Monday, 14 October 2013

Why Manual Time Tracking No Longer Works


Time clock by uAttend
As a former HR professional, I find it perplexing how some businesses have embraced automated technology in nearly every aspect of their enterprise; yet, they often ignore technology when it comes to modernizing their time clock systems. What they are failing to recognize is that manual time tracking processes just don’t cut it anymore.

Time and attendance technology has evolved rapidly, especially in the past decade. The following analogy is simple, but helps illustrates what I am trying to say. Take mobile technology for example. Look at your cell phone and think about all the things you are able to do with it today. Now, think back 10 years ago (or even just five or six years ago) and recall not just how your cell phone looked, but think about the limited number of things it could do. I mean, there was a time when all you could do was make and receive actual phone calls! Today’s cell phones are a different ball game and allow users to do a ton of useful and important things from convenient locations.

So goes the same for time and attendance systems. If you are using a legacy time keeping system from 10 years ago (or again even just five or six years ago), you are missing out on a whole new world of important features, opportunity and convenience. Just like an old cell phone has its limitations, so does an old timekeeping system. This is especially true of manual timekeeping systems like a mechanical punch clock or paper timesheets. Think about it – can a manual timekeeping system really do anything more than record employee time and attendance? If your employees are simply writing in their work hours each day, the answer is no. And if they are using a time clock to physically punch a timecard, someone else has to tally and crunch the data, which is time consuming and prone to human error. These are all unnecessary limitations of legacy time tracking systems and can easily be addressed with technology like automated web time clocks.

The Power of Automated Web Time Clocks

Today’s automated workforce management systems allow you to do more in less time, and with fewer errors. Small and medium-sized businesses that function with automated timekeeping solutions enjoy a world of useful features that enable them to accurately track employee work hours, as well as save, retrieve and export this data when needed. Today’s systems are web-based and use cloud connectivity allowing for real-time monitoring and management. This has a large impact on the overall profitability and sustainable growth of a business.

The power of automated technology is applicable to a broad range of business processes from payroll and scheduling to email and purchase orders. The key is to not forget about the role technology plays in workforce management. It’s time for today’s businesses to embrace time and attendance technology with advanced time clocks systems and software.

If you would like to learn more about time and attendance technology, please visit http://www.uAttend.Com.

Monday, 16 September 2013

Why Choose a Wireless Time Clock?



As a small business owner, you know that accurate employee time keeping is essential to optimizing performance and containing costs. Until recently, there were very few affordable options that helped small businesses effectively track employee time. These days, there is an open sea of small business time management tools, such as a wireless time clock, and the problem has turned more into a question of which one to choose. The answer, of course, lies within the specific time and attendance parameters of your business needs.

Why Choose a Wireless Time Clock?
Addressing Your Business Needs

You can likely produce a long list of needs for your business. However, on the most basic level, businesses tend to have the same needs in common. These include, but are not limited to, the need to generate revenue, the need to stay competitive and the need to manage labor costs. When it comes to staying competitive and enjoying sustainable growth, effective workforce management is key. The aspiration is to streamline your business management processes so you have an efficient, responsive and productive workforce that can help you meet your business needs. Advanced solutions like a wireless uAttend time clock with timekeeping software help make this possible.

Whether you have a small business or a large corporation, generating a return on your investment is vital, especially when it comes to the investment you make into your employees’ time. Automated, cloud-based workforce management solutions produce this much-desired ROI by streamlining your employee’s time and attendance and eliminating your dependence on human capital. Once implemented, the right time and attendance system will enable your business to accomplish more in less time.

In reality, a wireless time clock system is great for any business because of its ability to automate processes and boost revenue. All businesses stand to gain from features like cloud-based functionality and real-time reporting capabilities. That being said, there are some companies that benefit a little more. For example, if your business has a mobile workforce, a wireless, cloud-based system will allow employees the option to conveniently punch in and out from a remote location. With options such as a web browser, cell phone, telephone and Smartphone or mobile application, employee attendance can be accurately recorded and stored from any job-site using Geolocation. Plus, through cloud computing, authorized managers are able to access employee time and attendance data in real-time, from anywhere in the world.

This universal delivery of and access to employee work hour data is worth its weight in gold, and is one of the many ways wireless timekeeping software helps address the needs of today’s businesses. To learn about more ways, check out uAttend.Com.

Saturday, 3 August 2013

Automated Time Clock Software Systems – What to Look for in a Service Provider



Time Clock
Automated time clock software systems are great HR solutions for businesses that are looking to implement better payroll management. With features like accurate, to-the-minute time and attendance data collection, real-time reporting and payroll integration, these HR solutions have become a favorite for entrepreneurs and HR managers. Since time and attendance management solutions have become so popular, there has also been an increase in providers of such services. This can often make it difficult to distinguish between quality service providers and opportunists.

A huge challenge for business owners is to select the best solution that can add value to their company and can ensure a good ROI. This is especially true for those business owners who have little information on the subject. Below, we share some pointers on what to look for in a quality, automated time clocks service provider.

Comparing Prices and Features Offered

You can get a better understanding of the worth of an HR solution by the features it offers. Most of the companies that offer such solutions have an online presence (or at least they should have), and you can easily find the information you are looking for on their website or blog.

