Synel America’s software product XactTime, is a web-based time and attendance solution that also features a mobile app called XTMobile, available for both iOS and Android. XTMobile’s most recent release features the new capability to define geographical boundaries and zones to restrict employee punches to specific areas. Learn more about mobile geofencing for time & attendance software.
Why use a mobile time and attendance app like XTMobile?
Any smartphone with an iOS or Android operating system can be turned into a mobile time clock by downloading the XTMobile app, so it makes tracking time and attendance for remote or traveling employees a breeze. Employees can not only clock in and out for their shifts, but they can clock in and out from breaks and lunches, they can transfer to a different job or labor level, check and submit their timesheet, and more. Now more than ever, employees expect self-service tools with easy-to-use resources from their employers, so providing a time, attendance, and benefits portal on a smartphone device can help meet that growing demand.
What is geofencing and how does it work?
Geofencing, or the act of establishing a geographical fence or boundary, provides a plethora of applications for administrators, especially in the workforce management category. When specifically applied to attendance and time functionality, geofencing can allow an administrator to establish geographical areas to limit where an employee is allowed to punch in (or out, etc.). Administrators can define an unlimited number of zones and assign them to an unlimited number of combinations to employees, including based on other factors like day of the week and time of day. Because smartphone devices utilize a global positioning system (GPS), the application can then accept or reject functions (like employee punches) based on the actual and current position of the smartphone (and therefore employee) in real-time.
For example, if on Mondays you only want your IT professionals to be able to clock in from the office, you can establish those rules in the administrative panel, and assign them only to IT personnel. If you want to ensure your traveling sales team only clocks in and out within their own territory to prevent them from clocking in during their commute or before they have arrived, you can establish their sales territory as a punch zone and restrict their punches until they are located within that zone so the application does not accept the punch until they have arrived. Administering punch zones is so simple that changing daily punch zones is not uncommon; if you want to allow your team of mobile cleaners to change labor levels between business locations and residential locations, you can set these zones ahead of time to ensure the pay rate is accurately totaled without additional manual tracking.
What functions can employees perform on the XTMobile app?
- Clock in/out for shifts
- Clock in/out for breaks and lunches
- Transfer labor levels
- Submit PTO requests (if benefits are enabled)
- View employee’s monthly schedule
- View employee time card/hours
For a demo of XTMobile, contact us!
