Punching The Clock

QuickBooks Time Clock

2012-01-27T14:26:00.000-08:00

January is usually the busiest month of the year at Redcort Software and this year is no exception. The engineers are busy putting the finishing touches on Virtual TimeClock '12. I think it's going to be our most significant upgrade since Virtual TimeClock '09. The new administrative command center is awesome! It unites all the administrative tools under one password umbrella. I can also share with all you Intuit fans that Virtual TimeClock '12 will have time clock payroll integration with QuickBooks desktop for Windows. You'll be able to import hours from Virtual TimeClock directly into QuickBooks timesheets for easy payroll processing. Sorry Mac users, but QuickBooks for Mac doesn't allow importing into timesheets.

Be on the lookout for the Virtual TimeClock '12 announcement. It's right around the corner!

Jeff Morrow
Virtual TimeClock Product Specialist
Redcort Software, Inc.

2012 Time Clock Plans

2012-01-12T16:28:00.000-08:00

While 2011 has been a productive year, I'm really excited about what's planned for 2012. At the risk of personal injury (engineers don't like it when I share what's on the drawing board), here are the time clock software features we're working on for 2012:

Personal time clock client - designed for single user workstations with all the administrative functions removed for easy setup and use.
PIN client for groups - designed for multi-user time clock stations with ID based access to provide more anonymity and make it easier to use with large worker lists.
Administrative control panel - all the administrative functions consolidated under one command center.
Security enhancements - challenge questions and biometric integration to completely eliminate buddy punching.
Multiple time zone support - run time clocks in different time zones without the need for separate time clock servers.
iOS apps - Iv'e seen the iPhone and iPad user interface mock ups, prepare to be blown away!

We'll keep you posted on new developments.

Jeff Morrow
Virtual TimeClock Product Specialist
Redcort Software, Inc.

2011 Time Clock Software Year In Review

2011-12-30T16:45:00.000-08:00

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?

2011-12-28T12:04:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-30T11:33:00.000-08:00

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?

2011-10-13T15:14:00.000-07:00

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

2011-09-23T14:46:00.000-07:00

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

2011-09-09T11:05:00.000-07:00

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

2011-08-26T17:02:00.000-07:00

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

2011-08-26T13:06:00.000-07:00

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

2011-08-12T15:47:00.000-07:00

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?

2011-07-28T14:10:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-15T16:42:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-14T11:30:00.000-07:00

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

2011-06-17T09:56:00.000-07:00

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

2011-06-03T10:20:00.000-07:00

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:

Employees print, verify, and sign off on time card hours
Employees submit time cards to manager for approval
Manager makes any necessary edits, approves or rejects time cards
Rejected time cards are returned to employee for clarification or further action
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?

2011-05-16T10:12:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-11T15:18:00.000-07:00

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.

2011-02-16T08:54:00.000-08:00

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

2011-02-10T08:16:00.000-08:00

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

2011-02-09T15:20:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-31T10:08:00.000-08:00

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

Virtual TimeClock '10 Year In Review

2010-12-15T08:42:00.000-08:00

We've been very pleased with the response we've received this year from customers and the media regarding our latest Virtual TimeClock software releases and the other time and attendance resources we've introduced. And I'm very excited about what's coming in 2011, especially the employee overtime control measures included in Virtual TimeClock '11.

Here's a recap of the highlights from 2010:

Jan 19 - Virtual TimeClock '10 is released with tools to help businesses reduce payroll costs
Jan 19 - Macworld magazine provides exclusive coverage of Virtual TimeClock '10
Mar 5 - Redcort Software releases a free time card calculator that provides employees with an easy way to total daily and weekly hours in a convenient printable timesheet
Mar 30 - Macworld magazine reviews Virtual TimeClock '10 Network Edition (4 out of 5 mice)
May 12 - Virtual TimeClock '10 Release 1.1 introduces optimizations for large businesses
May 27 - Fresno mayor highlights Virtual TimeClock in annual state of the city address
Aug 1 - CPA Technology Advisor applauds Virtual TimeClock for simplifying time tracking
Aug 24 - Virtual TimeClock '10 Release 2 brings payroll integration to make payday easier
Sep 3 - Mac|Life magazine reviews Virtual TimeClock '10 Pro Edition (rated 4 out of 5)
Sep 3 - SurePayroll announces partnership with Redcort Software to bring payroll discounts to Virtual TimeClock users
Nov 18 - Redcort software releases free time & attendance resources to provide businesses with handy reference tools

As you can see, this makes for a busy and satisfying year. And we have some exciting plans for 2011 to keep Virtual TimeClock at the forefront of the time and attendance industry!

Jeff Morrow

Virtual TimeClock Product Specialist

Redcort Software

Free Time and Attendance Tools

2010-12-02T10:08:00.000-08:00

The Internet has certainly changed the way we access and interact with information. Unfortunately, much of the information you encounter on the Web is outdated, inaccurate, misleading, or just so disorganized it's of no practical value.

Since we're in the business of time and attendance, we get asked a lot about overtime laws and overtime rules for each state. So I started thinking, "If people are asking us, they must not be able to easily find the answers they need elsewhere." With that in mind, we decided to expand our time clock software web site to offer businesses looking for helpful time and attendance resources with some handy reference tools. We thought gathering these tools "under one roof" so to speak would be a great way to help business owners and HR professionals find some of the answers they're looking for.

State overtime rules

This reference tool brings together an easy-to-use summary of daily, weekly, and any premium pay rules for every U.S. state and territory.

Federal and bank holidays

This reference tool includes a set of calendars of common holidays observed by U.S. businesses and all of the U.S. federal holidays for four consecutive years.

These free time and attendance resources join our free time card calculator that provides employees with an easy way to total daily and weekly hours in a convenient printable timesheet.

Jeff Morrow

Redcort Software

Time Card Software Reviews - Can They Be Trusted?

2010-10-08T11:15:00.000-07:00

I find reading reviews helpful when I'm researching something new. For example, if I'm looking for a new pair of running shoes, I always appreciate reading honest feedback from other consumers about things like comfort and fit. I'll also check side-by-side comparisons or reviews of different running shoes to see how they rate against one another in various categories. I expect these comparisons and reviews to be relatively objective and unbiased. Being raised on Consumer Reports, I'm still naive enough to believe that's how it works everywhere. Well, my eyes have been opened.

TopTenREVIEWS is a site that includes rankings, reviews, and side-by-side comparisons for products and services in categories such as software, electronics, web services, mobile, movies, music, and video games. All these categories, incidentally, represent $565 billion in consumer spending each year. No wonder TopTenREVIEWS wants a piece of the action. Their main goal is to send you to a site they're promoting and hope you buy the product. Because if you do, they get up to 60% of the sale!

They have a time card software review site that has changed little in the last 4 years. If you're willing to give them $1,500, then they'll review your product and reshuffle the listings based on the review results. For another $1,500 they'll make a short video of your time card software review as well. If that's not enough, when a consumer clicks on the affiliate link to buy your time card software then they'll take a 30% or higher commission on the sale!

What do you think that says about the time card software publishers who have to buy their reviews? I'm so glad Virtual TimeClock doesn't need gimmicks or spam-review sites to prove it's one of the best time card software products on the market. Our independent time clock software reviews support this. These are not 'pay for placement' sites, nor do they require you to become an 'affiliate partner' like TopTenREVIEWS.

Mac|Life Magazine - Review of Virtual TimeClock '10 Pro Edition

CPA Technology Advisor - Virtual TimeClock Simplifies Time Tracking

Macworld Magazine - Review of Virtual TimeClock '10 Network Edition

CNET - Review of Virtual TimeClock '10 Basic Edition

It's widely known that spam-review sites rank products that earn them more money higher, contain inaccurate and outdated information, and shouldn't be relied upon. The TopTenREVIEWS motto is "We Do the Research So You Don't Have To". I vote they change that to "We Sell Reviews So You Get Outdated and Biased Information".

Jeff Morrow

Virtual TimeClock Product Specialist

Redcort Software

Virtual TimeClock + Payroll Integration = Worry Free Payday

2010-08-26T15:04:00.001-07:00

I'm always a little anxious when we release a new version of our employee time clock software. It's not because I'm worried about it not working like it should since I know the engineering is solid and the QA team has run it through the paces. I think it's more because I want each of our customers to be able to use all of the new features. I know that's not practical. Although each new release of Virtual TimeClock contains new features and functionality that help our customers reduce payroll costs and make their time and attendance processes more efficient, not all customers may find those features useful. For some, their office workflow renders certain features unnecessary. For others, it's different business rules.

I must confess that the anxiety I usually feel with a new time clock software release was conspicuously absent with Virtual TimeClock '10 Release 2. And I think the reason is that the new payroll integration with leading payroll service providers like SurePayroll, Paychex, and PayChoice provides functionality that all of our customers need, since all of our customers deal with payroll on a regular basis. This new release even provides payroll integration with AccountEdge accounting software. Even better, we've partnered with SurePayroll, the leading online payroll service, to provide Virtual TimeClock software users with special pricing and benefits. So not only does this new employee time clock software release help reduce your payroll costs with flat monthly rates, it reduces data entry errors as well. Both of which save you money.

A worry free release gives all of our customers a worry free payday.

Jeff Morrow

Product Manager - Virtual TimeClock

Redcort Software

Maintaining Labor Compliance

2010-07-21T16:33:00.000-07:00

Small business owners can spend many hours processing payroll each pay period. And this does not include all the time spent trying to stay current with labor laws and business regulations. Business expansion becomes a double-edged sword as hiring more employees often means bringing on additional payroll specialists to accommodate your company's growth and monitor increasing payroll compliance. Many companies turn to outsourcing their payroll processing and labor management to help cut costs and leverage revenue. Whether you choose to outsource your payroll processes or keep them in-house, payroll time clock software will help you maintain labor compliance by enforcing employee accountability, ensuring overtime rules are followed, reporting other payroll income, and tracking employee time and attendance.

Learn how employee time clock software can help simplify your payroll processes by reading our new online article called Maintain Labor Compliance With Payroll Time Clock Software.

Choosing the Best Payroll Time Clock Software

2010-07-20T08:03:00.000-07:00

It is not unusual to spend hours collecting and totaling employee time cards each payroll period. Hand written time sheets are usually filled out the day before payroll is due, and time cards from a mechanical or electric time clock are usually full of hand written notes explaining missed or late punches. All of those notes have to be deciphered, interpreted, and corrected before payroll can be processed. This just increases the time and effort required to prepare payroll for input into your payroll software, or sent to your accountant or payroll service. Payroll time clock software makes it easy to go from time clock to paycheck in a few simple steps by automating your payroll process. So whether you choose to outsource your payroll processes or keep them in-house, the best payroll time clock software will help you avoid labor intensive payroll processing by instantly applying your business payroll rules, generating accurate payroll reports, quickly exporting your payroll data, and automatically archiving your payroll records.

Learn what sets apart the best payroll time clock software by reading our new online article called Payroll Time Clock Software - Choosing the Best.

Fresno Mayor Highlights Virtual TimeClock in State of The City Address

2010-06-25T16:31:00.000-07:00

In her May 27, 2010 State of the City Address, Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin highlighted Virtual TimeClock and Redcort Software as a leading technology company in California's 5th largest city.

Here's a three minute clip:

Jeff Morrow has been lobbying for some new t-shirts. On the front it says "Redcort Software". On the back it says, "You gotta come to Fresno". Thanks for the shout out Mayor Swearengin!

Standing in the Spotlight

2010-06-24T11:03:00.000-07:00

We all like to be recognized for our efforts. Of course, some like the recognition more than others. Some just enjoy doing their jobs well and remaining out of the spotlight and behind the scenes. But it's always nice to know you're appreciated and that the work you're doing is not going unnoticed. So you can imagine our surprise and delight when our Virtual TimeClock software was mentioned by name in the recent State of the City 2010 Address by Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin.

