Midnight Event Report

We have recently added a new report which we are sure you will find very useful: the Midnight Event Report.

The idea behind it is that it will show you all of the punches for a specific time period that cross midnight in the local time zone of the field worker in question. As with most of the reports, this one can be filtered by team, user and start and end dates, as well.

To find it, go to the Administration tab and look for the "Midnight Event Report" at the bottom of the "Time And Attendance Reports" section:

Once inside, you will be able to either generate it online or create a CSV file with the filters of your choice. Here is a sample of the sort of data the report will provide:

(Click on image to enlarge)

Keep in mind that it will show you the start and end times of exactly the task the employee was in while crossing midnight, not the entire shift.

Let us know if you have any comments or questions, look forward for more updates to come!

Deducting Only Specific Break Types

In this blog post we want to show you a new feature that we have implemented. Now you will enable employees to have paid Breaks and unpaid Meal time at the same time with just a simple setup.

To do this, go to the Advanced section within the Administration tab and select "Configure meal breaks":

Then, you will see the following screen:

The first step is to check the option "Only Deduct Meal Breaks from a field users day hours". Once you do that, all you are left to do is select the meal or break type that will be the one deducted when employees select it while taking a break from the mobile app.

Here is an example of selecting one called "Meal Time", remember these need to be setup before through the "Manage Break Types" section:

Finally, click on "Save".

What this will do is that whenever employees pick "Meal Time", that time will be deducted from the total hours, but now, the new thing is that if they selected a different break type, then that time will be added to the total worked hours. The system will reflect that breaks were taken, but depending on what you configured, the time out on break will be deducted or not.

Let us know if you like it or have any thoughts or questions in the comments section, we hope you like this new functionality.

Time-Sheet Event Report

Time-Sheet Event Report

The "Time-sheet Sign-off" function has a new report to help keep track of events.

Any event related to timesheets being approved, rejected, edited or updated will show on this report along with the date, time and person posting the event.

The Time-sheet ID on the left corresponds to the same Time-sheet ID that a Payroll Administrator, Operations Manager or Office Administrator would see on the Time-sheet Approval Screens.

To learn more about Time-sheet Sign-off check out the below postings:

Time-sheet Sign-off

Learning about User Types

Approve Unsubmitted Time-sheets

Approve Unsubmitted Time-sheets

Approve Unsubmitted Time-sheets

The Time-sheet Sign-off" feature has been updated with new functionality that will allow the approval of timesheets even if the employee hasn't signed them.

This feature will only be available for Payroll Admins and is recommended to only be used in cases where the employee is out on vacation and cannot sign his/her timesheets or if a devise has been lost or damaged.

In order to approve an unsumbitted time-sheet, log into the web portal as a Payroll Administrator, under the Administrator Tab go to the "Approve Time-sheet" section. All unsubmitted time-sheets will be colored in blue, the Status Filter will also allow focus on only these items.

Find the time-sheet being sought and click on "Not Available" under the ID column.  The following screen should appear.

Notice the Approval Radial Buttons are Disabled, However the Total Times for the hours the employee has clocked can be seen.  Click on the "Submit for Employee" button to proceed. Once this is done, the familiar Time-sheet Approval View will be seen and approval and editing can be done as normal.

Once changes/corrections/approval has been made click the SAVE button.  The time-sheet will be properly approved.

The "Time-sheet Event Report" will generate an entry indicating that the time-sheet was approved WITHOUT the user's input.  This should be kept by management as backup for future reference.

Enhancements to Edit User Event Screen

Enhancement to Edit User Events Screen
The "Edit User Events" section has been enhanced to allow edits by period.  In the past only one day at a time could be edited.  Now you can use the date filters to edit a whole period if  the need arises.

Make sure to use either the "Team" or "User" filters when using this functionality.  A reminder message will appear if one of these has not been chosen in the filter fields.

Once your "Team" or "User" and the "Time Frame" has been selected, click on the "Filter" button and make the edits needed.

Auto Change Tasks

Auto Change Tasks
Using the GPS capabilities feature will allow tasks to be changed automatically with the employees mobile devise and his punches at locations.  The following steps will enable this feature.

When a task is created, be sure that the address is entered.  The address must be entered at time the task is created, it cannot be entered after.  If the project does not have an address you must be sure to enter the coordinates instead.  After you enter the address or coordinates set the SmartFence to "Default" and SAVE

The next step is to set up the SmartFence to trigger the automatic changing of tasks, to do this complete the following:

      In the Administration tab, select "Rules, Actions and Fences" and select the "Manage SmartFences" option.  Chose "Default".  Two rules will need to be created, both being applied to Default.  

The first rule will start a task when an employee enters an area.  On the first screen, set the radius to the desired size and click "Create New"

The next frame will set your rule.  Enter the name of the rule "Start Task" and set the trigger "Entering Area" - it is best to use the terminology that best fits your company when naming rules.

Click on "Create New Action"

Name the Action same as the Event "Start Task" and click "Automatic Field Device Event", Make the Event Type:  "Change Task".  Do not click "Set Task Info" this will allow any location to be accessed with this rule. Click SAVE and return to previous screen. Click SAVE again.

From this screen, the 2nd rule can be created: click "Create New"   This rule will switch the employee to "Travel" when the employee leaves the area.  

The process is similar.  To create a "Leaving Area" rule under Identity Name, type "Travel" in the Trigger field type "Leaving Area" or another name that works best for the business.

