Timecard GPS: Editing User Events

This blog post will cover one of our newest and most important features: Inserting Events from the Web Portal.

This is a powerful tool for companies that need to edit and add punches in case someone in the staff forgot to clock in to a task or a break.

To access this feature, go to the Administration tab and click on "Edit User Events" in the "Basic" section.

Once inside you can use the Team, User and Date filters to find what you need to edit.

In this example, we already have a user that needs some edits done. We are going to cover the four available options:

1. Changing a task
2. Adding a Clock-in and out
3. Inserting a task
4. Inserting a break

1. To edit a task, click in the following icon:

The next step is easy, just select the Task...

...and Subtask (if applicable)...

 and then pick your reason for the change before clicking on "Save Changes":

After this, you will see the change reflected immediately:

2. The next thing you can do is insert a Clock in/out event. Keep in mind this has to be done in a time frame where there are no punches.

Click on the button shown above (the one with the small watch) and you will be taken to the following screen:

Here you can select a task and a subtask, just like you did in the previous section:

Also, you need to select the Start and End times along with the reason for the change:

Once you are ready, Save it, then the new punches will be added to the system:

3. Let's say this employee worked on something else during this day, so you need to insert a task in between. The Insert Task Start/End button is your best friend here:

After clicking this button, the next screen will look very familiar, that's because it's the same process that we just did:

Select the appropriate Task, Subtask with its Start and End Times and the reason for the change, and finally click on "Add". Your inserted Task will be added:

4. Of course, we can't forget about breaks or lunches, we need to add a break in between, so the button with the Pause icon is the one that you are looking for:

This one is also very similar to the previous steps we did, the difference is that instead of a Task, you need to select a Break Type (this will vary depending on your setup).

We have chosen a 15 Minute Break and entered the time accordingly. Click on Add and the break will be added to the timesheet:

Finally, let's take a look at how the punches will look like on one of the reports:

As you can see, everything looks perfect!

Let us know if you have any questions.

--Econz Team

Timecard GPS: Custom Forms

This blog post will be very useful for most customers that are looking to capture additional information in an organized, meaningful manner. Here we will discuss the usage of Custom Forms.

Custom Forms, as the name implies, are used to create and capture forms. These will be created with the existing functionality of Custom Fields. You can create the fields and organize them exactly how you need them so employees will be able to access the forms and enter all the necessary data. They can even access the same form while working on the same task and keep adding to it as needed.

To set this up, go to the Administration tab and click on "Manage Custom Fields/Forms":

Once inside, click on the "Add New" button at the top.

This is what you will see next:

Name: Here you will enter the name that the Custom Form will have. This is how it will appear to the employees.

Triggers: this section is used to determine at what point the form will be displayed or accessed.

1. Manual: the Custom Form can be accessed at any moment while the employee is clocked in.
2. Clock In: the employee will be prompted to fill out the Custom Form the moment he/she clocks in.
3. Clock Out: the employee will be prompted to fill out the Custom Form the moment he/she clocks out.

On this example, we are going to add a Clock Out Custom Form, so the employee can see it at the moment he/she clocks out.

We have added the name and the "Clock Out" trigger, we are ready to click on "Save". Next, we go back to the "Manage Custom Fields/Forms" section and our newly added form will be there at the bottom of the list. Let's click on "Edit".

You will notice that there are some new options in the Details screen:

You can use the Filter section to enable the Form to be accessed only for a specific Task. Of course, this makes more sense in a Manual form that can be accessed at any time during the day, but just keep in mind that filters are a very powerful tool in case there are forms that are exclusive to a specific type of activity.

The next step is to clock on "Edit Form Fields". If you have ever worked with Custom Fields, the next screen will be familiar. If not, be on the lookout for an upcoming post that will cover Custom Fields in more detail.

We will add a couple example fields that are relevant to our company:

The setup is completed. When accessing the mobile application, keep an eye on the Menu section, you will see the option called "Forms". Here is where you can access all of the Manual Forms that were created in the Administrator Portal.

Below is a video showing how this example form will look and behave on the mobile application when the user clocks out, it also shows how to access other Manual forms that have been created.

We hope you can benefit from this wonderful feature! Let us know if you have any questions about this feature and we will gladly assist you.

--Econz Team

Timecard GPS: Tracking during breaks

This time we have a short but very important post: setting up the system to track employees' locations during breaks.

Our application enables you to adapt the tracking during breaks according to your company policies. You can decide whether you want to monitor your staff while they are out on break or not.

To set this up, go to the Administrator tab and select Preferences.

Then, look for the option called "Track During Breaks" close to the bottom of the list of options. This is disabled by default.

Once you are happy with  your selection, click on the "Save" button.

That's all it takes! Let us know if you need assistance with this or any other feature from our system.

--Econz Team

Timecard GPS: Sick & Annual Leave Forms

The Sick & Annual Leave Forms are part of the newest features we have implemented in our system. These Forms will enable field employees to apply for Sick and Vacation Leaves directly from the application so that an Administrator can either Approve or Reject this request.

To set this up, the first step is to setup the Administrator or Administrators that will have access to an employee's requests. Please keep in mind that not all Administrator users will be able to approve or reject requests, only the ones that have been manually assigned to a specific employee.