Mayor Swearengin was describing things that Fresno City Hall is doing, and going to do, to promote local businesses. She went on to describe several technology firms that are headquartered in Fresno, including Redcort Software. She acknowledged our contributions to the global economy because of our international presence. We now have employee time clock software users in over 50 countries! She mentioned our relevance to current technology trends because of our recent Macworld time clock software review. Finally, she captured our corporate culture perfectly when she described being able to sit down and have a cup of coffee with the founder of our company. He's even been known to pick up the phones after hours and help customers get their time clock software back up and running after a computer crash!

Like I said at the beginning, it's nice to be recognized for your efforts. But that's not why we do what we do. We strive to be the best time and attendance software company because of the internal satisfaction we receive from knowing we're doing things to the best of our abilities, even when we're not standing directly in the spotlight.

Jeff Morrow

Redcort Software

Computer Time Clock Software is the Best Choice For Time and Attendance Tracking

2010-06-23T08:10:00.000-07:00

The 1990s were an important era for small businesses as more and more companies embraced the new Computer Age birthed by wide spread acceptance of the Internet and moved their business practices to a digital format. This age has often been characterized by the ability to freely transfer information, and to have instant access to information that would have been difficult to find or retrieve before. General ledgers, employee payroll, and banking were quickly moved from labor intensive paper bookkeeping to electronic storage and processing. Time and attendance practices followed the trend as computer time clock software started to replace mechanical punch clocks. Software based time and attendance systems greatly reduced the amount of time needed to prepare employee time cards for payroll processing by automatically totaling employee hours and overtime. Time card software also reduced the reliance on mechanical or electronic punch clocks that were subject to failure and expensive to replace or repair. This shift has allowed business owners to reap the benefits of reduced operating costs because computer time clock software is inexpensive, east to maintain, increases employee accountability, is efficient, and makes payroll processing easy.

Find out why time clock software is the best choice for employee time tracking by reading our new online article called 5 Reasons Computer Time Clock Software is the Best Choice For Time and Attendance Tracking.

Computer Time Clock Software for Punch Clock Replacement

2010-06-21T16:39:00.000-07:00

When the first employee punch clock was invented in 1888, its only purpose was to record the time employees entered and left the factory. The date and time information stamped on the original timecard gave the factory owner an official record of the time worked by each employee. Today, punch clocks are expensive to buy, difficult to maintain, reduce employee accountability, are inefficient, and make payroll processing difficult. In our current technologically advanced business environment, computer time clock software is the best choice for punch clock replacement.

Learn the reasons why every business needs to get rid of their punch clock by reading our new online article called Computer Time Clock Software - 5 Reasons You Need a Punch Clock Replacement.

Comparing Time and Attendance Software

2010-06-15T10:04:00.000-07:00

There are many reasons businesses choose to update their employee time and attendance systems. For some, the cost of maintaining mechanical and electronic punch clocks make them impractical choices when cutting costs is paramount to survival in a difficult economy. Others are wanting to hold employees accountable with something more than a paper timecard or manual timesheet. In other words, they are looking for an accurate and impartial way to pay employees for actual hours worked. If any of these reasons sound familiar, then employee time and attendance software may be the perfect option for your business.

Learn what questions to ask when comparing employee time clock software by reading our new online article called Comparing Time and Attendance Software - 4 Questions to Ask.

Choosing Employee Time Clock Software

2010-06-08T14:59:00.000-07:00

If you are an owner or manager of a business, you know the frustrations that come with trying to keep track of employee time and attendance. There are lots of options available, depending on your needs. If you would like to move away from mechanical punch clocks and paper timesheets, then employee computer time clock software may be exactly what you need to help your business simplify payroll processing, ensure attendance compliance, and manage labor costs. Not all time and attendance software programs are created equal, so it is important to find the right time tracking system for your business. If a free download is available from the vendor, then you should give it a try. Just make sure that the free time clock software download has all the same features as the actual program you will be asked to pay for. When reviewing time and attendance software, make sure you consider what features the program has to offer, what reports are available within the program, how user friendly the program is, and whether help is available during and after the time clock software review process.

Learn how to choose employee time clock software by reading our new online article called Choosing Employee Time Clock Software - 4 Easy Review Criteria.

Employee Time Clock Software Benefits

2010-06-04T14:39:00.000-07:00

A traditional timesheet allows employees to record when they start and end specific tasks. For some employees, this just amounts to starting work in the morning and punching out at the end of the day. For others, this may involve keeping detailed start and end times for various activities, projects, or jobs throughout the day. Whatever your business needs, time and attendance software allows your employees to record this information much more easily, accurately, and objectively. Employee computer time clock software can help lower the operating costs of your business by making payroll processing more efficient, ensuring attendance compliance, making labor costs more visible so you can lower them if necessary, and helping automate the billing or invoicing of your clients.

Learn the benefits of employee time clock software by reading our new online article called Employee Time Clock Software - 4 Money Saving Benefits.

Job Security

2010-05-25T13:11:00.000-07:00

Google's 'Search Stories' campaign led me to ponder my last 25 years as a software developer. The result is my story in 60 seconds. I called it Job Security.

While not directly related to our employee time clock software, it does give a little back story and a hint at the future!

Taking Time Off The Clock

2010-05-12T14:02:00.000-07:00

As the leader of a business that publishes employee time clock software, we help employers all over the world easily manage their employee time and attendance. I find it a little ironic that my current inspiration has come from some time far away from the punch clock.

Having been immersed in the thrill of leading our fast growing company, I've somehow managed to go nearly eight years without taking a real, completely disconnected, extended vacation. My resolution for 2010 was to remedy this imbalance in my life. So my wife and I decided to celebrate our wedding anniversary by returning to Hawaii for the first time since our honeymoon twenty-two years ago. By the time I returned to work 12 days later, I was deeply impressed by the importance of unwinding, altering the pace, and changing scenery. The following are a few of the things I continue to reflect on a week after my return:

Anticipation adds to the enjoyment of doing.
Prior to our trip, several friends recommended we pick up a travel guide called Maui Revealed. In the week leading up to our departure and while we were gone, my wife and I spent a number of evenings reading the book and discussing things we would like to do and see. Maui Revealed turned out to be an unusually informative, frank, and even funny read that greatly added to the enjoyment of our vacation. Something unexpected arrived with our reading - the joy of anticipation. We found ourselves looking forward to adventures with excitement. Many experiences were enriched with insights and observations that we most certainly would have otherwise missed. I return from vacation with a renewed appreciation for anticipation. I've made a commitment to be more intentional about anticipating upcoming events in my professional and personal life.

If you haven't experienced wonder lately, you're not completely alive.

One of the our favorite activities on Maui was snorkeling. I cannot begin to explain the sense of wonder I felt each time I drifted along in warm, salty ocean, joining effortlessly in the unhurried life of huge sea turtles and tropical fishes of an amazing array of colors and sizes. The backdrop of coral in pink and blue and green, together with the sea life that lives among them, left me feeling like I was swimming in an enormously beautiful aquarium. Only this was completely organic and therefore unlike man's attempt to capture and imitate the beauty of nature. These adventures comforted me with the knowledge that I belong to a benevolent maker of unimaginable creative genius. Unexpectedly (but I guess not surprisingly) I've discovered a renewed freshness in my own creative impulses.

Life is richer when you enjoy others.
Another unexpected highlight of our trip was the Wednesday evening we spent at Warren and Annebelle's in Lahaina Town on Maui. We started the evening with such fantastic food, service, and conversation that I would have gladly paid double for the privilege. A two hour show followed that completed one of the most enjoyable evenings we have had together. Warren Gibson is a close-up magician with hilarious comedic timing and pretty amazing showmanship. The evening reminded me how important it is to break from my own world of activity to enjoy someone else's talents and abilities. We have committed to one another that we're going to get out a little more often!

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
It's an old truism, I know. But the truth is that as the vacation ended, I returned with a new vividness in my life. As I rode my bike that first day back, I was struck by the sights and sounds and smells in the beautiful park I ride through on my way to work. I wondered how long I had been so dull towards the world and people around me.

It's one thing to know, or even say, that there is more to life than the pleasure of a job well done, even a job well loved. It's quite another to experience more of life by actually stepping completely away from the daily routine and responsibilities. I welcome the balance and perspective it has brought as I once again find it's time to punch the clock.

Keith DeLong
Redcort Software

Whatever Happened to Customer Service?

2010-04-27T10:46:00.000-07:00

We take customer service for our time and attendance software very seriously. When customers need help with their time clock software, or prospective customers have questions about Virtual TimeClock, we want to leave them delighted by the experience. But have you ever tried to define customer service? Some would certainly say it's how well a company consistently meets the needs of its customers. But that sounds like the focus is on the company meeting some minimum level of customer acceptance, and not on the customer whose needs may be unique and not even fully known. I think the definition of good customer service can only come from the customer. If customers are delighted by the service they receive, then that's good customer service. Even though companies try to objectively measure customer service success, it's essentially individual and subjective. What it takes to delight one customer may be qualitatively and quantitatively different from what it takes to delight another.

I had a recent customer service experience that I'd like to share. I had the unpleasant duty of needing to switch my broadband from DSL to cable, which meant switching Internet service providers. I called to set everything up, a 6 month promotional rate and then 6 months at the regular rate. Of course, it took longer than I expected. Of course, I was skeptical of the promotional promises. Of course, I had been lied to by the time the transaction was completed. But it was done, I wouldn't even need to think about it for another year, or would I?

Then I received my first invoice. I wasn't billed at the promotional rate I had agreed to when signing up. Score: Jeff = 0, ISP = 1. So I called the number on the invoice as directed if I had any billing questions. The live attendant said I'd need to call a different number before 6:00pm in order to get help with a billing question. I was thanked for my business, well wished, and asked if anything else could be done for me. Score: Jeff = 0, ISP = 2. The second call (before 6:00pm this time) went something like this: "We don't even offer a promotion for that amount", "We have a promotion that almost matches, but it requires phone service and you didn't order phone service", "The computer won't let me just enter an amount, I have to have a promotional code". I was told my best bet would be to start an instant online chat with someone in sales. Again, I was thanked for my business, well wished, and asked if anything else could be done for me. Score: Jeff = 0, ISP = 3. So I moved on to the infamous online chat. This time I was told that promotion was no longer available, but they'd see what they could do. Questions, waiting, more questions, more waiting. I was finally offered a solution that seemed satisfactory. I couldn't get the 6 month promotional rate I was promised, but I could get a slightly higher rate for a longer period of time. I immediately jumped at the opportunity because 1) this promotion may not be available after the next 5 minutes, and 2) it saved me more money in the long run than the original, and that's a good thing. Again, I was thanked for my business, well wished, and asked if anything else could be done for me. For the first time I could answer, "No thanks, you've done enough." So here's my little customer service analysis based on this recent experience.

What they did wrong:

Don't lie to your customers, ever.
Don't dangle a carrot in front of your customers and then yank it away because they don't meet some hidden qualification.
Don't put the blame on another person, the computer, or the "system".
Don't make your customers do all the leg work to get their issue resolved.

What they did right:

Kept accurate, up-to-date documentation in my record that even included the original promotional amount I was offered.
At least 1 person took responsibility until a solution was found.
Found something better for me, rather than just an equivalent offer.

Let me leave you with an analogy. Boiled chicken can meet certain of my nutritional needs, but it doesn't have much flavor. It doesn't delight the palette to say the least. But take your boiled chicken and combine it with other ingredients to make kung pao chicken, and now you've got a dish that delights the senses (at least mine, remember customer service is a subjective experience). I know Redcort Software has learned a few things about customer service after nearly 15 years in the time and attendance software industry. And I hope we continue to provide customer service that delights the senses of each individual we come into contact with.

