2011 Time Clock Software Year In Review

2011 has been a busy year at Redcort Software. We have some new faces and talent, we lost a long time customer service team member to motherhood, and we have big plans for 2012. We started 2011 with the United States Patent & Trademark office registering Virtual TimeClock and Virtual TimeClock Pro as trademarks of Redcort Software, Inc. We're proud to celebrate our 25th year by having our time clock software brands officially recognized. Next, we released Virtual TimeClock '11 which was designed to control employee overtime by introducing new shift rules. We added more free time and attendance resources to our website for employers. And we finished up the year with Virtual TimeClock '11 Release 2 to give users an Apple OS X 10.7 Lion compatible time clock.

Here's to a productive 2012!

Jeff Morrow
Virtual TimeClock Product Specialist
Redcort Software, Inc.

Are Your Employee Time Cards Accurate?

Time clock software programs are designed to accurately and impartially record employee hours and display those hours clearly and automatically for any given payroll period. There are few things more disconcerting to new time clock software users than to see an occasional employee time card that appears to have a one or two-minute difference between the daily hours worked and the total hours worked for the period.

Learn how Virtual TimeClock accurately reports every minute your employees work by reading our online article called Are Your Employee Time Cards Accurate? The Riddle of the Missing Dollar.

New Faces at Redcort Software

We have some new faces and talent on our time clock software team. We also lost a long time customer service team member to motherhood.

Angie joined our technical support team in October. Angie has done extensive work in information systems technology so she knows her hardware and software. She also spent quite a few years working at a call center supporting products from companies like Sony and D-Link. Angie is new to the time and attendance industry but she's learning quickly. We're glad to have Angie as part of our team.

David joined our engineering team in November. David has done everything from consulting to programming for Northrop Grumman. We think his precision and clear thinking will be a great addition to our engineering team. We're putting him to work on some exciting new time clock software projects that have been on the back burner for some time.

I'll keep you posted on what's coming.

Jeff Morrow
Virtual TimeClock Product Specialist
Redcort Software, Inc.

Need Time Clock Software for Your Vet Practice?

Virtual TimeClock is a great business tool for veterinary practices and animal hospitals. Our time clock software gets mentioned several times a year in Veterinary Practice News and we receive regular referrals from the folks at DVMAX software, so we know our time and attendance solutions are a good fit for veterinary practices. In fact, Virtual TimeClock was mentioned in an Apple science profile of Dr. Michael Broome of Advanced Veterinary Medical Imaging, a Virtual TimeClock software user for over 10 years.

If you're a busy veterinarian trying to run your own practice, let our time and attendance software free you from the burden of time consuming employee management and payroll processing so you can focus on what you love to do.

Jeff Morrow
Virtual TimeClock Product Specialist
Redcort Software

PIN Entry Time Clock

There are many ways to capture employee time punches: from an old mechanical punch clock to sophisticated biometric systems designed to completely eliminate buddy punching, and all manner of time and attendance systems in between. Virtual TimeClock has long held a unique position in the time and attendance industry because of its ability to fill the role of multiple business systems at once. For example, not only do you get a completely automated payroll process, but you get the advantages of improving office communication with real-time monitoring of the status of every employee with the in/out board that's built right into the time clock interface. However, we're beginning to discover that some businesses want more anonymity from their time clock. They're looking for a way to have multiple employees clock in and out from a single time clock kiosk, without having to first select their name from a list, which could be quite long depending on how many workers you have using the time clock. Businesses are also concerned about employees, students, or patients being able to see when others are coming and going.

These are some of the reasons why we're planning a PIN entry time clock that will allow employees to clock in and out from a public time clock station without being able to see what other employees are doing. The exciting thing is that this really becomes the foundation for a biometric time clock software solution, with a finger swipe replacing entering a PIN with the keyboard.

Jeff Morrow
Virtual TimeClock Product Specialist
Redcort Software

Employee Scheduling Software

There's a common question we often get asked by new Virtual TimeClock users: What other software do you guys make? The reason we get asked this question is because our time clock software users find Virtual TimeClock so easy to set up and use, they want to know what other business operations we can help them streamline. Business owners are always looking for ways to better manage employees, so we have a lot of business owners asking about employee scheduling software.

