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TimePilot's iPhone App

Step-by-Step Guide to Basic Functions

Thanks for purchasing TimePilot's iPhone App from the iTunes Store. 

The app can be used two ways:

• If you use TimePilot Central, the software that comes with TimePilot's time and attendance systems, you can send the data collected by your phone to TimePilot Central for processing. TimePilot Corporation manufactures electronic timeclocks—replacements for antiquated punch-clock systems—that can be used indoors or outdoors and calculate employee hours in seconds. See www.TimePilot.com for details on these systems. You'll also need a free account at Dropbox.com.
• As a standalone app, for those who will not use the app with TimePilot Central. The app collects clock-ins and clock-outs by your employees, calculates the time between the in and the out transactions and keeps count of the total number of hours worked. You can export the data collected as a .CSV file, which can be read by a spreadsheet program, if you have a Dropbox account.  

Now that you've downloaded it, here's how to set it up and use it. If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact us at Support@TimePilot.com.

Click a topic below to skip to that section.

Setting up the app
Using the app
Clocking in and out
Viewing an employee's transactions and inserting a transaction
Deleting profiles and transactions
Linking to the TimePilot Central software
Sending clock-in and clock-out data to TimePilot Central via Dropbox
Importing the data into TimePilot Central
Moving Profiles from TimePilot Central to an iPhone

Setting up the app

1. After you install the app, you’ll need to give your phone a name and enter its phone number to set up the app. This is required whether or not you will be using the app with TimePilot Central software.
   
   If you use the software, the phone’s name and number will be used to identify clock-ins and clock-outs in the TimePilot Central software.
   
   The name should be something like "Acme iPhone 1" or "John's iPhone."
   The phone number should be the iPhone's 10-digit number (including area code) without dashes, spaces or other punctuation. If you’re using the app on an iPod Touch or an iPad, just enter a unique 10-digit number that can be used to identify the device. The phone name and number need to be entered only once.
   
   
2. After completing this initial setup, you're ready to begin adding Employee Profiles. These are the employees whose data will be collected on the phone. Each profile has a name and a four-digit personal identification number (PIN). To add a new profile, tap the + button in the upper right-hand corner of the app's main view. Enter the name and PIN for the profile and tap "Save."
   
   (For a quick way to add all of your employee profiles to your iPhone, see the section titled "Moving Profiles from TimePilot Central to an iPhone.")
   
   Important: If you use another TimePilot time and attendance product (TimePilot Vetro, Extreme, etc.), make sure the name you enter exactly matches the name in the TimePilot Central software and the PIN in the iPhone app matches employee’s User ID in his or her profile. Need to double-check the name or ID? Start TimePilot Central and double-click the appropriate name in the list of employees on the left side of the screen.
   
   
3. You should now see the new profile listed in the app's Main View.

Using the app

The Main View is what you'll see when you start the app after setting it up. Here's an overview, keyed to the image at right:

These are the employees you have set up. If there's a red arrow next to the person's name, that person is clocked in; If there's no arrow, that person has clocked out. Under the name are more details about their most recent clock-in or clock-out. To the right of the name is the number of hours accumulated by the employee. (When you clear an employee's records, the counter resets to 0.) Note that the only hours counted are those that have a clock-in and a clock-out. Want to see an individual employee's transactions? Tap the employee's name or the arrow on the right side of the screen.

To delete an employee (and all their transactions), tap the "Edit" button, then the "minus" button () . When the "Delete" button appears, tap it.

To add an employee profile, tap the "+" button at the top right corner of the Main screen.

Tapping this button gives you a choice of actions:

•  Send the clock-in and clock-out data to TimePilot Central. (TimePilot Central is the software that comes with the following TimePilot time and attendance systems: TimePilot Extreme, TimePilot Vetro, TimePilot Tap or TimePilot PC. Click here for details on these systems. Also requires a free account at Dropbox.com.)
  
  
• Check for employee profile updates that were created in TimePilot Central (see previous item).
  
  
• Send to Dropbox. If you don't have one of the TimePilot systems mentioned above but have a Dropbox account, you can export your employee clock-in and clock-out data in .csv format to your Dropbox folder.
  
  
• Help. Opens your phone's browser and calls up this TimePilot iPhone App help page.
  
  

  Opens the App's settings screen.       

Clocking in and out

There are two ways to clock in or out:

• The first is to tap and hold on the employee's name. Doing so will bring up a menu that will let you clock in the employee, clock out the employee or clear (erase) the employee’s clock-ins and clock-outs.
  
  
• The other way is called "Fast Clock-In," which allows you to clock in or out by swiping the profile’s cell on the main screen. Swiping from left to right will clock him or her in; from right to left will clock the employee out.
  
  
  
  Fast Clock-In is turned off by default and must be enabled in the app’s settings. To do so, tap the "Settings" button in the lower right-hand corner of the main view, then tap the switch next to "Fast Clock-In" to set it to ON. Tap the "Done" button at the top of the screen to dismiss the view.
  
  

Viewing an employee's transactions and inserting a transaction

To see a list of an employee’s clock-ins and clock-outs, simply tap the employee’s name in the main view. A list of the employee’s transactions will appear. “In” transactions have a red triangle next to them. At the bottom of the screen is the total accumulated hours for this employee.