Have a comcastic day!

Jeff Morrow

Redcort Software

How Do You Want to be Remembered?

2010-03-18T10:55:00.000-07:00

In celebration of St. Patrick's Day, I decided to do a little research on the man who's inspired the color, the clover, and the corned beef. Legend has it that St. Patrick was responsible for driving all the snakes from Ireland. That's not a bad thing to have on your resume, that is, if your island had a problem with snakes (biologists don't think there ever were any snakes in Ireland).

This got me thinking about how I want to be remembered. I mean, there could be a lot of empty space on a grave stone between the year you're born and the year you die. It's hard to come up with a one-liner that summarizes your life. Should it be your main accomplishment, a favorite quote, your life motto, a mission statement, or maybe just a simple R.I.P?

Naturally, this flowed into my work environment. How do I want Redcort Software to be remembered? Maybe even more appropriate is how I want Redcort Software to be known in the time and attendance industry right now? I'd like Redcort Software to be known for our mission (what we've set out to do), our values (how we go about doing it), and our reputation (how others think our values support our mission).

Our Mission

We've made it our mission to develop, publish, and support time and attendance software that helps free businesses from the unproductive cycle of repetitive tasks and unavailable information. This means our time clock software incorporates features that make the lives of our customers easier. We've eliminated the time spent gathering and totaling timecards from manual punch clocks and hand written timesheets. Our Virtual TimeClock software greatly reduces payroll errors with automatic rounding rules and break deductions. That's why we added a powerful report writer, so you can quickly get your time clock data the way you need it for your accountant, management team, or payroll company.

Our Values

We value excellence. This means we're committed to working hard to produce and support time and attendance software products that exceed the expectations of our customers. That's why we've never outsourced product development or technical support overseas. We believe nobody can help, listen to, and anticipate the needs of our customers like we can.

We value our customers. This means we're committed to doing business the old fashioned way. You'll always talk to a live person during regular business hours. And if you leave a message after hours, we'll always call you back promptly the next business day. Our regular time clock software releases are a direct result of listening to our customers and what they need to simplify their payroll, manage their labor costs, track their employee attendance compliance, and organize their businesses.

We value each other. This means we're committed to recognizing the value in others by expressing appreciation, acceptance, and concern for those we come in contact with.

Our Reputation

Our customers are responsible for transforming Redcort Software into an industry leading time and attendance software publisher. We have the privilege of serving tens of thousands of time clock software users in over fifteen countries around the world. Just take a look at this small sample of Virtual TimeClock software users and what they're saying about our time clock software and our service.

I think all that could fill up the space on a corporate grave stone quite nicely. How do you want to be remembered? Unfortunately, snake exterminator is already taken.

The Pareto Principle Is Alive and Well

2010-02-18T12:40:00.000-08:00

You probably know what the Pareto principle is, although you may not know it by that name. It’s more commonly referred to as the ’80-20 rule’. It’s named after an Italian economist who at the beginning of the twentieth century observed that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population. He applied his observation at home and discovered that 20% of the pea pods in his garden contained 80% of the peas! It’s basically a rule of thumb that describes how something is shared by a particular set of participants. For example, you may see this rule in action as you wear 20% of your clothes 80% of the time, or spend 80% of your time with only 20% of your friends.

I saw the Pareto principle alive and well with our latest time clock software release. Here’s what I mean. Roughly 80% of our new timeclock software feature requests are for similar new functionality. This means that out of all of the feature requests we’ve received over the last several years, approximately 8 out of 10 customers consistently ask for similar new features or functionality (20% of the pea pods). The engineers were definitely able to tap into this principle when planning and developing Virtual TimeClock ’10.

Let me give you an example. The ability to track and limit the time employees have been on paid breaks has been a top requested new feature for some time. And while it seemed like a simple request, this feature required a tremendous amount of engineering effort to make it a reality. The same is true for tracking unpaid worker time and leave. Implementing these two requests completely changed timecard reports, how leave is accounted for, and how activities are tracked. However, implementing these two items at the same time with the related reporting improvements fulfilled an enormous number of our user feature requests. We also knew the 80-20 rule was in effect for the requests themselves. For every person who took the time to request these features, we knew there were many more Virtual TimeClock users who wanted the functionality but simply hadn’t submitted a request.

Rather than going for cool new eye candy, a glamorous new buzz word feature, or something a little less strenuous to implement, engineering decided to pull out all the stops and make Virtual TimeClock ’10 do more of what our users wanted it to do. It wasn't the easiest, cheapest, or quickest route to a new release. At the same time it was certainly the right thing for us to do. Virtual TimeClock ’10 gives our customers the tools they need to more effectively manage their employee time and attendance and payroll costs.

What does this mean for the future? Well, it definitely means biometrics, web clients, and integration with new payroll products. These things are important to us because they’re important technologies for our customers. As always, we’re letting our users drive our innovation for each Virtual TimeClock software release. The Pareto principle may just be a natural phenomenon, but it’s a great way for us to focus our efforts on the things our customers really need.

Virtual TimeClock '10 Release

2010-02-01T07:25:00.000-08:00

In these challenging economic times, businesses are working very hard to maintain profitability. Our customers tell us that controlling labor costs is a top priority today. Virtual TimeClock '10 builds on the strengths of past versions with useful new cost control features.

Most significantly, the new release enables employers to easily track paid and unpaid breaks and lunches, as well as manage unpaid leave. We also upgraded our timecard report writer to make access to the new information easy and intuitive.

Get more information on Virtual TimeClock '10 here:
Virtual TimeClock '10 Press Release

Check out the new release and get a free download here:
Virtual TimeClock '10 Home Page

Virtual TimeClock Software '09 R3.1 Update

2009-11-13T14:36:00.000-08:00

Last month's release of Virtual TimeClock '09 Release 3 contained over a dozen enhancements to timecard reports. The new 3.1 release addresses two reporting issues that have arisen as a result of the Release 3 changes. Release 3.1 is an important time clock software update that ensures timecard entries for future payroll periods are reliably totaled and included in timecard reports.

