For hourly workers who regularly fudge hours on their timecards, or have a work buddy punch them in or out, now there’s an app for that. However, the app doesn’t help them but aims to protect employers from such tricks by using cellphones’ GPS tracking and internal camera, turned on through ExakTime Inc.’s new TimeSummit Connect software and service. Made and developed by the Calabasas company, the software and its accompanying mobile application, ExactTime Mobile, are kind of like a virtual boss standing there when employees arrive and leave the work site to make sure everyone stays honest. “If someone clocks in or out of a job site – let’s say they go home and clock out – the system will still record what time they clocked in and clocked out, but it will notify you (a supervisor) that they clocked out from five miles away,” said Casey Powers, vice president of marketing for ExakTime. The app runs on smartphones or tablets and turns on the GPS feature that records the time and location when employees tap their devices at the start or end of a work shift, like punching a time card on a physical time clock. Simultaneously, the software also triggers the devices’ internal cameras to take a photo of the user as they’re tapping in, eliminating “buddy punching.” Companies can check photos against employee records to make sure images match. TimeSummit Connect, which ExactTime debuted to the public at the World of Concrete trade show in Las Vegas in January, is the company’s new version of its TimeSummit system and adds cloud connectivity. The Internet browser-based system stores employee hours on the cloud, allowing supervisors to log in any time and see when workers tapped in or out of work, including for lunch, Powers said. Customers are companies that employ hourly-based employees, Powers said, but the system is particularly helpful for those with employees out in the field, such as construction, landscaping, transportation and energy or natural resources firms. The construction industry alone accounts for 77 percent of its business. “If you’re a field service company, you can see hours accumulated on overtime, and this allows overtime to be controlled,” he said. ExactTime charges for the service, either monthly or yearly, and the cost varies with the number of employees. ExactTime’s focus is on construction companies. Its president and founder, John O’Hara, was previously a construction contractor and often found workers who left job sites early and fudged time sheets, according to Powers. The system also saves customers time and money from having to chase down physical timecards. In addition, it avoids human error when entering hours from physical cards. Employees without mobile devices can use desktop computers to log their time, Powers added. “Customers say they save anywhere from 35 to 40 minutes per employee per day,” Powers said. – Carol Lawrence
High-Tech Timecards Foil Slackers