Employee scheduling is definitely on our development dashboard. In fact, the new shifts and schedules feature in Virtual TimeClock '11 laid the groundwork with its built-in clock in and out rules to control employee overtime. Different shifts can be assigned for each employee for every day of the week. This works great if you have fixed weekly schedules. It's not currently designed for rotating employee schedules and is not a substitute for an employee scheduling program.

We're planning a true employee scheduling program that can be integrated directly with Virtual TimeClock. This means shift rules, a scheduling calendar, when to work email reminders, and employee load planning/balancing are just some of the features we're thinking about.

What else do you need an employee scheduling program to do? Leave me a comment and let me know.

Jeff Morrow
Virtual TimeClock Product Specialist
Redcort Software

School Time Clock Software

Since all the kids in our area started hitting the books again, I was reminded of how many schools use our Virtual TimeClock software. I've talked to a lot of schools about their time and attendance software needs over the years and I've come to realize that in most cases, schools use time clock software for three reasons.

Employee Payroll
One reason schools use time clock software is to track hours worked for non-salaried employees to make payroll processing more efficient. They need a time tracking solution for bus drivers, custodial workers, food service staff, administrative employees, and even for teachers that may get paid an hourly rate for after school programs.

Student Workers
Another reason schools use time clock software is to track hours for student workers. These may be paid student workers or just volunteers that need to keep track of their hours for other reasons. These are usually part-time workers and the department roster changes every semester. We see this a lot with our colleges and universities.

Classroom Hours
The third reason schools turn to time clock software is to log the number of hours spent in the classroom by students. We see this a lot with our technical and adult education schools that require minimum classroom training hours for certain technical fields. It also helps instructors keep up with attendance requirements since students just punch in as they enter the classroom.

I'm sure there are other reasons schools use time clock software, but these are the three I hear most often. Visit our website to find out what other schools are saying about Virtual TimeClock.

Jeff Morrow
Virtual TimeClock Product Specialist
Redcort Software

History of Time and Attendance Systems

The Industrial Revolution brought major changes to the economies of Europe and the United States by ushering in sweeping technological changes for both manufacturing and transportation. With the arrival of machine based manufacturing, entire families began moving from their rural farm homes to the cities to find work in the newly industrialized factories, which was often dangerous, unhealthy, and paid very little. It wasn't long before the government stepped in to help improve factory conditions and regulate how many hours people were made to work. This gave rise to the first time and attendance systems.

Learn how modern time and attendance software has revolutionized employee time tracking by reading our new online article called History of Time and Attendance Systems.

Personal Time Clock Software

Deploying new time clock software in any business can be a challenge if you haven't taken the time to review your office workflow and how you want the time clock to be utilized. One of the questions you need to ask yourself is whether you want the time and attendance software to just function as a simple networked time clock, or you also want to use it to improve office communication.

Virtual TimeClock has the flexibility to be deployed as a personal time clock or as an in/out board time clock. Personal time clocks are great if you have employees working at dedicated computer workstations and you don't want them to be able to see when other employees are coming and going. The way to accomplish this is by creating display groups for each employee and assigning that single employee display group to the computer time clock they use. We hope to have a new Virtual TimeClock Personal Client out soon that won't require the set up of individual display groups because the user display will be automatically assigned based on user login.

I have to admit that I do love the time clock in/out board. It's a great tool for always knowing where your employees are at and what they're working on. This is a huge productivity booster, especially when trying to route calls or customers. The Virtual TimeClock Pro Client will continue to be an option for those time clock software users like me who can't live without the in/out board.

Jeff Morrow
Virtual TimeClock Product Specialist
Redcort Software

What Do iTunes and Virtual TimeClock Have In Common?

iTunes is a perfect example of a program that seamlessly bridges the gap between a traditional desktop app and a web app. Here's what I mean. The iTunes software needs to be installed locally on each computer. That's the desktop part. But when you open the iTunes Store, it's like you're using a web app. Your locally running software populates with information based on an Internet connection, but you don't need to use a web browser to get there.

We hope to bridge the same gap with our Virtual TimeClock software. A time and attendance system that gets installed like a desktop app but functions like a web app. What could be better? We hope to offer several different deployment models in the future, so each time clock software customer can choose which configuration best fits their needs.

Traditional
This deployment option is for customers who want to host their database on their own Windows or Mac business server or computer workstation, and connect desktop clients over the local area network or over the Internet. This is our current time clock software deployment option with licensing based on the total number of computers that need to run a time clock.

