Archive for January, 2011

Question : Is there a timeclock hardware / software system without monthly fees?
I have a Wide Area Network and would like to make a one time purchase of a timeclock system. I’m not interested in monthly fees to a third party. I just need to be able to assign an IP address to a timeclock, let my employees punch in/out, and let my own server/software poll that clock at a reasonably interval.

Anybody know of a product to fit these needs?
Dennis, you are a fool. Plain and simple. If you had over 15 years in the business, as I do, you’d know the last place to go is the local store that has 2-3 products of this type at best. Plus, the local store is populated with “Qualified” technicians, like you, that like to use the word “Qualified” twice, to prove they should be working at a real business instead of a strip mall. However, their people skills keep them at the mall. Enjoy your pretzel on your break while studying for your Aplus.

Since I am in the environment you will someday be in when you get a bit more “Qualified” and a lot more mature, I’ll let you know now that Yahoo Answers IS a good source to go to get the answers I need from people with experience. It saves me a lot or research time. People like Matt are much more qualified than yourself, and don’t even have to use the word.

Now head on back to your cave at the GeekSquad and leave the discussion of deploying business critical solutions to the truly “qua
employee time clock software

Best answer:

Answer by whitephatt
Unfortunately, all the time clock manufacturer’s are fairly draconian when it comes to their hardware and software. Lathem even goes so far as to require people installing their software to call in and get an activation key despite it only working with their own hardware.

All the timeclock software I’ve come across is buggy and requires certain tweaks and calls to technical support to work the kinks out.

If ever there was an industry that requires more competition and innovation it’s the computerized time clock industry.

The 3 that I’m aware of are:

Lathem
Acroprint
Kronos

To my knowledge there isn’t one that sells a package out the door flat-rate wthout some sort of service agreement (because you will be calling them for support). Lathem has a package that doesn’t incur a monthly charge but that’s dependent on how many users you have, and the support level you buy.

So, you want to computerize your time management? Welcome to the 4th level of hell. Enjoy your stay.

-Matt