HMS Software has one of the oldest web environments in the world. We first started the site in the late 1980s when websites were just new to allowing graphics images. Our first version had about 7 images including the logo and a half dozen menu buttons. We were about the 7000th entry in the then-pre-eminent Yahoo index. That may not seem like much but at one time Yahoo was adding about 16,000 business entries a day. We talk about our web environment because it’s more than a website. It’s a collection of websites, domains and web services including this one; our blog at blog.timecontrol.org (or blog.timecontrol.com).
In today’s modern age, an organization’s web presence is critical to its public image and HMS Software’s web environment has changed many times over the years.
It’s about to change again. Since mid-2014, we have been working on a complete re-architecture of how our websites look and how we provide information to our HMS and
TimeControl communities.
Changing the look and feel of a website for an organization isn’t a casual decision. Aside from the costs and effort involved, we’re sensitive that returning visitors may find the change unsettling. However, the design we’ve used for almost 10 years now was made in a PC-only world and we have to do a better job of accommodating many devices. So, sometime later this quarter, our current sites at hmssoftware.ca, hms.ca, timecontrol.com, industrial.timecontrol.com and timecontrol.net are going to change their look from what you see on the right here…
To what you see on the right here…
We’ll be consolidating the 5 domains above into timecontrol.com for all things TimeControl, industrial.timecontrol.com for all thing TimeControl Industrial and hms.ca for anything more general about HMS Software.
We’re doing a lot of work in the marketing department to make sure we don’t lose any content during the change and we’ll be doing a large number of “re-directs” for pages that have names that have moved.
Stay tuned… We’ll be making another announcement on this shortly before the sites change.
HMS is expanding its development department
We’re looking for a Software Engineer
Does the idea of working for a rapidly growing company interest you? Are you a team player who enjoys a hands-on coding role in technical product development?
Our culture is fast paced, informal, and focused on the success of both our customers and our team. The ideal candidate will work within a small team of developers to design and develop our commercial enterprise software and application programming interfaces with a focus on integration with enterprise applications. As a team player, you have strong analytical and problem solving skills and the ability to build relationships and communicate effectively with others.
Here’s more detail about why you’ll enjoy working on our team:
- Industry leading benefits
- Competitive compensation
- Casual, make-it-happen work environment
- Incredibly talented, driven, team orientated co-workers
Skills & Experience
The qualified candidate should be bilingual in English/French and have skills and experience in:
- C# using Visual Studio
- Web Application development
- HTML, CSS and JavaScript
- Proficient with database systems development using SQL
- Web / WCF Services
- Soap
- XML
- AJAX
- ADO.NET / LINQ / Entity Framework
- Thorough understanding of multi-threaded application architecture and development
- WPF / ClickOnce
- Mobile development for IOS and Android
To apply: Email your curriculum vitae to dorothy.dixon@hms.ca and specify the job posting for “Software Engineer”, or fax to 514 695-8121.
TimeControl 6.8 includes the Accruals Module
Did you know that TimeControl 6.8 includes a powerful Accruals Module to allow Human Resources and Payroll departments to automatically calculate and store time in many different categories? Many organizations have scenarios where the timesheet is an ideal place to calculate overtime based on the total number of hours or the amount of vacation or personal time off that has been earned each period based on a person’s seniority or managing banked overtime. TimeControl’s new Accruals Module allows all of these types of calculations and more.
This extensive functionality is included with every TimeControl or TimeControl Online and has four different accrual rule categories:
1. Calendar Accrual Based on Static Values
In some organizations, your vacation time or personal time off is earned at a standard value. For example, let’s say you get 3 weeks of vacation and a standard week is 40 hours long. Each month you might earn 10 hours. The calculation is 40 hours times 3 weeks for 120 total hours per year of vacation and divide that 120 by 12 months and we get 10 hours per month. TimeControl can automatically do the storage of those hours into each employee’s vacation bank.
2. Calendar Accrual Based on Posted Time Values
Imagine that we need to calculate a set number of hours per employee each month based on the total number of hours accumulated during this period to their personal time off bank. The calculation might be particularly well suited to people who are on part time or hourly pay as opposed to salaried staff.
3. Timesheet Accrual Based on Rate Codes
Some organizations may configure TimeControl to accrue time into a bank based on the value found in the rate code. For example, it is quite common in TimeControl to identify a rate as an overtime rate with specific values for internal cost vs. external billing value. The TimeControl Accruals module can look at these lines and determine if the overtime values should be treated as time to go into a particular employee’s bank such as banked overtime over a certain value.
