Surveillance without cameras or why monitor office computers?
Reducing costs and increasing profits are goals that every entrepreneur sets, regardless of the nature, scale, or resources of their business. What represents inefficient use of staff time? Lost profit? Or wasted company resources?
Employee monitoring, in one form or another, has always been practiced in businesses. A simple example is the traditional timesheet. Over time, methods of assessing employee performance have evolved. Paper logs have been replaced by digital spreadsheets, and many companies have introduced surveillance cameras, access controllers, and other often expensive equipment.
Not long ago, the main office tools were pens, paper, and calculators. Today, these have been firmly replaced by computers. The workday begins at the computer, continues at the computer, and ends at the computer. Therefore, monitoring company employees’ computers has become an essential tool for modern management. An automated time-tracking system allows you not only to monitor employees’ arrival and departure times, but also to track websites visited during work hours, text input volume, Skype communications, and much more. Employee internet activity monitoring is not a cure-all for every problem, but rather a convenient, effective, and cost-efficient management solution.
The benefits of a work time tracking program include:
- Alternative to CCTV. For some companies, a time-tracking service can serve as a viable alternative to video surveillance;
- Prevention of data leaks and sabotage. The program provides data on what information an employee searches for online, who they communicate with on Skype during work hours, which applications they use, what documents they copy, and more. This helps detect employees planning to leak information to competitors, resign abruptly, or take other disloyal actions;
- An objective way to identify hidden violations. Staying late at work doesn’t necessarily mean being the most productive. Reports generated by the system reveal what employees are actually doing during work hours;
- A method for optimizing workflows. The program generates detailed reports on delays, overtime, and total working time over a specified period. These reports are more accurate and objective than manual timesheets.
The computer time monitoring service can be used in companies of any size and industry, as the program offers:
- No need for additional equipment or IT staff: the time-tracking program operates effectively without requiring a dedicated server or a network administrator;
- Flexible operation modes: depending on company policy and management preferences, the program can run in either hidden or visible mode, with or without employee notification;
- Personalized customization: administrators can categorize websites (e.g., business, multimedia, games) based on company needs. The system then classifies these categories as productive, unproductive, or neutral. Reports for each employee are generated based on this classification;
Undoubtedly, installing the program on your team’s work computers won’t solve all organizational, control, and discipline-related challenges. However, it enables timely, objective decision-making that enhances the efficiency of management processes.