The Virtual TimeClock Basic Edition software is not a part of this update. If you are a Virtual TimeClock Network Edition user and are running '09 Release 3, you need only to update your Virtual TimeClock Pro Client software to Release 3.1. The Virtual TimeClock Server software is not a part of the 3.1 update.

Virtual TimeClock '09 Release 3

2009-10-29T15:51:00.000-07:00

Virtual TimeClock '09 Release 3 was made available today. The new release provides an often requested new feature: adding notes to timecard entries. Timecard notes can be used to note jobs or project tracking details, report mileage, tips, bonuses, or commissions right on the employee timecard. Employees can add a timecard note to explain a late arrival or early departure right when the event occurs.

Virtual TimeClock '09 Release 3 is compatible with the new Microsoft Windows 7 release. With the September announcement of Apple OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard support, Virtual TimeClock '09 is now fully compatible with Apple and Microsoft's newest operating systems.

We have also improved the user experience in Virtual TimeClock '09 Release 3 with over two dozen program enhancements. There is a complete list of changes in Virtual TimeClock '09 Release 3 on our web site.

Virtual TimeClock '09 Release 3 is a free upgrade for all users enrolled in our software Maintenance & Support program. We offer generously discounted upgrade pricing if you are not enrolled in our software Maintenance program.

Please contact us with any questions you have about the release. You can reply to this email, visit our web site, or call toll free from 8 AM to 5 PM PST at (888) 207-0005.

I hope you enjoy the new features and enhanced functionality we've put into Virtual TimeClock '09 Release 3!

Keith DeLong
Redcort Software

We Are the Champions!

2009-10-29T13:09:00.000-07:00

I was recently challenged to describe our business for a possible feature in a prominent magazine. They’re looking for what makes us unique and different, and why. They call this a ‘pitch’, which basically means you’re trying to persuade someone to buy or accept something.

This started a period of introspection. Software companies are a dime a dozen, so what makes us so special? Simply saying “Redcort Software is the best software company on the planet” may come across as being a little too subjective and one-sided. So I decided to do what I always do when faced with a question of this caliber, I made a list of what I know to be true.

We’ve been publishing our Virtual TimeClock software since 1986, that’s over 20 years of time and attendance software experience.
We’ve been online since 1997, well beyond the life expectancy of a dot com era company.
Our wide range of time tracking products allow us to grow with businesses of any size, so we’re able to actively pursue long-term customer relationships.
Tens of thousands of workers at businesses all over the world rely on Virtual TimeClock every single day, which means robust time tracking software.
Our time clock software helps free businesses from the unproductive cycle of repetitive tasks and unavailable information, allowing business owners to focus on what’s important.
We’re committed to producing and supporting software products that exceed the expectations of our customers, we hear it again and again… ease of use.
We recognize that our customers deserve our genuine appreciation for their business, so we reward them with regular Virtual TimeClock software updates and friendly, US based technical support.
We’re committed to doing business the old fashioned way, like picking up the phone rather than relying on an auto attendant.
We do our best to go the extra mile to satisfy a customer. I know, I know, that’s what businesses are supposed to say.

So after letting the evidence speak for itself, all I can say is, “Wow, Redcort Software is the best software company on the planet!” Now if I can just pitch it to the magazine publishers…

Jeff Morrow
Redcort Software

Confessions of a New Employee

2009-10-27T12:49:00.000-07:00

What Virtual TimeClock and working for Redcort Software has taught me:

Computers aren’t that scary - Especially when you’ve got great people to support you.

Coming to work for a software company, I had created a list in my mind for who I was expected to be. Right at the top was a need to be fully computer literate – which I was not. I knew my way around a computer in the general sense, I could write papers and search the web and create a ‘facebook’ account (ha), but nothing to the point that I felt up to par with people who work at software companies!

Oh, and working on a Mac – forget about it!

So how am I doing now? To my surprise and delight, Great! Turns out I’m exactly the kind of person you want when you call a software company. I completely relate to your situation and now I have the knowledge to help you out.. and luckily our time clock software is created for people like you and me!

Oh, and Macs... they’re Awesome!!

--MaggieJoy :’D

Redcort Software Customer Service

Meet Maggie Hofer!

2009-09-30T12:39:00.000-07:00

I'd like to introduce Maggie Hofer, our newest Customer Service Specialist at Redcort Software. She's a fantastic people person who loves to help others. When I asked Maggie to introduce herself, she said:

Hello hello! I’m excited to learn everything I can in order to provide the best experience for every customer. My hobbies include art, singing, humming, and whistling - as well as reading and sleeping (usually in that order). I really enjoy spending time with my friends and family. I was just married on August 8th, 2009!

I’m looking forward to getting to know our customers,

:) Maggie

She really does sing and hum her way though the day. In a short time Maggie already has a good handle on all of our internal business systems. Though she's new to the business of time clock software, she's already enthusiastically helping customers, learning from each new question about Virtual TimeClock software.

I hope you'll extend a warm welcome to Maggie as you're in contact with her by telephone or email.

Customer Care

2009-07-10T13:53:00.000-07:00

The latest Apple TV ad entitled "Customer Care" was especially interesting to me in light of our recent addition of a customer care position and the retirement of our auto-attendant.

I'm grateful our company understands that we don't just publish time clock software. We really do see ourselves as helping businesses in the vital task of managing their employee time and attendance. Software, like hardware needs a human interface.

Can you hear me now?

2009-07-02T15:32:00.000-07:00

We love automation at Redcort Software. As a case in point, take a look at our time and attendance software. It takes that old mechanical employee time clock and replaces it with an automated time management system. Timecard reports are automatically calculated and totaled instantly. Overtime calculations are always accurate on every timecard. But automation isn't so helpful in every facet of life as a trip through phone system purgatory reminded me recently.

