Staffcounter news 16 June 2022. Managers. Windows Security.

The provision of departments to other users for monitoring has changed. All settings for previously provided departments remain the same, but starting today, departments will be provided according to the new rules.

Let’s first define the terms. We will name the “director” the user, who is providing departments, and the user accepting departments for observation will be called a manager.

1. Based on the principle that a subordinate can have only one boss, providing departments to one manager from two or more directors is not allowed. Actually, this is possible, but
   for other director’s departments, the manager should create a new account. This will allow not to mess up departments of different directors and not to move devices between them. Yes, yes, it became possible to move devices within the provided departments, but more on that later.
2. Now the director can specify what the manager can do with the department and what not. When granting a department to the manager, you need to check the necessary privileges
   Let’s describe them:
   1. Modify settings and move devices – A manager can change department settings on the Settings page, General tab. In addition, this option allows him to move devices from one department to another one if this option is also enabled there.
   2. Assign productivity – the manager can change category productivity settings, and transfer applications from one category to another. He can do this on the Settings page, Productivity and Applications tabs, and in the Report by time.
   3. View screenshots. If this option is disabled, then the manager will not see screenshots on the Logs, and Screenshots pages, in the screenshots report, and in the Screen view report.
   4. Download Backup – the manager can download a backup copy of all the data uploaded from department devices. Of course, this makes sense only when screenshots are allowed.
   5. Delete data – the manager is allowed to clear the uploaded data and delete devices in the director’s departments.
3. If the director sends an invitation to the manager, but the manager’s account with this email address does not exist on the Staffcounter server, then it will be created and the email with a password and an activation link will be sent to this address.
4. The changes also affected the manager’s subscription. Now, if the manager agrees to take over a department from the director, his subscription will automatically be upgraded (or downgraded) to a director’s subscription, both in level (Standard, Professional) and duration. That is, the manager no longer needs to pay for his subscription. The director pays only for his devices. If the manager refuses to monitor all departments, his own subscription will be restored. On the Settings page, the manager sees the director’s subscription level and how many devices can still be connected to the director’s account.
   
5. A manager cannot provide his departments to other managers.
6. If the manager connects a new device using his own email address, the StaffCounter agent will automatically be connected to the first provided department of the director, according to the type of department. It means the manager who monitors the departments of the director cannot connect a new device to his own department.

So, we made the following scheme: The director is the full owner of his departments, but can allow a manager to supervise them, connect new devices to them, transfer devices from one department to another, change monitoring settings, and change the level of productivity. If desired, the director can disable access to confidential information by prohibiting viewing screenshots and encrypted data and downloading a backup copy of data. The manager does not need to think about paying for his subscription, but at the same time, he sees the director’s subscription and will be able to quickly respond if it ends.

If the account of the director is encrypted, the manager will not see the data. The director can provide the manager with the encryption keys. On the Profile page, Tools tab, click the Backup Keys button.

There will appear a text file with keys. Edit it in the text redactor and change the email address to the address of the manager. Provide this file to the manager via email.

In the account of the manager, he should click the Restore keys button and specify the text file.  The encrypted data of the director’s department will be decrypted in the manager’s profile.

What has changed with Windows Security

On the download page, there are versions for Windows that are not recognized by Windows Security as potentially dangerous (at least for now).

For users with  Basic and Standard subscriptions, we recommend downloading the lite version of Staffcounter, where the DLP and audio recording functions were removed, as well as cam shots. This version is less likely to be blocked by antivirus programs. In addition, these functions are not supported in the Basic and Standard subscriptions, so no need to tease antiviruses with their presence.

Users with a Professional subscription can download the Staffcounter PRO agent with all available features. But, it is worth adding the Downloads folder to the list of exceptions of antivirus programs before downloading.

A light version of Staffcounter for Windows is available to all site guests, which is especially convenient for remote users who install the program on their computers themselves and do not have access to any Staffcounter account.

For logged-in users, direct links to installers with EXE extension are available to save time.

We hope that all these innovations will be useful. If you have comments or ideas, please use our feedback form.