can find, we turned to not just a management expert, but a clinical psychologist!
Friday, July 31, 2009
The Tele-TimeCard...It's About Time!
What if there were a simple way for your remote employees to clock in? What if there was a time system that employers could access online twenty four-hours a day? Well, there is…and it couldn’t be more simple. It’s an accurate and efficient system, and requires only the telephone.
Telephone time clocks are an excellent option for offsite employers. Offsite managers are often faced with the inability to physically monitor employees or to collect tangible time sheets. As a result of this problem, time and attendance issues may go unnoticed for months at a time, thereby making it more difficult to address and correct the problem. However, with a telephone time card system, employers have instant access to time sheets, creating quick and efficient communication that doesn’t waste time.
After all, what could be more of a headache each month than is dealing with stacks of mailed or faxed in employee time cards? Too much paper makes it easy to miscalculate time and gives dishonest employees an advantage. Traditional time cards, punch cards, and even print outs can be difficult to read and easily manipulated. Even computer time programs can be accidentally miscalculated or programmed with the wrong time zone. With traditional systems, employers have to wait until the end of the month to view and monitor their employees’ time.
Telephone time card systems are an easy way to keep track of employee time in an efficient and timely manner. These telephone systems work in a practical and basic manner…when an employee arrives for work, they dial a certain number to clock in and the time is recorded. When they get ready to leave for the day, they again dial a number to clock out. There is no figuring involved. There is no complicated set of keys to press or time zones and such to confuse the issue. It is as simple as dialing a number.
Subsequently, whenever the remote employer chooses, he or she can view any or all of their employees’ time cards (kept accurately up to the minute within the employees’ internet browser). The tele-timecard is an excellent way to keep up with remote employees during the week. And, the system virtually eliminates discrepancies and problems employees may have with time management!
Monday, July 27, 2009
Accountability Gets a Facelift
As most of us know, in the world of business time is a valuable commodity and now more than ever, employers need to do whatever possible to save time and money. A Phone Time Clock is an excellent way to save time and money for your business, and time is money so start saving now…here’s how.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Say Goodbye to Time Reporting Errors
When faced with the reality of traveling employees, many employers are concerned with how to go about keeping accurate time reporting records. Some require employees to fill out a manual time card by hand; others require them to email or fax the information to the payroll department before the end of the pay period. This is both inconvenient and the chances for errors and misuse or abuse are extremely high. While nobody wants to believe their employees would take advantage of the situation, the sad truth is that sometimes the temptation can be hard to resist. All of these scenarios can be a thing of the past with a telephone time clock.
When employees travel around the country, it is hard to keep track of hours and locations. Particularly when the traveling work force is large and spread out over many cities and states, keeping track of everyone can be difficult. Having the ease and convenience of a time attendance tracking time clock takes the guess work out of time reporting.
Having a phone time clock to do the dirty work of time tracking can allow an employer to see if employees are making the most out of the time spent working. Times reported and work productivity can be determined by easily checking the information on any computer. If there is any type of discrepancy, an employer can alert the employee of the situation and get it rectified at once. Workers should always be forthcoming and honest about their time spent working away from the office and with an electronic telephone time reporting system in place, there will never be any question about it again.
Purchasing time attendance tracking time clock software from Chronotek.com is an investment in your business that will repay you time and again. Gone are the days spend combing through time reports and questioning honesty and integrity. The information is accurate and cannot be disputed; an employee is responsible for entering the information into a computer database at the beginning and end of every shift worked. There is no more waiting for time reports to come in over email or fax, computer time reporting also saves an employee from having to worry about submitting time cards on time. The hassles and inconvenience of manual time cards are now a thing of the past as businesses everywhere move toward a new trend in time reporting.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Why I Love Employee Telephone Time Tracking
As a small business owner, I find myself frazzled at the end of the week when I have to spend endless hours combing through paper time cards. When I encountered some errors in employee time reporting, I knew I had to do something to make a change so this type of situation would never happen again. That was when I did some research and learned of the many benefits of an employee telephone time clock.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Time Is Money
You've heard us mention before how beneficial telephone time cards can be for the management of remote employees. We've decided to reiterate some of those points in an effort to help you better succeed in your own field. Success is in invaluable commodity in an economic world gone mad, so consider telephone time cards as a way to keep your own head above water.
