Time Tracking for Field Employees

Time management has always been one of the crucial parts in business. It is a scarce resource yet it can be the determining factor in the overall business operation. If every single employee understands how to manage work time well, chances are your company always walks on the right track of improvement leading to better profitability.

Now there are many things you can do to improve productivity; based on many scientific studies, the Internet has been one of the greatest tools to achieve that. Internet becomes universal way of communication and therefore companies can do an entire marketing campaign more easily. At workforce level, employees also find that Internet comes as great tool to look for information, news, send emails, etc. The most obvious benefit is that Internet saves time; the advertisement reaches potential customers quickly, and it is easy to do that. There is however, one big drawback called “time management”. In some cases, employees cannot actually focus on working and use their time for working as soon as they fall deep into the vastness of Internet. Inside an office building, probably you will be able to track your employees’ activities, but it gets more difficult when your business heavily involves field services including delivery and trucking.

IndusTrack, a Plymouth-based GPS-tracking devices manufacturer, has come out with smart solution to prevent employees’ misuse of working-hours by implementing mobile-friendly time tracking technology. In a nutshell, the application allows employees and employer to stay connected with an application that generates real time reports about anything that relates to productivity for example idling, fuel consumption, route efficiency, vehicle ETA to job site, and so on. If your business has multiple vehicles on the road, time and location tracking become inseparable parts of productivity. It allows you to plan certain routes to save fuel consumption and therefore reduce maintenance cost. Furthermore, continuous tracking is also necessary to ensure employees safety.

GPS-is no longer new since most (if not all) modern smartphones have this feature. However, the default tracking system in smartphone is very basic one which serves simply function only: location report. On the other hand, IndusTrack system has been optimized for field services and commercial vehicles. Even better, the company delivers all features in both mobile-based and web-based applications. The app is compatible with all major smartphone operating systems including iOS, Android, and Windows Phone. It also uses proprietary plug-n-play hardware to be installed on vehicles.

Once the hardware and the app are running, employees can make use of the system’s various reporting forms. The interface has been designed to be comprehensive, allowing employees to easily report their locations, time of arrival, distance from job sites, etc. Employer can also check many things such as real-time location, idling, potential fuel waste due to inefficient routing, and so on. It is also possible to configure alerts for various events that affect productivity. Those are the basic features included, but IndusTrack stands out from the crowd by implementing at least three more useful tools to make everything even better including:

1. Supervisor Approval

Employees can fill out every form on their mobile phones and send the information electronically to the employer or office. It eliminates the waiting time until an employer gets paper report. In fact, it does not involve any paper, meaning it is not necessary to budget another expense for buying papers. Since all data are sent electronically, the information arrives almost instantaneously. Digital form also relieves employer from the hassle of reading handwritten form (which sometimes can be difficult to read, indeed). Everything is integrated within the system, so there is minimal risk of duplicate entry or similar human errors. Thanks to Supervisor Approval feature, all data can be reviewed or edited as necessary. All employees can choose to send timesheets in weekly, monthly, or bi-weekly manner depending on the circumstances. Once again, everything is doable within the time-tracking app.

2. Quickbooks Payroll Sync

This feature can be greatly beneficial to employees. By syncing time spent on the jobs and payroll, it is easy to configure the actual wage you deserve. Employer can setup certain overtime guidelines and pay rates with which employees can be certain that their works are always rewarded. From company’s perspective, this payroll-time synchronization allows for easier labor cost management. Since IndusTrack also provides direct communication, it is possible to add more jobs electronically, so the workers do not have to travel back to office to finish uncompleted the jobs.

3. Office Editing and Accounting

Although all data are sent in real-time reporting, it is still possible to make refinements with Office Editing and Accounting feature. The reports are generated by workers’ mobile phones, so employer has good understanding about how they perform. Office Editing and Accounting allows for post-analysis of routes, mileage, idle times, travel times, and customer visits. Based on this report, a company can improve employee recognition scheme or provide rewards as necessary. Plans about further coaching for employees can be based on the report as well.

Conclusion

IndusTrack does not merely provide tools to monitor employees’ behaviors, but it opens the door for company’s improvement by analyzing manpower efficiency, possible unrealistic workloads, and managing any new projects more confidently. IndusTrack offers a range of packages designed to meet the needs of even small business with affordable prices. All hardware pieces used for GPS-tracking by IndusTrack are plug-n-play for easier installation, and the software is continuously improved based on customers’ feedback for better user interface and features. IndusTrack even provides free training service on how to effectively implement the system so you can improve productivity, reduce unnecessary expense, and increase revenue at the same time.