Hybrid
This deployment option would allow customers to host their database on their own web server and connect a combination of desktop and web time clocks. Licensing will most likely be based on the total number of employees that need to access the time clock. This is the time clock software deployment option for those customers who want to keep control over their own time clock data, but want more flexibility when deploying time clock clients.

SaaS
This deployment option would allow customers to access their time clock from any web browser. Their database would reside in the cloud, commonly called software as a service. This is the deployment model for those customers who want the convenience of paying a monthly service fee and not have the fuss of hosting their own server or dealing with software upgrades.

We'll certainly keep you posted on the progress of these different time clock software deployment options.

Jeff Morrow
Virtual TimeClock Product Specialist
Redcort Software

Lion Compatible Time Clock Software

It's always exciting when technology takes a leap forward. Apple's new Lion operating system will certainly be changing the way we interact with our desktop computers. Being an Apple developer, we've had the privilege of working with the various Lion releases over the last several months, getting familiar with the latest incarnation of "the world's most advanced desktop operating system". This has allowed us to thoroughly test each of our time clock software products for Lion compatibility. We're pleased to announce the latest update to Virtual TimeClock provides compatibility with Apple's new OS X 10.7 Lion operating system and includes 15 program enhancements that improve the overall experience for both Macintosh and Windows PC users of Virtual TimeClock.

Get details about Virtual TimeClock Release 2 by visiting our web site. Virtual TimeClock Release 2 is a free upgrade to all customers enrolled in our time clock software Maintenance & Support program or have purchased a time clock software license within the last 30 days. We're always happy to provide enrollment or upgrade pricing for those not enrolled.

Please let me know if you have any questions about the new time clock software release.

Jeff Morrow
Virtual TimeClock Product Specialist
Redcort Software

iPad Time Clock

It's probably safe to say that touch tablet computing is here to stay. You get all the functionality and portability of a netbook with the advantages of stunning displays, the myriads of apps available for free or negligible cost, and all the touch gestures we've come to love and rely on.

We've got some great ideas for using Apple's iPad as a time clock, and those ideas will soon be coming to fruition in our upcoming Virtual TimeClock Mobile app for the iPad.

Group Time Clock
How about placing an iPad time clock in a convenient employee cross roads like a break room or employee entrance? Mount the iPad on the wall and allow employees to punch in and out quickly with the simplicity of touch gestures.

Employee Monitoring
How about giving an iPad time clock to your managers? This would allow them to monitor in real-time when employees are coming and going. Mobile managers have the advantage of being out where the action is without sacrificing the information their desk top time clock software provides for them. They can correct punch times, respond to messages, and review timecards without sacrificing mobility.

Go Mobile
How about taking an iPad time clock with you on the road? This allows you to approve payroll while on the road. Perhaps even more powerful, use mobile time clocks for workers to track the different customers they're visiting or deliveries they're making in real-time.

Did I miss any? Drop me a comment and let me know other ways to use an iPad time clock.

Jeff Morrow
Virtual TimeClock Product Specialist
Redcort Software

Job Tracking Software

You've been able to track jobs, clients, tasks, projects, and punch locations for a long time with Virtual TimeClock. We know customers are using their employee time clock software for managing labor costs, automating client billing, and assigning labor hours to different cost centers. Traditionally, those that needed to track multi-tiered projects had to turn to expensive project management software or one of the hundreds of industry specific software packages.

Unfortunately, this creates an information gap between the system that tracks time spent by employees working on different projects so you can accurately bill your clients, and your time clock system that just tracks labor hours so you can generate an accurate payroll check for your employees. This has traditionally been two separate software systems. Why not keep track of time spent working on different projects at the same time you're keeping track of hours worked for payroll purposes? That way you can kill two birds with one stone.

This is where we've received a lot of feedback from customers. They're really looking for three levels of job tracking. Who's the customer, what's the job or project, and what's the activity. For example, the customer would be 'Redcort Software', the project would be 'iPhone Time Clock', and the activities could be anything from 'User Interface Design' to 'Programming' to 'Help Doc Writing'. Next time, the customer would still be 'Redcort Software', but this time the project would be 'Web Time Clock', and the activities may still be 'User Interface Design', 'Programming', and 'Help Doc Writing'. And you should be able to enable any or all of the levels depending on your time tracking needs.

