All posts by chris.vandersluis

timecontrol

US Properties increases efficiency with TimeControl

We are delighted to have received a letter from US Properties about their use of TimeControl. US Properties is the leading commercial real estate brokerage and property management firm in Eastern Connecticut.

Erik Mills, US Properties’ Vice President of Operations penned a letter to us recently explaining how the deployment of TimeControl has allowed the company to improve efficiency to be able to grow without increasing its staff.

“We strongly recommend the system for its ease of use and customization but more importantly the invaluable tech employees who are readily available to assist,” said Mills.

Here at HMS, these letters are a huge motivator for our group so we thank Erik and the whole US Properties team for their support and their letter.

You can read the letter in its entirety at:
TimeControl.com/why-timecontrol/testimonials/usproperties.

timecontrol

TimeControl joins the Internet of Things (IoT) with voice command

TimeControl has taken a leap forward to join the Internet of Things (IoT) thanks to a new Alexa skill released by EasyVoice. Over the last few months, HMS has worked with EasyVoice to help the new Alexa skills understand how to interact with TimeControl and it is now available.

Now you can say things like “Alexa, add two hours on my timesheet to my meetings task for today” or “Alexa, how much time have I booked to meetings this week?”.  The new skill allows users who are in situations where using their desktop or mobile interfaces is challenging, such as when they are driving.

To see the new EasyVoice skill in operation, go to our solutions page at: TimeControl.com/use-cases/easyvoice.

You can subscribe to EasyVoice’s Alexa skill and even get a free trial of the skill at: Voice-Time.com/giveaways.

TimeControl 8

Which browser is best with TimeControl 8?

We have had numerous questions about the performance of different browsers with TimeControl. With the release of TimeControl 8, these question have expanded to which version of TimeControl is faster, version 7 or version 8 and which browser performs better.

The HMS Technical department devoted some time to benchmarking the answer to these questions and we’re happy to share the data with you.  We tested 80 different TimeControl functions in TimeControl 7.4.1 using Internet Explorer (the most popular browser used with TimeControl when TimeControl 7 was first released) and in TimeControl 8.0 using Microsoft Edge, Firefox, Chrome and Internet Explorer  (yes, Explorer is still part of Windows 10).   When we were done with our findings we were delighted with most of the results.

TimeControl 8 is, on average 33% faster than TimeControl 7.4.1.

The fastest browser when using TimeControl 8 was Chrome.

We were a little surprised at the poor performance of Internet Explorer.  So, in TimeControl 8.0.0.12 we included some IE-specific performance improvements which boosted the IE performance by a whopping 62% over earlier 8.0 builds and we’re delighted with that.

For those who love the raw details, we’ve included the entire study here: TC80_Benchmarks.

Excel, Excel timesheets, timecontrol

Migrating from Excel Timesheets to TimeControl?

There are countless organizations that still do their timesheets in Excel.  Is it any wonder that in every copy of Excel there are templates included to make multiple types of timesheets?  The advantage of using Excel for such tasks is twofold: First, it is instant.  If using a template, an Excel timesheet could be deployed in an hour.  Second, it is ultimately flexible.  An Excel timesheet can be changed to whatever degree you wish.

But, as easy as it is to create an Excel timesheet for a small group, organizations often outgrow such systems very quickly.  When the requirements for the timesheet include auditability or the need to harmonize coding to a central structure or just trying to find missing timesheets, the ease of Excel is eclipsed by its challenges.

TimeControl was designed from its inception in 1994 to have Excel integration and now, 25 years later, that integration is multi-faceted.  Aside from being able to consume Excel worksheets for lists of projects, charges or employees or being able to create Excel workbooks to enable analysis, reporting or external integration, TimeControl is a likely and common place for organizations to migrate their Excel timesheet systems.  Maintenance and the management of an Excel timesheet when an organization grows, becomes more complex, more costly and a bigger challenge.  That’s where TimeControl’s centralized data structure becomes much more attractive.

TimeControl has numerous points of contact with Excel:

Importing and Exporting data between TimeControl and Excel

TimeControl includes complete support for transferring data to and from Excel files.  If you maintain some data now in Excel, then moving that into TimeControl is a matter of moments.  If you use Excel for analysis of data, then sending TimeControl’s source data to Excel is very simple.  You can even schedule exports to Excel or imports from Excel to happen automatically on a schedule you define.

Importing legacy timesheets from Excel to TimeControl is already included

TimeControl includes import functionality for timesheets themselves so if you have an existing timesheet system in Excel you can transfer that data into TimeControl.  Our Excel Solutions Portal even has a template for you to download and use so you don’t have to create it yourself.

Integrating Excel Services dashboards into TimeControl

Some people like using Excel’s server-based charting capabilities to create analysis of timesheet or project management data.  TimeControl supports displaying Excel views in the dashboard.  Need an Excel pivot report in your TimeControl dashboard?  No problem. Need an Excel traffic light on the TimeControl dashboard?  No problem.

Displaying TimeControl Reports in Excel

Every TimeControl report including those created in our TimeControl Report Designer or with the TimeControl Drill Down Analyzer can be saved as Excel files so you can do more extensive analysis and reporting in the tools you are familiar with.

Migrating from Excel to TimeControl or TimeControl Online is so simple

TimeControl and TimeControl Online are almost always configured from Excel files.  Our technical staff give templates to new clients so they can configure the data they want into TimeControl with the features they want to enable.  If you’re using Excel already you’re all set to go.  And, if you’re subscribing to TimeControlOnline, there’s nothing to install, no servers or databases to configure.  Once your subscription is activated, you are ready to start moving your data into the system and activating your users.  Most small to medium sized organizations are able to enter timesheets a few days after subscribing.  You could be looking at your own TimeControl system only a couple of hours from now.

You can find out more about how TimeControl and Excel can work together to help your organization become more efficient on our TimeControl/Excel Use-Case portal at: Timecontrol.com/use-cases/excel-to-timecontrol.  On the portal you’ll find webcasts, factsheets and slide presentations explaining some of your options and potential benefits.

timecontrol

Webinar Présentation de TimeControl et BrightWork    

If you are English speaking…
You’ll find below an invitation to an upcoming webinar in French on improving your project management environment with a combination of BrightWork, TimeControl and SharePoint. If you have colleagues who speak French, please feel free to pass this along to them. If you are interested in attending this webinar in English, please let us know by replying to this message. We expect to do this webinar in English in October.

Améliorer votre gestion de projets et votre suivi du temps avec SharePoint

Trop souvent, les projets et les feuilles de temps sont gérés en utilisant le courriel et Excel, sans contrôle ni guide des meilleures pratiques. De nombreuses organisations exigent et méritent que leurs données de feuille de temps fassent plus que simplement mettre à jour les tâches dans un système de gestion de projets.

Avec TimeControl et BrightWork, les feuilles de temps et la gestion des projets de l’organisation fonctionnent de manière transparente avec la plateforme SharePoint. Les utilisateurs disposent d’un point d’entrée unique pour saisir leur feuille de temps et aussi suivre facilement l’avancement et le suivi de leurs projets.

Rejoignez Novexe et Logiciel HMS pour un webinaire en direct où vous pourrez:

  • Découvrir comment démarrer rapidement votre gestion de projets et de portefeuilles dans SharePoint avec la solution BrightWork
  • Découvrir comment transformer SharePoint en un système de gestion de feuilles de temps d’entreprise avec TimeControl
  • Assister à une démonstration en direct de l’utilisation intégrée de BrightWork et TimeControl dans SharePoint

Si vous ne pouvez y assister, ne paniquez pas! Inscrivez-vous et nous vous enverrons l’enregistrement.

Inscription: www.brightwork.com/webinars/ameliorer-votre-gestion-de-projets-et-votre-suivi-du-temps-avec-sharepoint

 

 

 

case study, timecontrol, TimeControl Industrial

Aegion Corp and HMS collaborate on a case study

We’re always delighted when clients let us know how TimeControl has made a difference.  This month, we are able to share with you a case study of Aegion Corp. who has been a TimeControl Industrial client since 2014.   HMS and Aegion collaborated on this  case study for several weeks.  It shows the results of interviews with several Aegion clients including the CIO, Thys Lourens.  Aegion is a Missouri based pipeline services company.

Aegion selected TimeControl Industrial for its ability to enable field data collection and reports in this case study that by using TimeControl they have been able to improve overall productivity.

You can read the Press Release on this study or go directly to the Aegion Case Study to find out more about how TimeControl has helped Aegion improve their effectiveness.  Here at HMS we’re proud to count them among our many clients.

Case Study: TimeControl.com/why-timecontrol/case-studies/aegion

 

timecontrol

TimeControl and JIRA integration

In TimeControl 8 we introduced a dynamic bidirectional link with Atlassian’s JIRA® which synchronizes task actuals bi-directionally between TimeControl and JIRA.

The link has incoming and outgoing components.  The incoming component works differently from any previous TimeControl link as it is expected to work multiple times per day or per timesheet period.  It brings into TimeControl not only the task, resource and assignment information but also the actual hours saved into JIRA by end users.  Since JIRA saves these entries as transactions, TimeControl brings in only the differential between what it has already and what has been posted in JIRA since.  The link can be called multiple times per day or as often as is convenient to populate the timesheet and from a performance perspective, because only the records that are new transactions in JIRA are transferred, the inbound link will be very quick.

The result of this process is that by the end of the timesheet period (for example weekly), TimeControl has created a timesheet for the user with all the time that has been posted in JIRA for tasks so far.  Then the user can go to TimeControl to fill in any non-JIRA or non-project time for example for meetings, travel or time-off in order to fill in a complete timesheet and then release the timesheet for approval.

TimeControl then has its usual timesheet approval mechanisms for approving the time both automatically through validation rules and manually both by supervisors and project managers.  Once all approvals are complete, TimeControl can use the outbound component of the link to send information back to JIRA so that both systems are kept synchronized.

The result is an auditable financial record of work that was originally recorded in JIRA for convenience but has become part of a corporate cost control system.

For more information on the TimeControl/JIRA integration, visit TimeControl.com/use-cases/jira.

 

timecontrol

In TimeControl 8 we extended integration of Project Server to Project Server 2019

While some vendors have abandoned the on-premise market, we have not. You may have noticed that TimeControl 8 included a brand new integration, this time for Microsoft Project Server 2019 on premise.

We have maintained a link between TimeControl and Microsoft Project since 1995 and with every version of Project Server since its first launch in 2002. The integration of TimeControl with Project Server 2019 as well as Microsoft’s SaaS version; Project Online shows our commitment to serve both in-the-cloud and on-premise clients.

Not all our clients are willing or ready to move their corporate systems into the cloud.  We know that’s true for TimeControl and it is also certainly true for Microsoft Project.

All versions of TimeControl now include the integration functionality for on-premise implementations of Project Server 2019 including TimeControl on-premise, TimeControl Industrial and TimeControl Online, our in-the-cloud Timesheet as a Service.

In creating the link between Project Server 2019 on-premise and TimeControl 8, we found that Microsoft had leveraged new technologies for creating such links.  Fortunately for HMS, we were already up to date on these technologies as they were used in the link to Project Online.

This link adds to a long list of integrations already included with every version of TimeControl including Microsoft Project desktop, Project Online, SharePoint, BrightWork, Oracle-Primavera Professional, Primavera EPPM, ARES PRISM, Open Plan, Cobra, Hard Dollar and VersionOne. TimeControl can support integration with multiple project management tools or even multiple versions of the same project management tool simultaneously.

To find out more about the link to Project Server, visit TimeControl.com/use-cases/ms-project-server

timecontrol

Linking TimeControl to Project Management at Different Levels

TimeControl has more project management system integrations than any timesheet in the industry so perhaps it’s no surprise that many years ago we had to handle requests from clients who wanted to collect time at a different level of resolution than the project management system.

We’ll cover three different scenarios in this article

Continue reading Linking TimeControl to Project Management at Different Levels →

timecontrol, TimeControl 8, TimeControl Industrial, TimeControl Mobile App

The new TimeControl Mobile App includes Crew Timesheets!

In the lastest updated of TimeControl, enhancements to the free TimeControl Mobile App include new functionality for Crews.  When the Mobile App links to a TimeControl Industrial  license, additional functionality becomes available.  Providing that the user has security profile access to these functions, they can now create, and edit a Crew Timesheet.  In addition, the user can Approve or Reject Crew Timesheets as part of the approval process.

The Mobile App also allows the user to Add or Remove Crew Team Members.

Field Data Collection often occurs in areas where Internet services are spotty.  If a connection is lost, the TimeControl Mobile App continues working offline until the Internet is restored and then synchronizes with the main TimeControl system.

The TimeControl Mobile App is available at no charge on the Google Play Store for Android phones and tablets and on the Apple App Store for iOS devices.

You can find out more about Crew Timesheets at: Industrial.Time
Control.com/features/crew-timesheet.