4. Timesheet Accrual Based on Timesheet Hours
In some organizations, there are rules for the amount of overtime that can be accumulated based on the number of hours in a timesheet. Let’s say, for example, we want to add to the employee’s overtime bank an amount calculated at 1.5 times the hours for any time spent over 40 total hours but below 50 total hours and 2 times the hours for any hours above 50.
A TimeControl instance may include numerous Accrual rules. Some rules could apply to the entire staff and others might apply only to certain staff or even to certain staff under some conditions.
Find out more about TimeControl Accruals at www.timecontrol.com/timesheet/accruals.
Wow, what a year!
Thanks to our remarkable clients 2014 was a record year of growth and productivity for us. HMS experienced growth in every category including services, TimeControl for on-premise, our subscribed TimeControlOnline service and even support services. So, a big thank you to both our dedicated staff and, of course, our expanding clientele. 2014 was our 30th year of operation and 20th year of operation for TimeControl but we feel like we’re just getting started.
In 2014 we released TimeControl 6.7 and 6.8 including such popular and powerful features as the TimeControl Workflow engine and the new Accruals Module. We also finally said goodbye to the last of our old ActiveX controls. They continue to be supported as a legacy feature but new installations of TimeControl won’t even see them by default.
2015 promises to be even more exciting! We are already putting the final touches on TimeControl 6.9 which is scheduled for release in February and design is underway for a major new wave of TimeControl which we’ll tell you more about during the summer. We’ll be giving you a sneak peek at the new marquis feature of TimeControl 6.9 right here in the blog in the next couple of weeks!
So, 30 years of HMS history are now behind us but the best is yet to come!
TimeControl at Steven Winter Associates
We are delighted to get written testimonials from our TimeControl clients quite frequently here at HMS but this year one of our clients has gone a step further. The folks at Steven Winter Associates worked with the HMS marketing staff to get a case study written of their selection and use of TimeControl. We’re thrilled with the result which is now on the TimeControl website.
Steven Winter Associates is a leader in their field creating best practices for high-performing buildings. It’s remarkable work. In January 2010, Steven Winter started looking for a timesheet system that would allow them to be effective in their work of making buildings more effective. TimeControl would become that system and it has been making a difference there ever since.
The case study is at: www.timecontrol.com/resources/casestudies/swa_casestudy.php or find out more about Steven Winter Associates at: www.swinter.com.
Project Imports with TimeControl 6.8
With the update to TimeControl 6.8 for both on premises and on line users, the internal links to project management tools have been rewritten to be much more effective. In particular, we’ve updated some links to use Guaranteed Unique Identifiers (GUIDs) when they are available. This allows us to be much more precise about what task to send data back to and to do that transfer much more quickly.
We were already using GUIDs in several links that we wrote more recently but we’ve been able to update a number of PM import and export links now to follow the same architecture.
In order to make sure this works properly for you, you should do an import of any open project prior to posting data to it immediately following the upgrade to 6.8 (this is true also for TimeControlOnline users). This is a best practice anyway so you are likely doing this already but if you make sure you do a PM Import of any open projects that may have been using older identification methods, TimeControl will happily transfer them to GUIDs in the background without any further intervention.
Please contact TimeControl technical support at support@hms.ca if you have any questions.
We’ve just received a letter from E2PM
E2 Project Management is an engineering and consulting firm based in New Jersey and we can’t thank them enough for the kind letter they recently sent. E2PM’s president, John Ferrante told us that their firm has been using TimeControl now for 3 years and that it has exceeded their expectations. We’re delighted to hear it. Thanks John to you and your entire team for your support. If you’d like to read John’s letter in its entirety, it can be found at: www.timecontrol.com/resources/testimonials/tst_e2pm.php.
You can see other testimonials on the TimeControl testimonial page.
