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Product Conundrum: What Is The Best Solution For The Customer?

November 30th, 2011 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Cloud Based Time Management Solution | Hosted Time and Attendance System | Time and Attendance On-Demand | Web-Based Time and Attendance Software - (0 Comments)

In our weekly blogs, we provide information that describes the benefit of a time and attendance solution in an organization. One of our recent interactions was with a prospect customer that reviewed 10 separate products over several months and had yet to find one that met their needs. During the conversation our account executive asked a series of questions with the hopes of understanding their specific requirements.

It turned out that this prospective customer had gone through a series of flashy demonstrations all espousing the virtues of a hosted time and attendance solution. While the ATS workforce management software suite includes a hosted option, the customer they felt that their company’s corporate culture did not subscribe to that model. All they wanted was software that could be installed on their network for time capture purposes.

The moral of the story is that despite the huge advantages of a cloud based time management solution, some businesses are not ready to take the plunge. Educating a customer is one thing, offering them a solution that’s congruent to their need is another. Invariably, when customer’s needs are placed first it becomes a win-win. In the end, our account executive recommended a networked time and attendance system to the customer.

To read more about ATS time and attendance solutions, go to our website. You can also contact us or download our workforce management software brochures.

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7 FAQ about ATS SaaS Time and Attendance System

November 15th, 2011 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Hosted Time and Attendance Solution | Time and Attendance On-Demand - (0 Comments)

The ATS Software-as-a-Service Time and Attendance is a powerful workforce management software application that provides real-time labour analytics. Deployment of this web-based solution is fast and does not require costly servers on which to host the application. Your IT department will be happy since they can focus on areas of the organization that need their attention. Since the product is web-based it is available 24/5, 365 days a year on any web browser including: Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Opera.

Over the last several months we have received numerous requests about our Hosted Time and Attendance. Below are the top 7 Frequently Asked Questions:

1. Which browsers will ATS time and attendance run on?
ATS time and attendance runs on any web browser, including: Google Chrome, FireFox, Safari, Internet Explorer and Opera.  

2. What choice of time clocks do I have with your system?
ATS employee time clocks include: biometric facescan, proximity readers, magnetic readers, barcode readers, biometric fingerprint terminals, hand punch terminals, mobile phones and online time sheets.

3. How fast can the system be implemented?

The software’s configuration is simple, yet robust enough to adapt to most complex environment. Faster implementation means you’re productive sooner.

4. What about data back up and security?

ATS time and attendance hosted environment is secure and readily available. Backups are maintained on a continuous basis, which means you are covered in the unlikely event of data loss.

5. Which payroll, HR and ERP applications can your system interface to?
ATS can interface to virtually any payroll, ERP and HR software. You can download a list from our website. Many third party software applications can import data. We have pre-built interfaces for many major software applications, and we can customize one for any application that you need.

6. Can your system handle shift premiums differentials?
Yes! ATS Software-as-a-Service system can handle multiple premiums and the calculation of shift differentials.

7. Can the software manage time costing? Accommodate job costing?
Yes! ATS hosted time and attendance allows you to track and attribute time and labour department, job, operation, task and employee.

Here is the crux of our argument. Instead of investing in a traditional on-premises time and attendance system there is a better way. ATS Hosted Time and Attendance solution is ideal for small businesses that do not have a full time IT person. Large companies will benefit from the flexibility of the application because of its ability to capture the most rigorous work rule policies.

To learn more go to our website. You can also follow us on Twitter or view and download our brochures through Slide Share. Log on to the ATS portal to join our workforce management software user group conference.

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Who Has The Time to Track All That Stuff Manually?

November 8th, 2011 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Absence Management | Hosted Time and Attendance Software | Overtime Equalization | Payroll - (0 Comments)

Overtime, premium hours, statutory holidays, vacations, shift rotation and tracking employee time spent on different jobs. These are just a few of the things that payroll professionals and HR managers have to handle in an organization. In many cases, the larger the organization, the more complex these work rule policies tend to be.

Business executives are stretched for time, and cost containment heads the list of their priorities. Controlling labour costs and improving productivity is paramount to most organizations. A reliable Workforce Management Software will help companies with the following:

Accurate Record Keeping
ATS Workforce Management Software automates the calculation and reporting of hours worked and provides a full range of tools to help deploy and track employees and their performance using real-time labour analytics. The result is enhanced productivity, increased profitability and better short, and long-term decision making.

Labour Analytics
ATS Workforce Management Software helps you to accurately manage attendance and leave policies more consistently. The ATS Time and Attendance Solution provides organizations with a suite of management reports that include: Time Costing, Forecasting, Schedule versus Actual, Overtime Equalization, Payroll, Absenteeism and Summary Detail Reports to name a few. Our system contains an inherent flexibility that is configured to the needs of organizations of every size in virtually any industry.

Return on Investment
The ATS Workforce Management Software helps you lower labour expenses, anticipate workforce demands and comply with provincial, federal and state labour laws. Another huge cost saver is the elimination of paper time sheets. A growing body of evidence has shown that using a time and attendance solution has historically decreased the time it takes to prepare your time cards and payroll by about 80% and has saved companies 1-5% on their net payroll costs.

To learn more, follow us on Twitter and SlideShare for updates. You can also download brochures from our website.

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How is your Business Carbon Footprint?

October 31st, 2011 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Hosted Time and Attendance Software | Web-Based Time and Attendance Software - (0 Comments)

Many of today’s businesses and governments have embraced the importance of the environment and the compelling science behind it. At Apex Time Solutions, we are proponents of green technology and its many advantages. Our Web-Based Time and Attendance solution provides customers with the ability to access their data on any web browser. With an ATS hosted time management solution this means you no longer need time sheets to track employee hours.

The ATS Workforce Management Software is a powerful suite and provides broad-based capabilities to help companies better manage their business and their labour force.

This solution was designed to meet the challenges of today’s complex and ever-changing business environments. By using the ATS Web-Based Time and Attendance in their workforce management operations, customers will be able to:

  • Accurately collect and report time and attendance data for payroll and other data integration
  • Produce accurate business forecasts to calculate staffing requirements
  • Extract key workforce and business data to create management reports that provide comprehensive feedback

The ATS Web-Based Time and Attendance Solution have the power to optimize your workforce and:  reduce labour costs, improve employee productivity and provide low total cost of ownership. With an ATS hosted time management solution you will no longer need to track employee hours with time sheets and that will save some trees.

To read more about our Software-as-a-Service Solution go to our website. You can also follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn for news and other software product updates.

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Introducing Apex Time Solutions Website Redesign!

October 28th, 2011 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Absence Management | Employee Time and Attendance | Employee Time Tracking | Hosted Time and Attendance Software | Time and Attendance On-Demand - (0 Comments)

With all the hustle and bustle around here, we have not had the chance to let our customers and prospects know that Apex Time Solutions has updated its website!

Our blog page is also new and allows us to share updates about our software and other business intelligence with everyone. We intend to add more functionality to the site with the help of our creative team in the next several months.

The new ATS website contains user friendly content, and provides a better experience for our visitors. It is also easier to get information about our workforce management software and select solutions that match your requirements.

With the new design, we placed an emphasis on specific areas such as, the “contact us” page. We want prospects to be able to reach us quickly, and once they have completed their review of our labour analytics and absence management products.

ATS integrated time and attendance suite saves time, cuts costs and aligns employee performance with a company’s goals. Companies of all sizes are increasingly implementing employee time tracking solutions. It helps you plan, deploy and track your employees and their performance. The result is enhanced productivity and more informed decision-making.

So on behalf of all of us at Apex Time Solutions, we wish you a belated welcome to our new website. Stay tuned!

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Software-as-a-Service versus On-Premises Installation

October 26th, 2011 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Hosted Time and Attendance Solution | Hosted Time and Attendance System | Time and Attendance On-Demand | Web-Based Time and Attendance | Web-Based Time and Attendance Software | Workforce Management Software | Workforce Management Solutions - (0 Comments)

In some of our earlier blogs we highlighted the difference between a legacy time and attendance solution that is installed on a company’s network versus a Software-as-a-Service (Saas) application. Today, many companies offering cloud computing and web-based technology products.

The inspiration behind this blog has to do with a recent conversation one of our support representatives had with a prospective customer. This company had been looking for an employee time tracking software for several months and could not decide on a solution that would meet their needs. While they were enamored with the idea of a hosted time and attendance application, they were concerned about privacy issues and downtime. In our view, these are legitimate concerns and should be discussed before deploying web-based workforce management software.

We recognize that some companies have reasons for choosing a legacy application over a Software-as-a-Service time management system and that’s fine. It should be noted that ATS espouses the virtues of web-based technologies because it quickly adapts to the needs of today’s modern enterprise and is also highly configurable.

Listed below are some differences between a time and attendance software installed on a company’s network or office PC versus accessing the application through an internet browser.