One of the best ways to ensure that your offsite employees maintain a certain level of professionalism is to require them to keep track of the time they spend on the job. Unfortunately, this process can be a bit of pain for off-site managers. Telephone time clocks are an excellent choice for employers who are not on site. Without physically being available to monitor time or to collect time sheets, issues with employees may go unnoticed for a month at a time, making it harder to address the problem. With the telephone time system, employers have instant access to time sheets, making addressing employee issues quick and efficient without wasting weeks.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Telephone Time Management
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Tips for Successful Remote Management
With such an increase in technology and the advancement of telecommunications, it is becoming more prevalent for businesses to maintain multiple locations and to have management staff in a central locale with teams elsewhere. Though this system can be very helpful for many businesses, it does bring along with it some obvious problems. Many managers will say that managing a team from a remote location can be more challenging than any other situation. Since the manager is not physically on-site, situations where employees take advantage of the system can happen easily. Also, the manager loses valuable face to face time that often brings a team together as a stronger work force. There are great hurdles to managing a team remotely, but with a few specific steps, the system can be a great success.
Since the manager cannot be on location with their employees, they should take more time considering the work their employees do as opposed to how the employee actually does the work. Output is far more important anyway, and a manager who is not physically on-site can only judge their employees work by the work that they produce
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Why Should You Choose Telephone Time Cards For Remote Employees?
If you manage a firm that hires off-site employees, you’ve probably spent some time wondering what you can do to make sure they maintain an adequate level of productivity and success, and that their work ethics don’t falter. As an offsite employee manager, you must communicate clearly what expectations you require of your remote workers, not only with this include key milestones, but deadlines and time management as well.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
A Time Clock for Any Distance
The days of questioning whether your employees actually worked the correct time or the days of having to rely on the mail or computer to submit the time for each employee are behind you. You can rest assured no matter what the distance is that you are relying on a system that is dependable as well as accurate when you have the assistance of the telephone time clock system in your work place. Your employees can enjoy the simple life of using the telephone time clock to keep the accurate time they work so the questions of being paid for the correct hours they work are behind them as well as the stress of their time worked being submitted in time for payroll.
A whole new world of freedom awaits you and the best part is it is just a few clicks away. Enjoy the experience of working with knowledgeable sales individuals as well as technicians when you purchase your telephone time clock system. Your questions and concerns will be answered immediately as well as the friendly service that you will find when you have questions on getting started with your dependable telephone time clock. For an affordable price you can find the freedom you desire when you own your own business and employee individuals that reside in another city or state no matter what the distance. You no longer have to limit yourself to hiring employees that live within a certain distance from your or your business with the reputable assistance you will find by using the telephone time clock in your business.
Do away with the stack after stack of useless paper from your past system of keeping track of your employees time and make room for expansion in you self owned business when you cut back on cost with the assistance you will find with the telephone time clock. Open the door to financial growth with the cost effective and time saving dependable time clock.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Keeping Accurate Time is Important
There are many clear advantages when it comes to monitoring your employees and making sure the time they record on time cards is done properly. It saves you time and money to have an error-free system in place. This way there can be no question marks as to what hours are worked and if in fact your employee is being forthcoming. A Phone Time Clock takes the wonder and worry out of all of it, and with a simple phone call twice a day, everything is recorded neatly and at your access at any time. What could be better than that?
Every employer wants to believe their employees are being honest and truthful, but occasionally as unfortunate as it is, some employees may try to forge information in an inaccurate method to get more money. This can create real problems, especially when your employee may be working from an out-of-town location. If you want to be reassured your employee is recording and reporting in an accurate manner, then you need to invest in a Phone Time Clock system.
If your company needs to improve supervisor and employee communications, an Employee Time Clock will do just that. A supervisor can leave a message for any employee or a group of employees and rest assured that everyone receives the message, because the system requires the employees to listen to the messages at check in and checkout times.
No more miscommunications, no more missed calls, no more time card collections, no more payroll inaccuracies, no more having to track down employees, the Telephone Time Clock System does all of this for you, included in your service. The benefits far outweigh the risks and for employers who do not have the time or resources to track down employees, the system is a huge help. Saving time and money is extremely important to the success of any business and with a time tracking system, all of your problems can be solved effortlessly and easily.