Do you have any ideas on how you'd like to see multi-level job tracking incorporated into your time clock software? Drop me a comment and let me know what you think.

Jeff Morrow
Virtual TimeClock Product Specialist
Redcort Software

Approving Employee Time Cards

We're always thinking about ways to improve Virtual TimeClock. Sometimes those ideas come from internal sources like engineering and technical support team members. Sometimes those ideas come from customers who use our time clock software everyday. And sometimes those ideas come from people just checking us out or comparing us to the competition. One of the things we've been pondering lately is how to capture the payroll processing workflow of many of the businesses we speak with. The flow of events often goes something like this:

1. Employees print, verify, and sign off on time card hours
2. Employees submit time cards to manager for approval
3. Manager makes any necessary edits, approves or rejects time cards
4. Rejected time cards are returned to employee for clarification or further action
5. Approved time cards are submitted for payroll processing

Sometimes time cards go to an internal bookkeeper, sometimes they get sent to the accountant, and sometimes they go to an online payroll service. Other times, staff bookkeepers pull labor hours directly from the time clock but are still wanting to verify that the overtime and leave hours have been approved by a manager or supervisor before processing payroll.

So we're thinking of adding a time card approval process to a future release of Virtual TimeClock. This may include the ability to electronically sign time cards, the ability of managers to approve or reject time cards, reporting of approved and rejected time cards, and the ability to send time cards directly to a PDF or email. Would that be helpful for your business? Drop me a comment and let me know what we're missing or what we can do to make the payroll process even more efficient for your business.

Jeff Morrow

Virtual TimeClock Product Specialist

Redcort Software

Do Your Salaried Employees Need A Time Clock?

If you've used clock in software for any length of time, I'm sure you've noticed it has many other valuable uses besides making the payroll process more efficient and holding hourly employees accountable for their time worked. These may include such features as built-in messaging, absence management, and tracking time spent on different jobs or projects. These other features are what make clock in software a valuable tool for your salaried workers as well.

Discover five reasons for having salaried employees use your time clock system by reading our new online article called Do Your Salaried Employees Need A Time Clock?

Free Timesheet Templates

In our drive to provide valuable tools related to employee time tracking, Redcort Software has released a new addition to our online time and attendance resources. This new tool consists of free timesheet templates that allow you to record weekly or bi-weekly employee hours and overtime in several popular document formats. Feel free to download a format that works for you and customize it for use in your business. We have free timesheet templates for Word '07 and newer (docx) and Word '97 - '03 (doc), a timesheet template for Apple Pages, and a timesheet template in rich text format (rtf).

These timesheet templates join our other online time and attendance resources, including our free time card calculator that will automatically total your daily hours on a convenient printable weekly timesheet, our online calendars of federal and common holidays observed by U.S. businesses, and our list of daily, weekly, and special overtime rules for every U.S. state and territory.

Of course, if you're looking for affordable, easy-to-use employee time cock software, then check out our Virtual TimeClock software.

Web Development Team

Redcort Software

iPhone Time Clock

Customers have been asking for a Virtual TimeClock iPhone app for some time. I'm happy to announce that we're now in the position to make this happen. In fact, engineering is finalizing the user interface specifications as I type this. Those of you who use our employee time clock software on a regular basis know we work really hard to make the user interface intuitive and the steps needed to perform routine activities efficient. That can sometimes be a challenge with a desktop app. It can be an even bigger challenge with an iPhone app because you're trying to maximize functionality in a limited amount of screen real estate. "What's the big deal?" you ask, "You just gotta clock in and out. There are a dozen time tracking apps in the App Store that already do that." That may be true, but here's one of the things that will set ours apart from the competition.

Most time tracking apps fall into two different categories. They're either a mobile replacement for a paper timesheet, which means you manually enter a start and stop time for each day and then the app will calculate the hours for you. Most of these can't handle overtime rules, and some of them won't even let you make multiple entries per day. I'm not entirely sure what you gain by using a timesheet app like this. The second group of time tracking apps function like timers. You select a task and then start the timer. You stop the timer, pick a different task, and then start the timer again. This can be especially handy when you're billing time for different customers, but what do you do with the data you've collected?