Software-as-a-Service Workforce Management Software:

  • Implementation is quicker because there is no software to install on a company’s network involving your IT department and more than likely the purchase of a new Server
  • There are no additional costs for maintenance agreements and software updates
  • Companies with multiple sites do not need to build remote access to an existing network. All that is required in a remote location is a computer with access to the Internet
  • Mobile workers can record their time and review accrual balances through any smart phone: Apple iPhone®, iPad®, and the iPod® Touch, BlackBerry® and Android Phones
  • Our hosted time and attendance can be deployed at a much smaller cost

Time and Attendance Installed on a Company’s Network:

  • Annual maintenance costs for the software is generally between 15%-20%
  • A company is prepared to undergo a 6 -12 month implementation process, depending on the size of the organization
  • Large out-of-pocket expenses for the initial investment
  • On going maintenance of a company’s network and the resources of an IT person or department to manage the software
  • Costs for software updates or upgrades

The ATS Software-as-a-Service time and attendance solution offers companies the ultimate in flexibility, a quick ROI and low total cost of ownership. However, we suggest a company evaluate and decide what’s best for their business.  For some companies, software installed on their network and managed by their IT personnel is more suited to their organizational structure. For others, their ability to access the software from any web browser without having to upgrade servers aligns with their corporate goals.

You can download a white paper on the difference between an On-Premise versus Software-as-a-Service Workforce Management Solution on our website. To speak to one of our account representatives call us at 1.866.294.2467.

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Time and Attendance Software for the Hospitality Industry

October 24th, 2011 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Employee Self Service | Employee Time and Attendance | Employee Time Tracking | Time and Attendance On-Demand | Time and Attendance Software | Web-Based Time and Attendance Software | Workforce Scheduling Software - (0 Comments)

One of the hospitality industry’s biggest challenges apart from controlling costs is the ability to schedule the right people at the right to meet business volume. Whether it’s a quick serve chain, a large resort or urban hotel, the inherent challenges mirror each other. In a time of persistent economic uncertainty and intensifying competition, finding the right tools is essential to help control costs, increase revenue, and sustain customer satisfaction.

The ATS Time and Attendance Solution delivers real time activity based costing and helps to govern and automate the entire process from punch to pay. The pay rules library and flexibility allow for 100% automation of rules without costly changes to the core code. Hours and wage rule compliance is consistent and automated with alerts when a threshold for violation is approached – providing proactive reconciliation. The self-service capability of time and attendance increases productivity and managers will spend less time managing administrative tasks and more time focusing on customers.

The ATS Hospitality Workforce Management Software suite provides the following benefits:

  • Tracking of overtime, on-call shifts, premiums and tips
  • Labour forecasting and optimization
  • Employee scheduling by preferences, seniority and certifications
  • Tracking and managing split shifts and location of staff
  • Ability to configure and maintain various collective bargaining agreements through the software code
  • Schedule versus actual labour
  • Recognition of the real hours worked by individual employees
  • Elimination/reduction of manual processes e.g. timesheets and spreadsheets
  • Efficient processes through accurate transfer of data to payroll
  • On the spot human resources and labour reports
  • Accurate alignment of resources with the needs of the business

ATS Workforce Management Software for hospitality enables customers to accurately collect and report time and attendance data for payroll generation and benefits administration, produce enterprise-wide forecasts of upcoming business, calculate staffing requirements, automatically generate optimized schedules that meet forecasted workforce requirements, and extract key workforce and business data.

To read more about our hospitality time and attendance software suite or for a demo go to our website.

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Eco-Time Solutions- Anywhere, Anytime

October 18th, 2011 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Employee Time and Attendance | Employee Time Tracking | Hosted Time and Attendance Solution | Payroll | Time and Attendance On-Demand | Workforce Management Software - (0 Comments)

Collecting and analyzing attendance data, reducing labour costs and improving compliance are strategies for industry leading companies today. Software as a Service (SaaS)-based time and attendance solutions offer strategic advantages to businesses in a variety of sectors.

ATS Time & Attendance is an integral part of our Workforce Management Software suite. This web-based solution captures time and labour and automates the most complex pay rules. With this hosted solution companies avoid costly server purchases on which to host the software, licenses and version upgrades. Instead, companies can free up internal resources to focus their time on the day to day operations of their business.

Web-Based Time and Attendance Solution Features:

  • Online time card captures employee time and management adjustments
  • Data integration to a variety of Payroll, HR and ERP application
  • Labour analytic reports cover all aspects of attendance, absence and overtime
  • Employee Self Service allows employees and managers access to data based on authorization levels
  • Overtime equalization calculates which employees are eligible for overtime and when
  • Tracking of attendance through time clocks such as: biometrics, smart phones and badge collectors
  • The automation of accruals accumulates; vacation, sick days, jury duty, etc.

ATS hosted Time and Attendance is an eco friendly solution that automates and tracks essential processes that include: work hours, overtime, sick leave, vacations attendance and absences.

