We’re Canadian. It’s natural to be somewhat understated and modest. But that’s becoming tougher around the HMS offices lately lately thanks to some of the letters we’ve been getting from our clients. One of the more recent from Value Recovery makes us blush.
Jeff Riley, the Accounting Manager at Value Recovery says that not only did TimeControl meet all of their requirements for US Government DCAA compliance but that the product and service from HMS was “First Class”.
Thanks Jeff. We’ think you’re pretty darned first class yourself!
Value Recovery is a US-based firm that specializes in Asset Management and Recovery services for both the public and private sector. You can find out more about them at www.valuerecoverygroup.com and you can read Jeff’s letter to HMS in the TimeControl Client Testimonials page.
It’s a bird, it’s a plane… It’s a .. a… Tweet!
Yes, it’s true. HMS is about to embrace Twitter around here. We’re often on the leading edge of technology and in fact, HMS was an early explorer of Twitter. However, we weren’t an early adopter and we’ve now decided that with so much going on around here with new versions new customers, new collateral and new partners, that Twitter is the best way to keep everyone informed of what’s new so we’re evolving with the times!
So, stay tuned on the HMS and TimeControl websites. Over the coming weeks you’ll see the What’s New feed on the main page replaced with a live Twitter feed. And, if you’re already looking forward to our next tweet, you can follow HMS at: Follow @HMS_TimeControl
Testimonial from Murray and Roberts
HMS continues to receive wonderful accolades from its clients. One of our more recent is a letter from Murray and Roberts, one of South Africa’s leading engineering and construction companies. Murray and Roberts has been a TimeControl client since early 2012 and are clearly delighted if their letter is any judge. HMS is delighted to count Murray & Roberts among the satisfied clients in our TimeControl family. You can find out more about Murray & Roberts at murrob.com.
If you’d like to read their letter just click on Murray & Roberts Testimonial on the TimeControl website.
Meet HMS staff in London Ontario Friday, April 26!
If you are attending the PMI Southwest Ontario Chapter Chapter’s (SWOC) Symposium event on April 26th you will be able to meet some of the HMS staff in person! This annual event is being held at the
Lamplighter Inn & Conference Centre at: 591 Wellington Road, London, Ontario from 8am to 5pm.
If you are interested in meeting HMS staff in person or talking to us about TimeControl or other HMS Services and are in the area, then please let us know. If you are attending the symposium and would like to make sure we organize an appointment with you, please email Ken Edwards at ken.edwards@hms.ca or give us a call at our GTA office at 647-478-8332
For more information on the symposium, go to: www.pmiswoc.org
Free TimeControl Hosted Trial site update
We’ve had a free hosted trial site for TimeControl for ages. We’ve recently made some major changes to the site to improve the TimeControl timesheet evaluation experience for prospective clients.
Aside from putting the free hosted timesheet trial onto some hot new and highly performant hardware, we’ve also updated the data, upgraded the trial to our newest version 6.5 including the new TimeControl Report Designer and added and updated a range of evaluation tools for those looking for timesheets that are project-based.
Some of the key resources for evaluating TimeControl include:
The site has been populated with evaluation data so users can immediately log into the system and see data in all the main features. Users can instantly add a timesheet, approve that timesheet, do a report, do timesheet analysis and even post a vacation request. The look and feel of the TimeControl 6.5 timesheet system is highly intuitive. Evaluation users are given Administrator privileges so no part of the evaluation TimeControl system is restricted. Users should remember however that this data is open to anyone so it is not the place to post anything confidential. The Free TimeControl Hosted Trial site data is refreshed every night. Users registering for the evaluation will have access to the system for 2 weeks following which they must re-register to continue their access.
Users may register for the free Hosted TimeControl Trial at freetrial.timecontrol.com.
The evaluation site references the free TimeControl Online Learning Center which has a collection of videos showing the basic functions of TimeControl being performed. Each video is only 3-5 minutes long so it’s a fast and easy way to see how to add a timesheet, add a vacation request, edit an employee’s record, approve timesheets, report on time and more.
The TimeControl Online Learning center is now directly accessible from the TimeControl Trial site dashboard. The dashboard has been tailored for a trial and one of the things we’ve done is highlight learning and evaluation resources right on the front page.
The TimeControl Online Learning center is now directly accessible from the TimeControl Trial site dashboard. The dashboard has been tailored for a trial and one of the things we’ve done is highlight learning and evaluation resources right on the front page.
HMS has put numerous resources and tools for choosing a timesheet into the Timesheet Buyer’s Guide. This solution portal includes materials such as a Return on Investment Calculator, an Evaluation Guide which leads users through TimeControl the Free Hosted TimeControl Trial site from registration through all the basic functions. The Guide has a click-by-click format with screen shots and descriptions of what users will see as they go through the system.