The new iPhone time clock app for Virtual TimeClock will have the advantage of connecting to your existing time clock server. This means the data will be collected from a mobile device, sent to your time clock server, and be instantly available to other time clock clients, both desktop and mobile. You'll be able to capture payroll hours and labor hours per job or activity from a mobile time clock, and that data will be instantly available to those who need it for processing payroll or billing your customers. How's that for our first foray into iOS development?

Jeff Morrow

Virtual TimeClock Product Specialist

Redcort Software

Time Clock System Reviews

Reading product reviews is helpful when researching something new. If you're looking for a new pair of running shoes, you can appreciate the honest feedback from other consumers about things like comfort and fit. It's also nice to check side-by-side comparisons or reviews of different running shoes to see how they rate against one another in various categories. You expect these reviews to be relatively objective and unbiased, but that may not always be the case. The Internet has certainly changed the way we research products and services. Deploying a new time clock system can be a significant investment, so researching the best employee time clock software for your business is an important process not to be taken lightly.

Learn what pitfalls you'll want to avoid when researching your new time clock system by reading our new online article called Time Clock System Reviews - 4 Pitfalls To Avoid.

Self Documenting Time Clock Software

If you've ever used an iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch then you know that Apple has taken great pains to make them easy to use. Easy to use doesn't mean simple in the sense of lacking features, but simple in terms of being uncomplicated. They've put a lot of time and effort on the back side to make it easy to use on the front side.

Here's a perfect example. My daughter recently got the latest generation iPod Touch. Without any coaching, reading of instructions, or calling the help desk, she was using the new device, downloading apps, and having a great time within minutes. Now it could be that teenagers just have a sixth sense that allows them to instantly adapt to new technology, but I think it's more than that. Apple has revolutionized the way we interact with the technological world, both in the realms of software and hardware. We sometimes refer to this as self documenting, which means you don't have to have special background knowledge or external documentation to get something set up or to work the way you want it to. Self documentation means the gadget, software program, or app guides you through everything you need to know to get it up and running. This can take the form of wizards, tips, or leading questions that get you where you want to go quickly and intuitively.

We've tried hard to do the same thing with our employee time clock software. Let's face it, there are two types of people in the world, those who read instructions and those who don't. I happen to be an instruction reader, my daughter is not. If she had to read a twenty page users guide just to get her iPod Touch up and going, it would not have been pretty. Self documenting software caters to both kinds of people, it's intuitive enough not to frustrate the 'no instructions' types like my daughter, and yet provides enough hand holding for people like me who need a little reassurance every now and then. I truly believe you can have our free time clock software trial up and running in minutes, even if you're not technologically savvy. If you can't, then let me know because it means we've still got some work to do.

Jeff Morrow

Virtual TimeClock Product Specialist

Redcort Software

Getting Started Using Employee Time Clock Software

There are many reasons businesses choose to begin using employee time clock software. The two most common are to make the payroll process more efficient and to hold employees accountable for their time and attendance. Processing payroll is a labor and time intensive activity that contributes nothing to the bottom line of your business, and yet it's indispensable for keeping your business operating smoothly. Gathering timecards from a mechanical punch clock or collecting paper timesheets, adding up all the employee payroll hours with a calculator, applying different overtime rules, and converting the hours worked to decimal format for easier payroll entry all require a tremendous amount of time and effort, every single payroll period. Employee time clock software can help consolidate or even eliminate most of these procedures.

Learn how to have a successful time and attendance implementation by reading our new online article called How To Get Started Using Employee Time Clock Software.

Biometric Time Clock Software - Part 3

I mentioned before how we've been pursuing biometric integration with our Virtual TimeClock software over the last 5 years. "What's the holdup?" you ask. Well, for starters we're unique in the time and attendance industry in that we provide employee time clock software for both Apple Mac and Microsoft Windows computers. You can network any combination of Macs and PCs together, we don't care. These networked time clocks will work together seamlessly. Because we're a dual platform time clock solution (possibly soon to be three platform...), we need to deploy functionality and features that work basically the same on both Macs and PCs.

Based on our research into biometric hardware, the fingerprint scanner seemed to have the most deployment flexibility. Retina scans may seem a little over the top as a buddy punching deterrent (but I'm sure they'd be extremely effective!). Biometric fingerprint scanners work on either touch or swipe technology. Swipe technology takes a little more practice to properly enroll the finger and then match the stored fingerprint template when clocking in and out. The touch sensors seem to be easier to use for doing both the initial fingerprint enrollment and subsequent matching. Here's how it works. Several unique features about your fingerprint are stored as a template based on an algorithm. It's entirely safe because they can't be extracted and used to reconstruct an image of your fingerprint later. This template is converted into a value that gets stored with your user ID in the time clock software database. Your fingerprint swipe is then used for both identification when punching in and out, and access to the different parts of the program. Think of it as a fancy password replacement.