I needed to correct a problem on a bill from a large utility company so I called the not so prominent help number displayed in the smallest imaginable font on the back of my bill. A delightful voice answered the phone and promptly asked me what language I’d like to continue in. I was tempted to say Sumerian, but decided to play it safe and continue in English. The same delightful female voice asked what my call was regarding. I was a little taken aback since I was expecting to hear a list of numerical choices to punch into my telephone keypad. My delayed response was not well received on the other end of the phone line. The still delightful voice told me in no uncertain terms that she didn’t recognize my response and that if I would be so kind as to state the purpose of my call she wouldn’t immediately terminate me, I mean terminate the call.

I sputtered something akin to “Billing question” and winced. She kindly repeated my response and then proceeded to ask me other pointed questions. I was starting to get the hang of this and in no time was rattling off responses like a pro. The best part about it was that she was polite, never lost patience, and spoke the King’s English.

Then the unfathomable happened. We came to a point in our conversation where she wasn’t happy with anything I said. I found our new relationship deteriorating rapidly and with a rookie move hit “0” for the operator. I thought that was my ace in the hole, it works all the time. Unfortunately, in this case a not so friendly voice firmly informed me to call back during regular business hours. Immediately, I was thrust back into the role of regular Joe, my fast track relationship with the pleasant auto attendant quickly forgotten.

Like many companies, we jumped on the phone system bandwagon many years ago, thinking the same thoughts as many small businesses, “An automated phone system will improve our time management by answering calls and routing them more efficiently than we can.” We've deliberately kept it simple over the years, limiting the system to one level of voice prompts. Our auto attendant has served us and our customers well.

Though we've never had complaints about our telephone system, at a recent management meeting we discovered everyone had a phone system horror story in our dealings with other companies. Since our culture is to treat others as we like to be treated, we quickly decided it was time to send our faithful auto attendant to an early retirement and pick up the telephone the old fashioned way.

For the past month, every Redcort Software call is answered by a live, friendly, helpful human being during business hours. It's pretty retro but we like it! Customers have been commenting on how great it is to have a live person pick up the phone. I’ve even heard them fumbling around on the other end of the line trying to take the phone off speaker because we answered so quickly.

That's our story. I’m not saying that auto attendants are bad. I’m just saying that when it comes to automation, I’d much rather deal with time clock software. After all, it doesn’t talk back.

It's A Girl!

2009-06-15T13:27:00.001-07:00

The public face (and voice) of Redcort Software has been predominately, though unintentionally, masculine. Our newest addition to the family is changing all that in a delightful way.

On June 1 Jessie Wilson came to work for us with the mandate to focus exclusively on serving the needs of our customers. Jessie is a perfect fit in the customer care role. She's smart, spunky and takes genuine personal interest in people. She's super organized and pays attention to details. We're confident that she's going to take our extraordinary customer service to a new level.

When asked, Jessie introduces herself this way:

Hi! I'm proud to be the new Customer Service Representative and the newest member to the Redcort family. Here’s a little glimpse into my world, outside of the office that is…

I spend time with the kids and families of Target Neighborhood, a ministry I’m involved in through my church. We’re partnered with an elementary school and have a Saturday Sports Program, Classroom Volunteers, Community Days and more. The volunteers and I have become like family so you will usually find me spending time with them.

I love music and playing my guitar now and then. I love painting and creating things with my hands. My nose can often be found stuck in a book while my hand is holding a cup of coffee. I can play a mean game of Catch Phrase when it's game time.

I look forward to serving my new Redcort family and our loyal customers. If you have a free minute feel free to send me a hello!

In these challenging economic times, it's easy to start thinking all businesses are struggling. In truth there are millions of healthy, growing businesses in the United States. We're thankful to be counted among them. Since healthy things grow, we're proud to welcome the arrival of a new member to the Redcort Software family!

The Second Coming

2009-05-17T07:45:00.000-07:00

We had several strategic meetings when Virtual TimeClock Pro was first approaching release in 2000. The question was what to do with with the original edition of Virtual TimeClock that had been so popular for over a decade? We decided to re brand the original (less featured) software as our 'Virtual TimeClock Standard Edition'. As a simple time clock software at a low price, it recorded employee hours and printed timecards as it always had. Unsurprisingly, the Standard Edition continued to be a popular product for us.

At the same time we knew the Standard Edition had a limited life span. The development tools we'd used to build the time clock software were no longer supported. To make matters worse, it was impossible to publish a Microsoft Windows version of the software since it was developed for Apple Macintosh OS 9 computers. After a couple of years new Macs were all shipping with the shiny new OS X operating system. Eventually Virtual TimeClock Standard Edition wouldn't even launch on a new Mac.

The Standard Edition of Virtual TimeClock software finally died a quiet and dignified death after a very long life. The huge popularity of our replacement Pro Edition blunted any sadness. It was also somehow comforting to know that Virtual TimeClock Standard Edition was joined by a host of other previously popular Mac OS 9 software.

This would be the end of the story except for an interesting trend that began to develop a little more than a year ago. We noticed an uptick in small businesses and startups contacting us looking for a simple time clock software solution at a budget price. We agonized initially, realizing Virtual TimeClock Standard Edition software would have been a wonderful fit in this space. We wished there was cross platform version of our faithful old Standard Edition time clock software.

Then the unthinkable happened. Stay tuned for details!

Are we there yet?

2009-04-30T16:03:00.000-07:00

Do you remember that childhood trip to Disneyland? You know the one, long hours sitting in the backseat of your parent’s car. You’re hungry, tired, and your little your sister keeps crossing the invisible boundary onto your side of the seat.

Back before the iPod, portable DVD players, and Game Boy Advance (the Atari 2600 wasn’t exactly mobile), we traveled the country in the backs of our parent’s cars with only one weapon in our time tracking arsenal… “Are we there yet?” I could see the back of my mother’s shoulders tense up each time the question was asked, my father remained grim faced and just depressed the gas pedal a little harder.