HMS Releases TimeControl version 6.8
We’re delighted to tell you that we have released TimeControl version 6.8. It seems like just yesterday that we were telling you about 6.7 and all the new features there including the new Workflow module, the elimination of the last ActiveX controls and updated OnBoarding and Project Link functionality but here we are again with a major release of new functionality! In this version, we are very excited to include a new module we have talked about for some time. The Accruals Module will allow TimeControl administrators to automate functions such as banked time or calculated overtime and more. We also have added functionality to Expenses and Timesheets to allow you to insert your own documents (such as receipts) and a new Menu Editor that gives you even more flexibility over the TimeControl menus! Here are some of the more noticeable new and enhanced features you’ll be seeing in this version: Accruals module
TimeControl 6.8 includes a new Accruals module which allows Administrators to create a rules-based accrual of time into different elements of TimeControl tables. For example, Vacation could now be accrued automatically on a monthly basis and the amount per employee entered into the vacation bank on the employee table or overtime could be accrued from the timesheet using a banked-overtime rate into a bank of personal time in the employee table which could be used for time off later. There are 4 different types of Accrual rules now possible:
- A scheduled rule that is based on static values in the employee tables
- A scheduled rule that is based on values in the timesheets being posted
- A rule executed during posting that is based on the timesheet values
- A scheduled rule that looks at rate-code values
While doing Accruals within TimeControl has been possible in the past, it typically required expertise at the database level and now virtually all of these types of conditions can be managed by the users themselves in the Accruals module. Accruals are easy for an Administrator to create but, like Validation Rules and Workflow, are so potentially powerful, that we haven’t begun to explore the limits of what is possible with them. 
TimeControl menus now editable
TimeControl has always allowed items in the menu to be secured using User Profiles. Now, TimeControl 6.8 goes so much farther. Administrators are now able to add their own menu items directly to the TimeControl menu using the Menu Editor or move existing items from one tab to another to match their own requirements. Add documents to an expense line item or a timesheet header 
TimeControl 6.8 allows multiple files to be uploaded and saved within each expense line item or to the entire timesheet. This will allow scanned or photographed expenses to be saved with the Expense Line or at the timesheet level. There is no limit to the number of documents that can be attached to each expense line or to the Timesheet itself. For those who have their expense approvals managed at the same time as their timesheet, this makes the TimeControl expenses functionality that much more attractive. “Adjust” on PMV is configurable in User Profiles
In TimeControl 6.7, users who have access to the Debit/Credit function will see the “Adjust” link within the Project Management Validation screen. This appeared if the user had access to Debit/Credit. The appearance of this link is now configurable in User Profiles as of TimeControl 6.8. Even if the user has access to Debit/Credit, the Adjust link in the PMV can be hidden using this User Profile option. Clickable dashboards
As of TimeControl 6.8, on dashboard elements where appropriate such as the Personal Status view, users are able to click on a link which will bring them directly to the appropriate area or element of TimeControl We’ve added an “Adjust” button to the Posted Timesheet List
TimeControl 6.8 adds the Adjust link that is currently only in the Project Manager Validation screen to the Timesheet list. If a user has access to the Debit/Credit function, they will see the Adjust button on the Timesheet list and clicking on it will automatically create a Debit/Credit record for that timesheet. This makes getting to a Debit/Credit to adjust it in TimeControl that much easier. Hide “Remember Me” and “Keep me Logged in” on login screen
TimeControl 6.8 can now be configured in the TimeControl.ini file to allow the “Remember me” and “Keep me Logged in” checkboxes on the Login screen to be hidden from users. When users logout, return them immediately to login screen
TimeControl 6.8 can now be configured in the TimeControl.ini file to allow the user to bypass the confirmation dialog and return directly to the login screen while logging out. Filter resources during Project Management import
TimeControl 6.8 allows the project manager to set a filter to not transfer certain resources from the project management system. This could allow hiding certain types of resources such as generic resources from being automatically added to the TimeControl Resource Table. Plus, we’ve made performance and minor improvements in a wide range of other modules:Find out more about TimeControl 6.8 at www.timecontrol.com/timesheet/latest or talk to us about your timesheet needs at www.timecontrol.com/contact/contact.php or info@hms.ca.
Thanks to Ascendant for a great letter!
Ascendant is a Bermuda-based firm which supplies critical utilities to Bermuda’s residents and community. Caroline Rance, Ascendant’s VP of Information Technology sent a great recommendation for TimeControl based on their successful implementation from over a year ago.
Caroline’s letter can be read at: www.timecontrol.com/resources/testimonials/tst_e2pm.php
You can see other testimonials on the TimeControl testimonial page.
Thanks for a great letter from Aedon Consulting!
Carolyn Gavsie the office manager of Aedon Consulting in Canada’s west coast recently sent us a letter explaining how delighted they are to have moved from a manual timesheet system to TimeControl. Aedon is a consulting services firm working in the utilities industry.
Carolyn’s letter can be found at: www.timecontrol.com/resources/testimonials/tst_aedon.php.
More TimeControl testimonial letters can be found on the TimeControl Testimonial page.