Telephone Timekeeping

For many small businesses, scheduling and payroll management is a huge headache. This is especially true for businesses in industries that utilize offsite employees, or whose employees must move from jobsite to jobsite throughout the course of a shift. Examples of these types of industries might include commercial cleaning, security services companies, or pool management. Essentially any industry that is employee driven, but doesn't have the luxury of a central office or location where all employees come into work can potentially take advantage of Telephone Timekeeping.

So how exactly does Telephone Timekeeping work? Most Telephone Timekeeping systems provide a 1-800 number that employees can use to call in. Employees enter a unique employee code, and the system uses this information, as well as unique caller-id to specify the employees location, to "clock in" the employee and assure that he or she is in the right place. There isn't any specific hardware to buy - all that's needed is a landline telephone. From the supervisory end, employers may monitor all employee activity through a simple and informative web based interface. All that is needed to access this information is a computer with a web browser. Some companies also provide the option to access this data from a Blackberry or other web enabled mobile device.

Now that we've covered the basics of how a Telephone Timekeeping system works, what are some of the benefits? Most users experience immediate and dramatic cost savings on their payroll costs. Most of this comes from the highly accurate way hours are tracked- no more "padding" of timecards, or uncontrolled overtime expenses. Users also see dramatic improvements in their supervisor/employee communications. Communication is a major challenge for businesses with employees who work at many different locations. However, most of the leading providers of Telephone Timekeeping offer a feature which allows supervisors to leave voicemail messages to be heard by each employee every time they clock in. This can be very useful in communicating important information before the start of each shift.

From these basic essentials, different providers offer a variety of features and customization options. For example, most providers offer a "pay to use" model, which only charges customers for months in which they actively use the system. This is perfect for seasonal industries that only need Telephone Timekeeping for part of the year. Another feature is the ability to work across multiple timezones, perfect for companies who manage operations across the country. Perhaps the most popular feature is the ability to set up email and text message alerts, to let supervisors know when an employee misses or is late to a scheduled shift.

This is just a basic outline of the functionality and features provided by Telephone Timekeeping systems. For more information, a Google search for "Telephone Timekeeping" can lead you to more information, as well as the ability to explore the various providers to find one that fits your needs.