Over the past two years of trying to get our new time clock software to market, I’ve replayed those scenes from my childhood more often than I care to admit. It started out innocent enough, telling our customers about all the cool new features coming with the new time clock (Sure, you’ll be able to have breakfast with Donald Duck!). I mean nothing satisfies me more than being able to tell people what they want to hear. “You’ll be able to create as many leave categories as you want!” “No problem, you’ll be able to setup as many different overtime rules as you need!” “The server will even run as a background service!” “That’s coming in the next release!” The list goes on and on.

After awhile I began to doubt that what I was telling customers was ever really going to happen. The director of engineering kept assuring me it was just a matter of a little more time. Management meetings allowed me to witness the unveiling of key components in our time clock software engineering cycle. What I didn’t realize was that every time I told a customer “Display Groups in the upcoming release will solve that problem for you” an engineer heard “Are we there yet?” Shoulders tensed up and the gas pedal of the engineering machine just seemed to push a little harder.

Nothing restores a ten year old’s faith in his parent’s ability to provide for his happiness than being welcomed into the Magic Kingdom by Goofy’s timeless grin. Ah, the wait is over. Life is once again in balance. Even a whiny little sister doesn’t seem so troublesome now. Marching through those gates makes you forget all the things you went through to get there. Mother looks much more relaxed, and even Father looks a little less grim.

The excitement has returned to the Redcort Software technical support team with the release of Virtual TimeClock ‘09. “You’ll soon be able to…” has turned into “Now you can... Let me show you how!” We’ve forgotten the endless hours spent testing time clock conversions, scrutinizing time card reports, and comparing timesheets.

Are we there yet? Oh yeah. Life in the realm of time tracking software is once again in balance.

Jane, Stop this crazy thang!

2009-04-23T12:10:00.000-07:00

Everyone at Redcort Software is relaxing a little more these days. When we shipped Virtual TimeClock '09 Release 2 on April 8, we all began to believe that we had successfully pulled back from the brink. Some back story (over a couple of posts) will help you to appreciate the journey.

As far back as 2003, we knew we had to stop the insanity of our engineering cycle. Like every other software publisher, we were going more than a little bonkers, often working around the clock and missing deadlines trying to crank out monolithic upgrades to our time clock software every 18-24 months.

Our 'periodic major upgrade' mode had created an overwhelming engineering schedule where everything had to be decided a year or more ahead of time. First we had to accurately determine what new features our customers would need two years from now. In addition we needed a crystal ball to tell us about the technical advances and changes in the next version of Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows operating systems. Add to the mix new state or federal rules that would be coming regarding time and attendance reporting, overtime, vacation, timecards and time tracking rules.

This volatile mix of planning and priorities became a certain recipe for an explosive development cycle for Virtual TimeClock. It was certain in the earliest stages of planning that the time clock software upgrade we were envisioning would morph, delay, and challenge us as we adapted real-time to a world that unfolded quite differently than our predictions.

In 2004 we realized the Internet could revolutionize our engineering cycle. In the same way that the Internet facilitated direct customer interaction and free time clock software downloads, it would also change our approach to software development. The wide spread adoption of high speed Internet meant that electronic distribution of software was now trivial for our customers. We could release software in incremental updates 2-3 times a year, allowing us to predict and plan for our customer's time clock software needs months rather than years in the future.

Indeed, Redcort Software became a much better place to work following the release our last major upgrade, Virtual TimeClock 5.0 in December 2004. After the huge 5.0 upgrade, we settled into a wonderful rhythm of incremental time clock software releases 2-3 times a year. We loved it and our customers loved it. In this period we shipped Virtual TimeClock updates as soon as a needed new feature was ready, when a government regulation took effect, or when we needed a compatibility update for a new OS release from Microsoft or Apple. Life was good in the land of Redcort Software! Our report writer was enhanced for customized timesheet and timecard reports. We added timecard entry auditing and a fully automated timeclock database backup system. Apple OS X 10.5 Leopard support and Microsoft Windows Vista compatibility was maintained as each OS was released.

By the middle of 2007 we faced a grim reality. As the effects of Apple's switch to Intel processors reached us in a practical way, we realized that we had a huge software development challenge ahead of us. Reluctantly, we found ourselves in the insanity of a major upgrade. The next Virtual TimeClock release would become our largest software upgrade in 10 years. By the end of 2008 we all started to wonder if the insanity of a major upgrade would indeed be temporary.

The release of Virtual TimeClock '09 marked the triumph of a successful major upgrade. Shipping Virtual TimeClock '09 Release 2 in April was the tangible proof we needed that life in the land of Redcort Sofware was indeed getting back to normal.

Time, why you punish me?

2009-04-16T07:53:00.001-07:00

"Time, why you punish me?

Like a wave bashing into the shore

You wash away my dreams."

-- Hootie and the Blowfish.

On February 12 we released a major upgrade to our time clock software, christening it Virtual TimeClock '09. This release was by far our most significant upgrade since shipping the original Professional Edition of Virtual TimeClock back in the fall of 2000.

It seems strangely fitting for the February inauguration of our new blog to be posted in April. The prior two years of software development represent more work hours and personal sacrifices than any of us (or our patient families) would care to admit. As the month rolled by we often found consolation in our iTunes playlists. Darius Rucker's soulful "Time" was often played when yet another delay was forced upon us by our commitment to get this software release just right. Time punished me far too often over the blur that I now realize was the first half of my 48th year.

With the shipping of product and arrival of spring, our personal and professional lives are in a promising early bloom. In spite of difficult economic times, we're enjoying a fantastic reception to Virtual TimeClock '09.

I've been pleasantly surprised to note that the buzz around the office these days isn't so much about our wonderful new time clock software release or our shinny new web site. We're telling stories about how we use our creativity, skills and energy to create something that is helpful to others. This is an interesting side of Redcort Software that we haven’t shared before.

I'm hopeful this blog will allow us to chronicle how we change our products and, more importantly, how our products change us.