There are also references to numerous white papers, webcasts and more. The Timesheet Buyers Guide is free and does not require registration.
The Perfect 10 with IE10
Ok, maybe it’s not fair to compare Bo Derek with TimeControl but today’s topic is Internet Explorer version 10. As Windows 8 is making its way onto more and more PCs, IE10 has become more and more prolific amongst our users. In the last couple of weeks Microsoft has made IE10 available to a wide range of Windows 7 users as well and we have had numerous questions about TimeControl’s support of IE10.
If you are a TimeControl 6 basic timesheet user then you will likely find that TimeControl is supported without having to do anything new. Some of our tests have shown that under some conditions, you must turn on compatibility mode in which case you can add your TimeControl URL to your list of compatibilty sites to ensure that compatibility mode activates automatically for your site.
If you are a TimeControl Administrator, or someone who must use one of the few remaining ActiveX controls in TimeControl (such as for System Preferences) then you will have to ensure that IE10 is running in 32bit mode. Unlike IE9, Microsoft no longer ships two different Internet Explorer versions (32bit and 64bit). Both are contained in the same system. To turn on 32bit mode however isn’t obvious. If you are in a situation where you must run a TimeControl ActiveX, then you can turn it on in the Advanced Tab of your Internet Options. Scroll down to to “Enable Enhanced Protected Mode”, click it on and then click OK. Close all browser windows and restart and hey-presto! You’re in 32bit mode.
For most users this will not be required as it only applies to the handfull of users who must use one of those last few ActiveX Controls. If you have any challenges with IE10, please let TimeControl Support know at support@hms.ca.
Integrate TimeControl, Primavera and Hard Dollar Solution Page
With the release of TimeControl 6.5, organizations are now able to create a remarkably powerful project management environment by combinging the best of HMS’s TimeControl, Hard Dollar’s HD and Oracle-Primavera’s P6 all at the same time and we have created a TimeControl Solution Portal to give you access to resources on how this could help you with organizational efficiency.
Haven’t you ever wished you could take the best of the most popular project management tools and blend them together?
Now, thanks to TimeControl version 6.5, you can.
You can now integrate TimeControl or TimeControl Industrial with Hard Dollar’s HD and Oracle-Primavera’s P6 simultaneously to create one remarkably flexible and powerful environment. Hard Dollar is known for its strength in project cost estimating and cost control. It has been used for years in construction, engineering, utilities, mining and other industrial industries to create a rich definition of cost requirements for labor, material and equipment requirements for projects. Primavera is world-renowned for its project scheduling, project tracking and resource capacity planning functionality. TimeControl Industrial brings field data collection to a new level. TimeControl has been available since 1994 and is one of the world’s best known timesheet systems.
TimeControl and TimeControl Industrial have had the ability to integrate with Primavera since 1997. When Primavera users need to extend timesheet capabilities to meet financial requirements for not only job costing but also invoicing, payroll, HR and numerous government compliance rules, TimeControl is often the choice.
HMS and Hard Dollar created a technical alliance in 2012 to create the same kind of integration between TimeControl Industrial and Hard Dollar’s HD cost control system and while doing so realized that something remarkable was possible. There was already an integration between HD and Primavera’s P6 and the addition of TimeControl Industrial which already had the P6 integration itself meant that all the products could be combined together. The TimeControl/HD integration was designed with that requirement in mind and it has surpassed our best hopes for improved efficiency.
The bi-directional link between TimeControl and HD brings in job definitions and sends back the actuals on a day-to-day basis. The bi-directional link between TimeControl and P6 brings in activity and step definitions along with resource assignments and sends back not only the resource and financial actuals but also estimate to complete and Activity Step progress. TimeControl’s unique Matrix Approval Process for Labor Actuals™ means that data arrives already approved from both the organizational and project perspectives and is ready to use by Project Management, Job Costing, HR, Payroll and Finance.
It’s the best of not just both but all three worlds. A blend of the best in world class performance from the leaders in project management systems.
For more information on combining TimeControl Industrial, Hard Dollar’s HD and Oracle-Primavera’s P6 into your winning combination, see our Solution Portal at industrial.timecontrol.com/solutions/tchdp6/
For information on TimeControl Industrial, go to industrial.timecontrol.com or contact HMS Software at info@hms.ca, or call us toll free at (877) 699-8463 (International +1 (514) 695-8122).
Meet the new TimeControl Report Interface
Meet the new TimeControl Reporting environment
You know TimeControl as one of the most flexible timesheets on the market today but the release of version 6.5 has put reporting of your labor actuals into a whole new category. 