One of the first things you should do is list the features you are looking for and begin your hunt. It helps to make a list of the time keeping systems you find that will fulfill your wants and requirements, and then compare their prices and features to get an idea of how cost-effective each system is.


time clocks
Word of Mouth
Once you have shortlisted a few time clock software systems that will fit your business needs, the next step is to find out what kind of presence and reputation these service providers have online. Looking at the service providers’ websites can give you some indicators of the quality of service you can expect, but you have to anticipate bias as every system will say it is the best. A true reflection of a service provider’s quality can be found on online review sites. Be sure you search online with their brand and corporate names to see if anything negative pops up.


Technical Help and After Sale Service

The last step in your hunt is to check the kind of customer service to expect from each provider. You want to choose a system that is known for going above and beyond for their customers. Reliable service providers have online help centers, an FAQ section, a call center, etc. and make themselves available to help their customers with any problems they might come across.

To learn more about automated time clocks, please visit uAttend.Com.

Friday, 28 June 2013

Having Trouble Managing Your Payroll? Biometric Time Clock Systems From uAttend Can Help!

Are you a small business owner with too much on your plate? Do you face difficulties trying to run a smooth operation? Have you found that you wear too many hats and take on more responsibilities than you can handle? Lastly - are you manually processing your business’ payroll?

If the answers to any or all of the above are yes, it might be time to consider automated technology to help lessen your load. Biometric time clock systems from uAttend can help end the dilemmas noted above, and enable you to focus on growing your business instead of worrying about day-to-day operations.

How Does Manual Payroll Processing Obstruct Business Growth?

Well, first of all, manual time and attendance tracking lacks transparency and accuracy. Whether it is a pen and paper timesheet or a card punching mechanical clock, there are many loopholes in the way employees’ time is recorded and managed. Manual processes often tempt employees to resort to unethical practices such as time theft, tardiness, buddy punching and falsifying their time records. All of which can be avoided by simply implementing web based time tracking software systems from uAttend. In the absence of such robust systems, employees can continually steal from your business resulting in soaring payroll costs.

In addition to the time theft factor, it is also extremely time consuming and tedious to manually record employee time and attendance. Once time is marked, your HR department has to transfer the work hour data and then prepare and process payroll. Don’t forget to take into account the inevitable chance of human error. And if that’s not enough, there are many other challenges such as employees turning in their time cards late and the subsequent delay in paying employee wages.

At times, employers take it upon themselves to combat such problems by involving themselves in administrative affairs and supervision. This, however, results in slowed business growth. Small business owners now have the option of utilizing automated workforce solutions that take care of the tedious aspects of time and attendance management and payroll.

Biometric time clock systems from uAttend enable employers to accurately track employee work hours without the need of human supervision. Biometric enabled systems ensure that employees cannot easily engage in wage fraud activities. Best yet, HR executives can run and export employee reports directly into their payroll system and process their payroll with just a few clicks of the mouse.

Sound like something you’d like? Learn more about uAttend’s web based time tracking software systems by visiting uAttend.com.

Tuesday, 18 June 2013

Web Time Clocks – Providing Unlimited Options for Small and Medium Sized Businesses

The significance of paying your employees correctly has never been more important than it is today. Most employers would agree that it is not in their best interest to pay more than is owed to their employees. However, when considering the current wave of wage and work hour violation claims and lawsuits, you also want to make sure that your employees are not being shortchanged (even accidentally). Web time clocks can play a crucial role in ensuing that your employees are paid the exact amount of wages for their time, nothing more and nothing less!

Web-based time keeping solutions especially come in handy for small and medium-sized businesses with a mobile workforce. In-house time and attendance solutions are only good for - yes, you guessed it – the on-premise monitoring and recording of employee work hours. If your employees work remote from off-site offices or customer locations, in-house systems are an inefficient, ineffective and inconvenient solution because employees must always stop in the office to punch in and out. Workforce management solutions, such as time tracking software from uAttend, are cloud based and provide a much more convenient and user-friendly solution for a mobile workforce. For example, rather than punch in first at the office only to drive 30 miles the other way to work at a customer location, employees can head directly to their work location and punch in once they’ve arrived.

The Ease of Cloud-Based Connectivity

On-premise time tracking solutions are no match for cloud based systems when it comes to connectivity and universal access. With cloud computing, employees have a number of punch-in options for recording their time and attendance. These include using the actual clock device, as well as punching in with a telephone, web-browser or Smartphone/mobile application. As of right now, uAttend offers Apps for iPhone, iPad, and Android users.

With uAttend’s mobile App, employees can easily punch-in and out from pre-designated Geo-hot spots with the help of GPS tracking. This not only ensures that your employees are getting paid for their exact time working, but is also invaluable when it comes to billing your customers more accurately. Not to mention it makes employees’ lives simpler and more convenient, which improves employee morale and performance. In addition, web time clocks create time and attendance records that can help in maintaining FLSA compliance and serve as indisputable documentation in the case of any wage claims or violations.

While effective in their own way, on-premise time and attendance systems can be expensive to purchase, can take a long time to implement, and often involve annual licensing fees. In comparison, time tracking software like that offered from uAttend is easy to implement, simple to operate, and extremely cost-effective. Plus, it provides universal access allowing employers and employees to access the system from anywhere in the world with an Internet connection!  

If you would like to learn more about today’s leading workforce management solutions, please visit uAttend.com and follow us on our blog!