Companies like SecuGen and DigitalPersona have had biometric fingerprint scanners available for the PC market for a numbers of years, but nothing for the Mac. Well, that changed a couple of years ago when a company called UPEK released their Eikon fingerprint scanner for the Mac. We were ecstatic and immediately contacted the company. It took several more years of going back and forth but they've finally released the development tools we need to integrate Virtual TimeClock with their fingerprint scanners on both Windows and Mac. This means biometric time clock software is one of our hot 'to do' items this year. I'll be sure to provide more details as they become available. We like what we've seen so far, an easy-to-use USB fingerprint scanner that's resonably priced and convenient to purchase from online retailers like amazon.com.

Jeff Morrow

Virtual TimeClock Product Specialist

Redcort Software

Free Time Clock Software Trials

Wouldn't it be great if we could take home our purchases and try them out before deciding if we want to keep them? That's exactly what many employee time clock software vendors are providing with their free time clock software trials. It's kind of like a dating relationship. You get to find out if you're compatible, what character traits you like and which ones are likely to drive you crazy, and are there any red flags that would prevent a long-term relationship. This provides an environment to test the relationship before moving forward with a large commitment of resources, both time and money.

Learn more time clock software review strategies by reading our new online article called Free Time Clock Software Trials - 4 Reasons to Try Before You Buy.

Biometric Time Clock Software - Part 2

As I mentioned in the last post, businesses are looking for biometric employee time clock software integration to primarily solve two issues. The first issue is related to security, what we in the time and attendance industry refer to as "buddy punching". Buddy punching occurs when an employee leaves early and has his colleague punch him out at his scheduled end time. Or he's going to be late so he has his fellow worker clock him in when he's supposed to start. Both amount to time theft from the employer and are serious offenses. Now requiring a unique password to punch in and out can certainly help the situation, especially if the assigned worker passwords are something as private as social security numbers. However, you're still going to come across employees that don't care who knows information about them that's supposed to be private and secure if they can leave early and still get paid for a full day of work. The bottom line is, those who want to cheat the system will usually figure out a way, even if it's using silly Putty or Play-Doh to hack the fingerprint scanner. Do you know of any real biometric scanner hacks that have been successful? Drop me a comment and let me know.

The second issue is related to efficiency. Sometimes this is just a matter of trying to force too many objects through a funnel at the same time, it's going to be slow or get clogged. The same is true when you're trying to force too many employees to use the same employee time clock software station at the same time. You're going to create a logjam that's inefficient and frustrates employees, which may feed the buddy punching issue we've already discussed. A biometric time clock software solution may help relieve the problem, but there's still a practical limit to how many employees can access a particular time clock station at any given time. You may be better off going to network computer time clock software which will give employees various places to punch in and out from. Or better yet, use personal time clocks on all the employee computer workstations.

Although biometric time clock software appears at first glance to completely solve the issues of security and efficiency, it's still best to consider all of your time and attendance needs before committing to a single solution.

Jeff Morrow

Virtual TimeClock Product Specialist

Redcort Software

Biometric Time Clock Software - Part 1

Biometric integration is one of our top requested features, and I talk to a lot of business owners and managers about their time and attendance needs. It seems that businesses are looking for biometric employee time clock software integration for two main reasons: security and efficiency.

Security

The most popular reason is to prevent buddy punching. With a mechanical punch clock, I can leave at 4:00 and tell my buddy to punch me out at 5:00. Even with time clock programs that are password protected, I can just give my buddy my password and still head out early. The only way to completely remedy a situation like this is to either take a photo snapshot at every punch in and out and then compare the images to worker punch times, or require biometric authentication. If I want to buddy punch, I have to either disguise my colleague to look like myself or cut off a finger! Both seem a little too drastic just to cheat the company out of a couple hours work.

Efficiency

The second reason is to streamline the punch in and out process. Employers don't want workers having to fiddle around with the mouse and keyboard, select their name from a list, and enter a password. Rather, they want a worker to walk up to the time clock and swipe a finger that will both recognize who they are and punch them in all from that one finger swipe. This is usually an attempt to eliminate lines forming at the time clock station during times of heavy use.

