Showing posts with label Beacon Attendance. Show all posts

Keeping Mobile Employees In Check




The business world is changing rapidly; the world is getting smaller and employees are more mobile than before attending to everyday’s business’ requirements all over the world. Employers on the other hand need to cope with the change and adapt to make sure that the business stays relevant along with its workforce best practice and culture. Nonetheless, changing the business style and adopting a new business process must not be done hastily without  having an effective monitoring mechanism in place. Letting mobile employees scatter with excessive freedom can backfire when the end results do not meet the company’s objectives i.e disappointing sales figure, missing deadlines, lack of discipline and so on.

When a company wants to deploy more mobile workers in the business, it is recommended to seek for the right solution that can handle the mobility of these mobile employees.
• Cloud-based workforce time attendance solution should be on top of the list because with cloud, the solution can provide the employer with up-to-date information at all times, in real time and the data will be accessible through the web and app anytime of the day.
• Managing mobile employees also requires mobile application solution that is not only fit to the business’s requirements, but also flexible enough to attend to sudden change in plan.
• On top, the solution must cater a two-way communication between the office and the employee, between the superiors and their staff.

TimeTec TA has been designed to accommodate mobile/remote employees with various useful features such as GPS, Beacon and NFC clocking options through mobile App. For those mobile workers who are always on the go such as sales people, the GPS clocking can let the company knows where the meetings take place as the system records the geolocation on cloud to formalize their whereabouts and keep it for future references.



For those who stationed to work at different branches locally and abroad, on top of GPS, they can also use beacon and NFC at the branch they are visiting to clock in their attendance. During clocking the staff can brief the superior of their purpose of the meeting. For mobile workers that work from home, the same method applies but the employer can impose geofencing to curb excessive leniency on their flexible workers.

Geofence is a method of limiting the radius that an employee can clock from one single point. For example, if a staff is allowed to work from home, he or she can only clock in when she’s within 50 meter of her home. When she’s out of the radius, she would  have to retain permission from the supervisor before she can clock in.

Not only that business landscape is changing, the workforce now is being filled with young generations that are looking for dynamic workplace that is flexible enough to cater to their requirements. Explore the cloud solution and get ready to embrace the future workforce mobility with TimeTec TA.



Attendance Clocking Made Simple with Time Beacon



Scenarios and Recommendations 

Time Beacon is a small, inexpensive battery-powered device that taps on Bluetooth Low Energy, BLE, a protocol that is embedded in most smartphones, tablets and other devices of today. The tiny transmitter in the Time Beacon allows users to clock their attendance easily just by using TimeTec TA App. A user just need to open the App, tap on the Beacon icon and he is good to go! All attendance record complete with location and time will be recorded on TimeTec TA immediately.

Find out how Time Beacon could be suitable for your company. Here are a few scenarios for your reference:

1. A Small Firm with less than 25 Staff
One (1) Time Beacon is sufficient for any office with a small group of staff around 25 people or less. The Time Beacon can be placed at the main door of the office or at the reception area where all staff can do their clocking from their smartphones.
Recommended no. of Time Beacon: 1 unit (minimum) 

2. SMEs around 50 staff 
Medium sized offices having around 50 staff are recommended to go for at least three (3) Time Beacons to manage the staff clocking. With more Time Beacons, the transmission range is expanded and you can create different Beacon Groups to channel users to separate beacons according to their departments for example.
Recommended no. of Time Beacons: 3 (minimum)

3. SMEs with 100 staff, double storey office building
Setting up TimeTec TA using Time Beacon for an office building with multiple storey very much depending on the location and the built-up area. If you have 3 small offices at 3 different levels, each unit should have at least one (1) Time Beacon installed. However, if the office has a wide space area, it is recommended to install 2 or 3 Time Beacons per level/office to cover the entire office area and group the staff so they know which Time Beacon is meant for them.
Recommended no. of Time Beacons: 6 (minimum)

4. Factory of approximately 300 workers
Factory workers have multiple shifts, and the production more often than not operates 24/7. To ensure daily attendance records are being recorded at all times, it is recommended to cover all entrances and exits so that workers know the location of the Time Beacon and they can access to it easily. The management can group users by department or working shift to smoothen the flow of the employee and not jamming a Time Beacon at a given time.
Recommended no. of Time Beacons: 10 (minimum)

5. Office Tower of 1000 staff
Multinational companies having their own office tower can also use Time Beacon to ease their attendance clocking. Depending on the size of the office tower, it’s recommended to install at least 5 Time Beacons or more on every level. Install the Time Beacon at open areas such as lobby halls, entrances of the office and also inside offices to ease clocking process.
Recommended no. of Time Beacons: 50 (minimum)

As Time Beacon is an affordable BLE transmitter, place it at an open area to have smooth  transmission. Don’t block the Time Beacon because the transmission will not get through and will cause the app to keep trying.

Get the step-by-step instructions on how to set Time Beacon with TimeTec TA here.

8 Fun Facts about the BLE powered Beacon


Did you know that ……

1. Before the days of the BLE Technology, Beacons were typically referred to Lighthouses, tall structures that guide ships to navigate at sea. The BLE Beacon, however, is no lighthouse. 

2. The BLE Beacon is a small device that transmits signals. Designed on purpose to be low powered, and to emit short-range signals at set intervals. Its short transmission range makes it the perfect device for providing location-based information and services, such as marking time attendance.  

3. BLE actually stands for Bluetooth Low Energy, it is an enhanced and advanced version of the Classic Bluetooth designed by Nokia back in the days. BLE has come a long way from its predecessor, enabling a greater variety of functions and data exchange capability, including reporting Time Attendance. 

4. BLE Beacons are easy to use, and apps such as TimeTec TA has made it so that users only need to Sign in, and with a single tap, you can mark your attendance in the office. It's technology, not magic!

5. Beacon is a widely accessible technology. Because BLE capability is found in most of our mobile devices today, Beacons are able to work on Android and iOS platforms on smartphones and tablets.

6. With BLE, Beacons maintains a very good battery life. Generally lasting from about 18 to 24 months, while some may even last over 5 years. Despite their reliability, Beacons don’t actually work that hard. They let Bluetooth do all the work, and Bluetooth is incredibly energy efficient. Even with a small sized battery, it packs a good punch.

7. Beacons are not just user-friendly, they are respectful. Because Beacon requires users to Opt-in for a successful pairing. It makes a secure, friendly and respectful device for Time Attendance.

8. When BLE Beacons are implemented with TimeTec TA in your office, you can forget punch cards and access cards, all you need is your smartphone to clock in and/or out. 

Try your hand at Time Beacon for Attendance using TimeTec TA mobile app and watch this video to know how easy it is to get your attendance data sorted out. Stay tuned for more info about beacon on this blog.