Click "Create New Action" and select the same Change Task Event, this time select "Set Task Info"

A drop down will appear with a list of all the tasks for all teams.  Select the appropriate one for this action.  Select SAVE and return to the first screen (where you set your radius) Click SAVE.  The rules are now ready to be used.

When an employee clocks in the GPS will be activated.  The below example is how the History may appear at the days end.

The employees time-card task detail report will appear similar to below.

Clock-in Within Time Frame - Enhancement

Clock-in Within Time Frame - Enhancement

The Clock-in Within Time Frame will make sure that an employee clocks in inside the designated area within a specific time frame.

The main requirement for this to work is to load your tasks WITH and address, then when you go to the "Maintain Task/Customer List" section, you can also see the coordinates:

Click either on the "Create Customer SmartFence" to create a rule just for this one task, or use the "SmartFence" drop-down menu and select "Default".  Default will allow you to enter a rule that will apply to all tasks that are set with the default smart fence.  This way you do not have to create the same rule for each task.  Specific or special rules may be created for each task as needed.

Follow the below procedure for either SmartFence you need to create:

1a:  If you select "Default", then go to the "Rules, Action and Fences" section in the Administration tab and click on "Manage SmartFences".  The Default rule will be the first one.  Click the "Edit" button.

1b. If you select "Create Customer SmartFence", you will be taken to the next screen automatically without the need to follow the path on step 1a.

2.  When step 1 is complete you will see the following screen:

This is where the radius and assignment of teams is made.  You do not have to set up teams - only if needed.  If the rule applies to everyone, just leave "All Users" selected.  Then click on "Create New".

3.  On the next screen select the date and times the rule will be applied.  Make sure to select the "Within Time Frame" option, where a date and time for the rule can be specified.  Make sure to click on "Lock Phone" on the top right to prevent employees from selecting the task.

Once this is done, click SAVE and the rule is ready to be used.  Notifications can be added as text messages, sound or emails if desired just as with a regular smart fence.  but the step is optional.

Another importation thing to keep in mind is that the app will allow employees to select that task only during the time frame you select.  So when employees attempt to select the task outside of the time, they will get the following message.

If they are within the time frame but outside the area, the app will notify them of this fact as well,  Finally, if they are within the time frame and inside the correct area, the task selection will be successful.

Enhancements to Reports

Enhancements to Reports (updated 8/24/2018)

Reports are among the most important tools when doing Payroll and Monitoring employees.  The constant need to improve these tools to be more effective for an organization is important.

The Timecard Task Focused Detail Report now has the ability to do a search for tasks and sub-tasks.  In the past only tasks were available through the drop-down menu, now a deeper dive is allowed for more accurate inquiry by using the search field.

When searching for a task, all possible results will be shown and you may select the one that applies:

If you search for a sub-task, you will be shown all the instances of the sub-task, preceded by the task they belong to:

Once the task has been found, click on "Generate Report" and the focus will be only on that project or task.

Resetting the Unique Identifier

Resetting the Unique Identifier

The following feature needs a disclaimer before it can be explained.  this blog will cover how to reset the Unique Identifier for a specific user.  Please Note that this should only be enabled if you are experiencing issues with employees using the same DeviceID on multiple devices at the same time (This in general, is not a good idea to maintain sensible time punches for your employees!)

Enabling this feature will force only one profile to be active at any time.  If other devices are subsequently setup with the same profile (DeviceID), the server will prevent those specific devices from connecting, i.e. they will not be able to send any punches to the system and will receive a message notifying the user of this fact.

To set the unique identifier up, go to the Administration Tab and Select Preferences.  

 

Once there, enable the following options ("Enable Message Unique Field Identifier")

This will enable a message identification using a Unique Field Identifier on each message.  The device that is currently synchronized with its own identifier will be the one considered as "Active" and any other messages received from the same device ID but with a different identifier (as would happen with setting up the app on another device) will be discarded. 

When the time comes that the old device is damaged or the user upgrades to a new phone/device then you will need to reset the unique identifier.  This can be done by leaving the identifier open so that the next device setup can get its own ID and then start sending and receiving data to the server.

This is done in each individual's profile.

Go to the Field Workers Tab and find the user you need to reset the ID for:

 

Click on the ID and enter the employee's profile, then click on the "Advanced button

ON the next screen the Unique Field Identifier currently assigned will show, and the last date when a duplicate device was created.  Click on the "Reset button and that will open the profile for a new device to be setup.

Enhanced Forms

Enhanced Forms

Below is the "Classic View" of our Mobile application form for Task Attributes:

This view is good for those who prefer a compact screen view.  Those who wish to view a more enhanced form will need to do the following:   First:  Tap on the gear icon at the top of the screen and select the "Settings" tab:

 Then click on the "Extras" tab and you will see the following:

Be sure to set the "Enhanced Forms View" to the "ON" position and select SAVE.  the next time you go into your Forms - task attributes - you will see something similar to below:

"Safe Edits" Enhancement

"Safe Edits" Enhancement

Security has been tightened to make it more safe to edit a task when and if needed.  Although we caution against making changes to times and jobs, there are times when it is necessary.  The following was done to stop those changes from being lost. 

From the Payroll Admin Log-in - Go To Admin

Choose "Edit User Event"

Click on the "Edit Task" to change the existing punch. Enter the date you are looking for and find the event you wish to edit.

Now - Click on "Edit Task"

Or - Edit the times as below: