Category Archives: timecontrol

timecontrol

Otonabee Region Conservation Authority goes TimeControl

Otonabee Region Conservation Authority is an environmental agency working in the Peterborough area of Ontario Canada. They are responsible for ensuring that the Otonabee Region watershed area is healthy and environmentally diverse.  HMS applauds them for this important work.

Otonabee have been using TimeControl since 2016 and reently their manager of corporate services, Denyse Landry sent us a letter expressing their satisfaction.

“We have been very satisfied with TimeControl and the level of support provided by HMS Software,” says Denyse. “We highly recommend it.”

We believe that every TimeControl client should be a satisfied referenceable customer and we strive for this every day.

Our thanks to the Otonabee Region Conservation Authority for their trust in TimeControl to make them more efficient. We look forward to a productive relationship for many years to come.

You can read the letter from Denyse in its entirety in the TimeControl Testimonials area.

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That was an awesome 2017… now bring on 2018!

Our TimeControl team turned in a year of remarkable accomplishments in 2017.  Here are just a few of the highlights…

In our development department, we released 2 major releases of TimeControl in versions 7.1 and 7.2. Interim versions 7.1.1 and 7.2.1 updated several features as well. The features released this year have propelled TimeControl further forward than in any period since its original release in 1994!

Among other spectacular features, were the free TimeControl Mobile App and the TimeControl API as well as:

  • Line Item Approval
  • No more ActiveX’s in TCi
  • Primavera Web Services link
  • BrightWork link
  • Link to Project Online
  • SharePoint bidirectional link
  • Grouped timesheets
  • Scheduled Autofill
  • Language support for TC Mobile

For more information on what’s new with TimeControl, visit TimeControl.com/features/latest.

TC Mobile App

The release of the free TimeControl Mobile App on the Apple App store for iOS devices and Google Play for Android devices marked a milestone for TimeControl. TimeControl introduced one of the first mobile interfaces many years ago but the TimeControl Mobile App has to support the incredible flexibility of TimeControl along with its powerful centralized auditability. We’re very proud of the App we released. It is on an independent yet coordinated development stream so new updates of the App are released separately and are designed to always be backward compatible so the TimeControl Server and App are not required to be updated simultaneously.

TimeControl API

TimeControl has long been acknowledged as the most flexible and integrateable timesheet in the industry thanks to the many ways external applications such as HR, Payroll, ERP, Finance and Project Management systems can be linked to it. The release of the TimeControl API gave a quantum boost to an already robust suite of integration options. Now programmers can pull from or push data to TimeControl to create an even more intimately integrated system.

Case Studies and Testimonial letters

Happy TimeControl clients continue to be our strength in the industry.

Over the last year we’ve collaborated with our clients on 3 case studies and have received more testimonial letters.

You can read case studies published in 2017 from:

and testimonials published in 2017 from:

and next week a brand new one received late in the year from Otonabee.

We appreciate each and every one of our clients and are delighted when they share their TimeControl experience with others.

Coming in 2018… 

There is so much more from last year but let’s look into our crystal ball ahead to the year to come. Looking forward to 2018 promises to be even more exciting.

A major release of TC during the year will be 7.3 with a slew of new and improved features. We expect that to be released by mid-year and we’re already working on a major new version of TimeControl which we’ll be able to talk about more near the end of 2018.

Our development staff have also started research on something completely new for the project management community that we think will be of great interest to many of our TimeControl users. That we will be talking about by summer time.

We are working on new material and elements of the TimeControl website. Already there are new factsheets, slide shows web sections and online training. We’ve got lots more of that to come. Online training will be greatly expanded this year to include more extensive courses on things like report writing and customizing TimeControl. We’ve also got more collateral coming on using the new TimeControl API so stay tuned!

We’ll keep you up to date on developments this year in our quarterly newsletter by email and the blog at blog.timecontrol.com along with our Twitter feed @HMS_TimeControl.

 

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Happy Holidays from your TimeControl team


From all of us here at HMS Software, we wish you and yours the very best of the holiday season. Thank you all for your support in 2017 and we look forward to serving you in 2018.

During the holiday season, HMS will be open during its regular hours for technical and presales support on the following schedule:

  • Friday, December 22 – open until noon (GMT-5)
  • Monday, December 25 – Closed for Christmas
  • Tuesday, December 26 – Closed for Boxing Day
  • Wednesday, December 27 – open
  • Thursday, December 28 – open
  • Friday, December 29 – open
  • Monday, January 1 – Closed for New Year’s
  • Tuesday, January 2 – Closed for all-staff annual meeting
  • Wednesday, January 3 – open and back to our regular schedule

 

 

timecontrol, TimeControlOnline, timesheet

We’ve updated TimeControl Online!

The TimeControl Online Software as a Service subscription system delivers all that TimeControl has to offer but in a subscription model.

When each new feature is created in TimeControl, we consider how it will function in both the on-premises version and in TimeControl Online.  With the recent release of TimeControl version 7.2 for both on-premises installation and online subscription, this is quite clear.

TimeControl 7.2 includes two major new functions and a host of updated functions.  The two new areas of functionality are support for the TimeControl Mobile App and the TimeControl API.

The TimeControl Mobile App is a free downloadable App that is available on the Apple App Store for iOS devices, and on Google Play for Android devices.  It connects to the user’s TimeControl instance to allow the user to create, edit, or even approve timesheets from their mobile device.

The TimeControl API is a programmable interface that extends TimeControl’s already extensive flexibility and integrateability even further.

Both these features are active in TimeControl Online in the cloud right now.

The online TimeControl service provides all the functionality loved by the on-premise version. The code that is deployed for both situations is identical.

More and more clients are looking to services in the cloud to extend their corporate IT functionality.  When subscribing to TimeControl Online, clients avoid having to purchase or configure hardware, networking, databases or worry about security, monitoring or anything other than simply using the timesheet software. HMS Software’s technical team handles the rest.

HMS has recently updated its pricing policies for TimeControl Online.  For those who are using TimeControl on premise and are interested in switching to TimeControl Online, they can speak to their TimeControl representative at info@hms.ca and ask about transfer credits towards their first year’s subscription.

For more information on TimeControl Online, visit timecontrol.net.

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Free TimeControl Online Training area is only one of many resources

onlinetraining_250x109HMS maintains a large number of online resources that are absolutely free to access and use.  We’ve done recent updates to many of these areas including the Online Video Training section.  There are separate lessons for TimeControl 7, TimeControl 6 and even TimeControl 5.

These lessons are only 3-7 minutes each so you can work at your own pace.  They each show a single feature or function of TimeControl.  Some are designed for end-users, others for TimeControl Administrators.

TimeControl Online Video Training is only one of the available resource areas.  Others include:

  • Webcasts
    This area includes many video webcasts showing TimeControl being used to overcome specific use-case challenges.
  • White Papers
    This area includes numerous white papers on how TimeControl can be applied for specific circumstances such as for R&D tax credits or Time and Billing.
  • Presentations
    You’ll find numerous slide presentations here in PDF format.  We use these slides ourselves to talk about TimeControl’s use for different requirements.
  • Factsheets
    There are dozens of 2 or 4 page brochures here including the main TimeControl and TimeControl Industrial brochures.
  • Best Practices
    This area gives some timesheet best practices for both organizations and individuals to help them be as effective as possible.

See the Resources Area for of the TimeControl website for more information.

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TimeControl integration extends with new API

TimeControl has long been known throughout the industry as the timesheet that is most flexible to integrate with other internal corporate systems whether they are commercial off the shelf programs or custom internal software.

Clients over the years have enjoyed the pre-defined bi-directional integrations with project management tools like Microsoft Project, and Primavera and most recently, BrightWork.  The Links section of TimeControl has allowed the creation or consumption of transaction files in native Excel, XML or plain text formats and with the scheduling option, these movements of data in and out of TimeControl could be automated to run unattended at any time.

Now the integration capabilities of TimeControl have taken a giant leap forward.  Starting with version 7.2, TimeControl has added a full API (Application Programming Interface) so programmers can consume TimeControl data or populate TimeControl with data from other systems.

The TimeControl API uses the ReST (Representational State Transfer) architecture which is well known to many programmers.  It is highly secure and TimeControl Administrators can turn the API on or off and even control access through User Profiles.

The TimeControl API is now included as a part of TimeControl version 7.2 and higher at no additional cost. Programmers can take advantage of code-examples from within TimeControl or from the TimeControl development staff.   

For more information on TimeControl 7.2, visit TimeControl.com/features/latest.

 

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TimeControl 7.2 is now available and it includes the new TimeControl Mobile App!

We’re very excited to announce the release of TimeControl version 7.2. This update to TimeControl includes numerous new and enhanced features and also showcases the release of the TimeControl Mobile App!

There are some incredible new features in this version and some major enhancements too!

The TimeControl Mobile App!
It has been a while in the making but the TimeControl Mobile App is now available.  It is a free App designed to work on both Android and iOS (Apple) devices.  The App lets users log into their TimeControl account and create a timesheet, update an existing timesheet, complete and release a timesheet and, if a supervisor, approve or reject timesheets.  The App is highly intuitive with a responsive design interface.  If used on an Android device, it adopts the styles and characteristics of that device.  If on an Apple device, it appears as any other Apple-based App.  The screen adjusts to the resolution available to it.

The TimeControl Mobile App is free and available on Google Play and the Apple App Store.  The TimeControl Mobile App works with TimeControl 7.2 and higher installations.

You can find out more about the TimeControl Mobile App at mobile.timecontrol.com.

TimeControl API
TimeControl now includes a complete Application Programming Interface to the already numerous methods of integrating TimeControl with other corporate systems. With scheduled links already available, many organizations can take advantage of transferring data to and from TimeControl through transaction files. This new REST-based API goes even further, letting organizations program the movement of data into and out of TimeControl by creating programming calls to the TimeControl API. The API is optionally installed as part of TimeControl and security is controlled in both System Preferences and User Profiles.

Timesheet Grouping
TimeControl now allows you to group your timesheet or for TimeControl Industrial users, the Crew Timesheet. For users with a large number of line items, grouping them can help with data entry. There are up to five levels of grouping and you can group by any field displayed on the timesheet.
New buttons to Expand All or Collapse in the Actions Menu at the top allow you to quickly display all lines in the grouped format or go back just to the summary lines.

There is so much more!
Additional new and enhanced features include: Scheduled Timesheet Creation, Scheduled Autofilled Timesheets, email notifications in Line Item Approvals, pretest Validation Rules, SAML 2.0 authentication support, new data views in the Drill Down Analyzer and more.

For more information about TimeControl version 7.2, visit TimeControl.com/features/latest.

This new version is available now for clients with a current support and maintenance agreement at no additional charge from the TimeControl upgrades site: TimeControl.com/support/updates. TimeControl Online users will be upgraded automatically in the coming weeks.

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HMS is in The Twin Cities this week

Our HMS team is in Minneapolis/St-Paul this week for the Minnesota PMI’s Professional Development Days.  Our own president will be speaking at the symposium and we will have a booth with staff at the show so attendees can get their questions about TimeControl answered.  We’ll be showing the upcoming version 7.2 of TimeControl with the all-new TimeControl Mobile app.

If you are attending the symposium, please come by the TimeControl booth and say hello.  For more information on the Minnesota PMI’s Professional Development Days, visit: pmi-mn.org.

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Irma’s impact

While Hurricane Irma has had and continues to have a terrible effect on those in the Carribean and SouthEastern United States, it has touched HMS as well.  We have personnel we work with who live in Florida who safely evacuated last Friday and are now back at their homes but this has affected some of our marketing activities.  We’re happy to say that our people were not injured or suffer any damage to their homes but the disruption of this storm has long reaching effects that are still being felt and will be felt for some time to come.

Here at HMS we’re getting back onto what we laughingly call our normal schedule and we have so much news to share.  You’ll find the HMS Newsletter out today and other announcements in the days to come that we are very excited about.

In the meantime, if you would like to contribute to IRMA relief, the Red Cross is a good place to start.

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Integration with BrightWork is not just the technical link

Over the last few months we have been working closely with the team at BrightWork to present to our mutual clients a united front not only in terms of the technical link between TimeControl and BrightWork that we released early this summer but also in the marketing, sales and technical support areas.  BrightWork is a popular collaborative project management system based on SharePoint.
Driven by the CEOs of both firms, we have had numerous initiatives behind the scenes that will make using both products together even easier for prospective and existing clients.
BrightWork and TimeControl teams have extended their relationships to include training of the marketing, sales and support staffs.
You will now find information about TimeControl on the BrightWork websites and blogsites and information about BrightWork on our TimeControl websites and here on the blog.  Also we’ve worked on increasing the availability of collateral and other internal training information for both teams.
BrightWork will even be featuring one of the BrightWork/TimeControl joint clients in an upcoming webinar.

Interested in seeing how the two systems work with the bi-directional integration between them?  Take a peek at this video:

In the coming weeks there will be even more news to share about the BrightWork / TimeControl link as the TimeControl Mobile app is launched for both Apple and Android devices. BrightWork clients who are using TimeControl will now be able to see and update their BrightWork tasks right on their mobile device.

The TimeControl / BrightWork integration is included at no cost with all versions of TimeControl both on premise and in the Cloud.
If you’d like more information visit TimeControl.com/use-cases/brightwork.