To read more about ATS measures to reduce our impact on the environment go to our website. Follow us on Twitter or join our LinkedIn group for Eco-Time Management solution product updates.

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Purchasing a Time and Attendance Solution

October 6th, 2011 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Employee Time and Attendance | Employee Time Tracking Software | Hosted Time and Attendance Solution | Overtime Equalization | Payroll | Time and Attendance Blog - (0 Comments)

You have finally decided to replace your manual time sheet and equip your company with a 21st century time and attendance solution. Of course, you want to get the best bang for your buck! Before we continue, it is important to note, that the cheapest is not always the best. As the saying goes, “you get what you pay for”. At the same time we are not suggesting that you “give away the farm” but that you get a system that will meet your requirements.

Once you have compiled a list of requirements you are ready to start!

Do some research: Start by trying to find a solution that matches the requirements on your list. Ask your work associates and other companies within and outside your vertical, what system they are using.

Keep it simple: Over the years, time and attendance has grown to include HRMS, Overtime Equalization, Employee Self-Service, Job Costing, Labour Forecasting and a range of other modules. If you are deploying a time and attendance system for the first time, the basics will likely do. If you are switching vendors, it’s likely you are familiar with some core features as well as other workforce management modules. If that’s the case, a more comprehensive system may be needed and that will also depend on the size of your organization and work rule policies.

Data Integration: The Payroll, ERP or HRMS interface. Many of today’s applications have import files. Some vendors are still stuck with a 1980s mentality and they will tell customers that their payroll software cannot integrate to any other product unless it is certified by them or a partner of theirs. If companies are still selling software (Payroll, ERP and/or HRMS) that cannot be integrated with other applications, you should steer clear of them.

Timelines: If you think you have found the product and company, ask for timelines. Most experienced companies will be able to give you an approximate timeline.

Support: The length of time a company has been in business and the number of awards it has on its walls has no bearing on the quality of service it renders to its customers. Providing quality service is a corporate philosophy that’s either ingrained within an organization’s DNA or it’s not. When choosing a system that meets your needs, focus on this important aspect.

For example:

  • How long does it take to get a response when you call support?
  • What happens to sales person after you purchase the product?
  •  If you require additional training and/or configuration of your software, (several months after the implementation) will you be redirected to watch online videos?

There are a number of inherent factors that can contribute to cost savings of an automated Time and Attendance Solution. Some of these factors include: reducing payroll processing errors, eliminating manual data entry, and lost time or from long lunches and breaks, tardiness and early departures.

To determine how much your company can save with an ATS Time and Attendance Solution, go to our website. Download a copy of our white paper on “Finding the Right Time and Attendance for your Organization”.

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If it is broken it should be fixed

September 28th, 2011 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Hosted Time and Attendance Software | Hosted Time and Attendance Solution | Hosted Time and Attendance System | Time and Attendance System - (0 Comments)

A few years ago, one of our account representatives received a call from a prospective customer who wanted to upgrade their time and attendance system. Although their product was working, it was no longer supported and the company who they purchased from had sold their interest to another organization. As it turned out, the organization in question was offering an upgrade that was 50% over the customer’s budget.

During her conversation with the company she learned the following:

  • The software was installed on a computer with an outdated operating system that was no longer supported
  • Reports were archaic
  • It took upwards of 4-6 hours each pay period to verify employee records on their time sheets
  • The system was managed by one person who gave reports to supervisors for verification
  • Employee hours were keyed into their payroll software every pay period

Companies looking to upgrade from their legacy system can reap the benefits from an ATS Hosted Time and Attendance System:

Resources

The ATS Hosted Time Management Solution does not require servers, backup software, virus-protection programs, or redundancy utilities. That’s because it’s hosted by us. All that is required is a computer with a web browser. The software can be accessed 24/7, 365 days a year via Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Opera, Firefox or Safari.

Support

Think about it, 10 year old software that sits on a single computer requires the resources of IT personnel. If that software sits on a company’s server (and depending on size of the database) that means dedicated server space and numerous hours of IT helpdesk support just to get the software up and running.

Implementation

The implementation of an ATS Hosted Time and Attendance Solution can be done in a week or less depending on the size of the company. Since we host the software, we also assume responsibility for product maintenance, software upgrades, performance and availability which dramatically lowers your maintenance costs.

Automating your time and labour management with Apex Time Solutions helps minimize compliance risk, frees time to focus on company’s overall objectives and improves employee morale and productivity.

To view a demo of our Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution visit us online. You can also follow us on Twitter or join our weekly webcast on LinkedIn.

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