TimeControl was released in 1994 and the flexible Excel-like reporting environment (which is still included with TimeControl) was introduced in 1999. Since then, it has delivered thousands of reports in a tabular column and row approach which end users could print or save as Excel spreadsheets. As flexible as that was, there were requests for more. Could we fix the report format to show a company logo? Could we do a graphics report? Could we do a report with multiple lines or long fields that would automatically wrap their text? Could we have calculated fields that did formulas inside the report? The new report interface brings all of this and more. While there are some example reports in the new reporting system, the capabilities of this module of TimeControl are vast.
The new TimeControl Report Interface comes in two parts, a Designer and a Presenter. The Designer is 
designed to be used by a TimeControl Administrator and brings a rich collection of tools to a Windows PC to design and create report formats. The TimeControl Report Designer is installed using Microsoft’s Click-Once technology. The Presenter requires no installed code on the local terminal. It follows TimeControl’s.Net architecture and will present any report that has been made available to that user. The TimeControl Report Interface follows all the same security structures which are already a part of TimeControl. If a user has access only to certain data, then regardless of which report format is selected, only the data to which they have rights will be displayed. If the user is prohibited from viewing certain fields, then even if those fields are in a report format, they will not display to that user.
That’s the basic structure but what now becomes possible?
A lot.
The new report environment includes a WYSIWYG report designer that lets you control fonts, insert objects such as pictures, text, calculations, graphics charts, tables, pivot tables and, of course, data from TimeControl. 
The new functionality is so extensive we’ve needed to create a brand new manual called the TimeControl Report Designer Guide which adds over 230 pages of new report functionality to consume. Graphics charts include pie charts, histograms, curves and more. For the first time, TimeControl can generate its own burn-down charts and spending curves.
Tabular reports are vastly improved as well. TimeControl now gives font control to every element on the report. There can be some data in a small font, and headers somewhat larger. Fonts can be colored for emphasis and conditional formatting can even show some data in one color and other data in another color based on the values displayed. Tabular reports for the first time can display multiple lines per reporting element and control over formatting extends to dates, currency and more.
Calculated fields let us create effects like transposing the words “Active” or InActive” for the Inactive User field which only contains a T/F flag for (true/false). Or, use calculated fields to calculate budget vs. actual or change person-hours to person-days.
The presentation of reports has also seen a light year leap forward. Having the report presenter created in TimeControl’s .Net environment means that for the first time, reports can be delivered using browsers other than Internet Explorer and in non-Windows environments. Reports can be presented on an iPad or other tablet or even your Smartphone.
Once a report has been created, it can be saved not only as an Excel file (yes, don’t worry Finance people, we would never take that out of the product!) but also as a PDF, an HTML or MHT page, an RFT file, bot XLS and XLSX file, a flat CSV or Text file or even an image file.
There is so much more to this new environment that we can’t possible cover in a single communication and to be honest, we know that the best reports that will come from this new system will probably come from the inventiveness of our own clients. You can see the new TimeControl Report Interface in action on the TimeControl.com site in our Online Lessons area or contact HMS to have us show you how these new reporting capabilities extends TimeControl’s reach in the market.
To find out more about TimeControl’s reports, visit www.timecontrol.com/timesheet/reports or contact HMS at info@hms.ca.
What’s new in TimeControl 6.5
TimeControl 6.5 is now available and it represents a major evolution of TimeControl since 6.4. Aside from HMS Software’s ongoing work to migrate administrative functionality away from ActiveX controls and our improving TimeControl’s ability to allow Administrators to use multiple devices and browsers to access and administer the system, HMS has added a major new reporting-writing engine, a completely new link option for linking to our new alliance partner Hard Dollar’s HD project cost and estimating system and significant improvements in both performance and other functionality. These notes reflect updates in TimeControl since version 6.4.4.
To see full size images of the screen shots here, just click on the image.
An all new report writer
Long known for its incredible flexibility, TimeControl now extends that philosophy to reporting with a new WYSIWYG reporting engine that allows both tabular and graphic reports, complete format control and even calculated fields.
The new TimeControl Report Designer is so extensive; we’ve only just scratched the surface of its capabilities. Users will be able to quickly create TimeControl reports by just dragging and dropping fields into the layout and, once they have been designed, reports can be displayed on almost any browser including even tablets and Smartphones.
Administrators can create new tabular or graphics reports and can group and summarize at will using the new TimeControl Report Designer. 
The designer also allows things that TimeControl users have asked about including complete font control element, by element, the ability to add logos, images, shapes and control colors, the ability to conditionally change formatting (for example, displaying negative numbers in red), and even the ability to add calculated fields.