For this, go to the Administration Tab and click on Manage Users. Then, find the ID of the Field Worker you would like to setup a Leave Administrator for.

At the bottom of the user's profile, you will find a section called "Leave Administrator". Use the dropdown menu to select the Administrator and click on "Add". If there are going to be multiple admins, you can select all the ones you need and once you are ready, click on "Update".

With that properly setup, let's learn how to use this new feature!

This option can be found by accessing the Menu, it's called "Leave Forms":

In here, you will find the next screen:

Make sure to select the appropriate option according to your needs. Both options work the same way, let's create an Annual Leave Form by tapping the "Annual Leave" button.

The next screen will show you options to enter the Start and End dates and times, so make sure to enter them correctly depending on your personal needs.

Use the "Notes" field to enter a description or any message that you consider necessary. You can use the "Attach Photo" option to include a receipt, a doctor's note, or anything that might be important or mandatory according to your company policies.

When you are, tap on "SUBMIT" on the top right. You will see a Warning screen, select "SUBMIT" again if you are confident that you uploaded everything you needed and setup the dates and times properly.

Now let's move on to what the Administrators will see. Here is an example of a company's requests and their different statuses:

There are two pending requests that need to be either approved or rejected. This can be easily achieved by clicking on the appropriate button next to the request.

Notice on the last item there is an image icon next to the word "Approved". This is where you can click on the see any attachments the employees have sent. When you click on it, you will be prompted to either open the file or save it to your computer, depending on your browser settings.

We hope this feature makes managing employees' leave time more efficient! Leave us a message in the comments section if you have any questions or thoughts.

--Econz Team

Timecard GPS: Searching Tasks on Other Teams

We have just implemented a very useful feature called Task Search, which will enable your field workers to search for a task that has been assigned to another team from the Administrator Portal.

There can be times where employees need to cover for someone else's shift, or you are keeping the complete list of customers on a separate team to avoid users having hundreds or thousands of tasks on their device.

To enable Task Search, log in to the Timecard GPS Administrator Portal and go to the Administrator tab. Once there, select Preferences. You will find an option called "Enable Task Search on Device" close to the bottom of the available options. Make sure to check the box to enable Task Search!

Once this is done, the rest of the magic happens in the application itself, here is an example of how to use it. Let's say you are going to clock in to a job named "Purchase", so you tap on the icon #1 to see the tasks list. This is when you notice that there is no "Purchase" task but you know for sure that other team has it, or your boss instructed you to search for this job if for any reason you didn't have it yet.

Notice the "SEARCH" option on the top right of the screen with the tasks list. This is what you need to use to look for the missing job.

When you select it, you will be taken to the Task Search screen. There will be two checkboxes:

1. All Dates: enables you to search for jobs that should be available regardless of the date it was scheduled for.
2. All Teams: with this option, you will be able to search for jobs on other teams, which is exactly what we are looking for! Make sure to select at least this option.

Type the name of the task you want to search for. The search is case sensitive, so make sure to consult with your manager as to the correct spelling. The app will start searching for the job and once it finds it, it will be shown just like in the tasks list so you can select it.

Once you tap it, you will be clocked in, just like with any task on your task list. Here you can see the screen showing a successful clock in by using the Task Search feature:

If you have any comments or questions, make sure to let us know in the comments section or contact us at customersupport@econz.com.

--Econz Team

Timecard GPS: Clock-in Lock

Clock-in Lock is a recent feature where companies will be able to restrict the location where the employees can clock in. Basically, if they are outside the expected area, they won't be able to clock in to that job.

Let's setup a clock-in lock rule for an existing job! First we go to Maintain Task/Customer List and click on the Task ID of the job you want to add the rule for:

The task must have an address for this to work. If there is no address available, you can also use the coordinates. Next, click on "Create Custom SmartFence". (A Default fence can also be created and applied for multiple jobs. If  you go this way, make sure to follow the next steps when setting up the Default fence first, then you can select Default on the SmartFence option within the task and click on Save to complete it).

In the next step, name the rule as you see fit. Use the Search option to find the address and set the radius to the desired size. Next, click on "Create New" in the Rules section.

The next will be used to setup the Clock in Lock rule and parameters. Open the Trigger dropdown menu and select the option "Clock In Lock Within Area":

Then, tick on "Lock Phone" if you want employees not to be able to punch in to a job unless they are inside the specified area. Leaving this option disabled will enable them to select the task, but you can always create an alert to be notified whenever this happens. When this is ready, click on Save to go back.

You will notice that the Rules section will be populated with the rule you created in the previous step. Click on "Add Existing" to apply the rule.

When the rule is successfully applied, you will see it listed below.

Next, we will cover how the Clock-in Lock feature works on a Field Worker's perspective. At the beginning of the day, you will be clocking in as normal, by selecting a task from their Tasks List.

This time, these tasks will have the address and clock-in lock rule attached to them. The device will use your current location and compare it to the expected location. If you are inside the correct area, the clock in will be successful.

The device could take a little time to get the location, so you could get a message with suggestions as to what to do to improve the GPS signal. On the other hand, if you are outside of the expected area, you will get a message telling you that you are at the wrong location for that selected task, and the clock in or change task action will be unsuccessful.

Let us know if  you have any questions about this new feature and we will be more than glad to assist you.

-- Econz Team