Did I miss any other significant reasons for moving to a biometric based time and attendance system? Please drop me a comment and let me know.

We've been chasing biometric integration with our Virtual TimeClock software for the last 5 years, cultivating relationships and testing technologies. We made a breakthrough last month with a vendor who can now provide biometric fingerprint scanner support on both Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac.

Jeff Morrow

Virtual TimeClock Product Specialist

Redcort Software

Control Overtime With Employee Time Clock Software

It takes a lot of time, effort, and resources to run a business, no matter what the size. To some extent, all businesses have to deal with employees, customer satisfaction, and expenses. Of these, businesses are always looking for easy ways to cut expenses. In a strong economy it is easy to overlook the small inefficiencies because the bottom line is healthy. In a weak economy, businesses need to look carefully at all of their processes and procedures to see where to trim the inefficiencies and make every dollar count. Some business costs are generally fixed, like rent. Others may fluctuate from month to month, like the utility bill. For many businesses, the greatest drain on company expenses is payroll. And the greatest drain on payroll is the working of unauthorized overtime. Employee time clock software is the perfect solution for eliminating unnecessary employee overtime.

Learn more about controlling employee overtime costs by reading our new online article called Control Overtime With Employee Time Clock Software.

Improve Payroll Accuracy

The more time you spend manually processing payroll by calculating hours, trying to determine when overtime rules apply, and deciphering the cryptic notes left on punch clock cards, the more likely you are to make a mistake. Manual payroll processing is prone to human error, errors that can cost you time and money. Employee time clock software performs all the complicated calculations for you by applying your payroll rules.

Learn more about making your payroll process more efficient and accurate by reading our new online article called Improve Payroll Accuracy - 4 Reasons to Use Employee Time Clock Software.

Celebrating 25 Years of Time Clock Software Excellence

Milestones are events that mark significant changes or stages in development. In 2011, Redcort Software is celebrating 25 years of publishing, developing, and supporting time and attendance software. Now that's a significant milestone! We're certainly proud of the fact that tens of thousands of workers in over 50 countries rely on our Virtual TimeClock software everyday.

We try to keep up on our close competitors, I think all businesses do. We're happy to go head-to-head with any of them. That's what makes capitalism so grand. The time and attendance software market is certainly a volatile one. Here's a recent case that illustrates the point. The company using the websites www.punch-clock.com, www.lionclock.com, and www.lion-clock.com was found guilty of trademark violation and forced to surrender these domain names. The former owner of these domains, LionClock Software, is currently in bankruptcy court. If you're a current LionClock software user, please take a look at our free time clock software trial. I think you'll like what you see. After all, we've been doing this for 25 years now.

Time clock software vendors seem to be a dime a dozen, but not all time clock software programs are created equal. The old adage "you get what you pay for" definitely applies here. LionClock claims to have been around since 2001, which may or may not be true. That doesn't seem to matter to the companies that are calling us frustrated because their LionClock software no longer works and the company isn't responding to their frantic requests for help. With scenarios like this (and this isn't an isolated case), save yourself a lot of time, money, and frustration by doing a little research to find out who's behind the time clock software you intend purchasing. Any legitimate company shouldn't be afraid of chatting with you about their history and background. Here's a big hint. If the only way to contact them is via email or an online form, do yourself a favor an go on to the next company, no matter how inexpensive their time clock software is.

Here's to another 25 years!

Jeff Morrow

Virtual TimeClock Product Specialist

Redcort Software

Control Employee Overtime with Virtual TimeClock '11

Virtual TimeClock '11 is now available. We've added powerful new clock in and out rules to the latest release of our employee time clock software that allow you to control unnecessary employee overtime by setting shift restrictions and creating employee schedules. New shift reports, calculation of shift differentials, shift summaries, and late arrival reports compliment the new clock in and out rules. The engineers have worked hard enhancing the worker action dialog with new action and warning icons, and clearly alerting users when they're in violation of shift rules and how to proceed.

Learn more about Virtual TimeClock '11:

Virtual TimeClock '11 Press Release

See the new clock in and out rules in action:

Time Clock Software Slideshow

Jeff Morrow

Virtual TimeClock Product Specialist

Redcort Software