Once created, the new reports are displayed in TimeControl’s multi-browser architecture which means they are able to be displayed on many different pc browsers and devices.
In addition to being able to save data in an Excel format, just as the old report writer did, Users can also save data in PDF, XML, JPG and a variety of other formats. The new TimeControl Report Designer comes with a new 230 page Guide which will help you learn your way around the new functionality.
For those who are now hyperventilating, thinking of all the investment in your existing TimeControl reports, don’t worry. We are maintaining support for both report writers for the foreseeable future.
New Dashboards 
We’ve done a complete rewriter of the TimeControl Dashboard creator in our multi-browser architecture and even added a brand-new pie-chart type. You’ll now be able to create or update Dashboards for the system or for users in any browser or device. TimeControl’s support to display dashboards in any browser or device remains unchanged.
Updated System Preferences
We’ve rewritten System Preferences within our multi-browser architecture and that means Administrators for the most part can update settings for TimeControl from any device or browser without requiring an ActiveX installation. The new updates have been improved not only for look and feel but also for ease of use and effectiveness.
Updated Validation Rules
We’ve rewritten the Validation Rule creator to allow you to use any browser of device and be much more effective working through adding or editing a business validation rule.
All new Manage LanguagesThe multi-lingual module of TimeControl has been rewritten into TimeControl’s multi-browser 
architecture and while doing so we’ve improved not only the look and feel but also the find, replace and pilot grouping capabilities similar to the Drill Down Analyzer that will make managing multiple languages in TimeControl much more effective. The function will no longer require an ActiveX to load which means you can use this function in any browser, pc or tablet device.
Manage External Tables
TimeControl 6.5 moves the Manage External Tables module to TimeControl’s multi-browser architecture and will make linking to external pop up lists and other external data much easier. The function will no longer require an ActiveX to load which means you can use this function in any browser, pc or tablet device.
Updated Links
We have completely rewritten the Links modules with an update to the Interface Definition, the Connection Pool and other linking functionality which will serve to improve TimeControl’s already extraordinary ability to link to project management tools
All new Hard Dollar link
This version of TimeControl showcases our newest Strategic Alliance Partner, Hard Dollar. Hard Dollar’s HD project estimating and cost control system is one of the premiere cost control packages in the world. We have worked directly with the Hard Dollar development team to create a link to and from TimeControl and TimeControl Industrial so that users who do field data collection of labor, material, equipment and production values with TimeControl can have that data integrated with Hard Dollar.
Link both Hard Dollar and PrimaveraOur link with Hard Dollar’s HD required a different kind of thinking that previous links because 
we wanted to support a simultaneous link with project scheduling software such as Oracle-Primavera’s P6. TimeControl and TimeControl Industrial 6.5 can integrate with P6 and HD at the same time, making this combination a uniquely powerful project cost control environment. Create the Project in HD, track the progress in TimeControl or TimeControl Industrial, plan and manage the project in Primavera and all 3 products are kept up to date.
If you are a TimeControl client with a current support and maintenance contract, you can download TimeControl 6.5 today at www.timecontrol.com/support/updates. If you would like a demonstration of TimeControl 6.5 or to discuss the status of your support and maintenance contract, please contact info@hms.ca.
Year end Clean up of Data
The end of the calendar year is approaching and many TimeControl users wish to clean up their data in preparation for the year ahead. We will be posting a series of blog entries that look into the specifics of doing some yearend cleaning of the TimeControl data. Our focus will be primarily on the table data.
Our recommendation is to track down any missing timesheets and encourage your employees to complete them. If you are missing timesheets for former employees, you can use the Alternate Login to complete any missing timesheets for former employees or for employees who are unavailable to complete their own timesheets. You can set an Alternate User in the User Table.
Once all timesheets are accounted for and posted, the clean- up can commence. A good place to start is with the User Table. User Table entries, because of the relational nature of the data, cannot be deleted. For any former employee or employees who will no longer need to login to TimeControl, go the User Table and check the “User Inactive” flag. This flag will block the user from login in but will maintain any historical data related to the user. If this user appears in an approval path, the timesheet will no longer stop there for approval but will instead move on to the next supervisor. This frees up the license for re-use by a new user. When you make a user inactive, don’t forget to apply the change.
Most Administrators will not want to look at users who are no longer active and TimeControl can help with this by allowing a display filter to be applied so the when the table is loaded the inactive users are not shown. This can be done using the table filter on the right hand menu bar. If you wish to apply such a filter as a standard, it can be implemented in the Users Profiles under the Tables Security tab.