Want to delete a transaction? Swipe the offending transaction from left to right or right to left, then tap the "Delete" button that appears.

You can also insert a clock-in or clock-out for the employee here. Tap the + button in the top right-hand corner of screen. Select IN or OUT (a blue background indicates it has been selected) and the date and time, and then tap "Save." To cancel the entry, tap "Cancel."

Deleting Profiles and Transactions

• To delete an employee and all of his or her transactions from the app, tap the "Edit" button in the upper left-hand corner of the main view to enter editing mode, then the "minus" button () . When the "Delete" button appears, tap it.  Tap "Done" when finished.
  
  
• To delete an individual transaction for a specific employee, tap the employee’s name in the main view to view their records, swipe from left to right on the record you want to delete, then tap the “Delete” button that appears.
  
  
• To delete all of an employee’s transactions but not the employee's profile, tap and hold on the employee’s name in the main view. In the pop-up that comes up, tap the button that says "Clear User Records." Then tap "Clear" to confirm.
  
  
  
  

Linking to the TimePilot Central software

There may come a time when you want to send the employee clock-in and clock-out data collected by your iPhone to another person. For example, you might want to send the data to your home office, where a co-worker is using the TimePilot Central software to prepare employee time data for payroll.

The app has been designed to work with Dropbox.com, a free service that allows you to send files easily over the Internet. You’ll need three things to do this:

1. An internet connection on the PC that runs TimePilot Central .
2. An account with Dropbox on the PC that runs TimePilot Central. See the Dropbox web site (www.Dropbox.com) for details on creating an account.
3. The free Dropbox App on your iPhone.

Once you have the Dropbox account created on your computer, here’s how to set things up on your iPhone:

1. Start the TimePilot iPhone App and tap "Settings" in the lower right-hand corner of the screen. Then tap the "Dropbox Setup" button. Tap the "Link to Dropbox Account" button in the view that appears.
   
   
   • If you have the Dropbox app already installed on your iPhone, you will be taken to that app and asked if you want to link the TimePilot app to your Dropbox account. Generally you’ll click “Yes,” but if you want to use a different Dropbox account, tap the "Change" button to enter the info for the other account.
     
     
   • If you don't have the Dropbox app installed, you will be taken to a web page that will ask you to sign in to your Dropbox account. If you don't have a Dropbox account there is an option to create one. Follow the screen prompts to create the account and link it.
     
     
2. Once you are successfully linked, you will be taken back to the TimePilot app and notified that the link was successful.

Sending clock-in and clock-out data to TimePilot Central via Dropbox

Here’s how to send your data to TimePilot Central:

1. Tap the action button in the lower left-hand corner of the main view to access the "Upload Options" menu. You will then be presented with four options:
   
   
   • Send to TimePilot Central. This uploads your profiles and their associated data to Dropbox, which they can be imported into TimePilot Central.
     
     
   • Check for Profile Updates.
     
     
   • Send to Dropbox: Upload all your profiles and their associated data to Dropbox (for non-TimePilot Central users).
     
     
   • Help: View this user guide on your iPhone.
     
     
2. Tap the “Send to TimePilot Central” button. The data will be sent to Dropbox’s servers, and then to the Dropbox folder on your computer.

Importing the data into TimePilot Central

A few seconds after the iPhone transmits the data, it will be automatically downloaded to the Dropbox folder on your PC. You can check to see if it’s there by looking here: Dropbox > Apps > TimePilot_iOS > XXXXXXXXXX. The X’s represent the number of the phone that sent the information. All uploads and everything for this phone will be stored in this folder.

Here’s how to import the data into TimePilot Central:

1. Start TimePilot Central. To ensure you're running the latest version of TimePilot Central, click the "Help" menu and then choose "Check for Updates." You'll need the latest update to complete the import process.
   
   
2. In TimePilot Central, click the “File” menu and then “Retrieve Data from Phones.”
   
   
3. The "TimePilot Clock  Manager" will pop up, showing the phones that are linked to your computer's Dropbox account. (See screenshot at right.) If your iPhone doesn't appear in the Manager, make sure the iPhone is linked to the proper Dropbox account and that the Manager can find your Dropbox folder.
    
   
4. If a phone's name appears in red (as shown with "Mike's iPhone" in the screenshot above), that means that transactions have been sent from that iPhone and are waiting to be moved into TimePilot Central.
   
   
5. To do that, right-click the phone's icon and choose "Get Transactions from Phone" in the menu that appears. The transactions will be downloaded to TimePilot Central. Once they're downloaded, you can delete them from your iPhone, if you wish. To delete them, tap and hold on an employee's name in the Main View, then choose "Clear User Records" from the menu that pops up.
     
6. In TimePilot Central, the first time you get your transactions, you might receive a message saying that the employee's profile appears on the iPhone but not in TimePilot Central, and you'll be asked if you want to add it. Click "Yes."
   
   
7. The "New Employee Profile" box will appear. You can change anything in the profile except the Display Name and the User ID (both of those must match what's on the iPhone).

Moving Profiles from TimePilot Central to an iPhone

You can send your employee profiles from TimePilot Central straight to an iPhone, so you don't have to set up each profile individually on each iPhone. Here's how:

1. Start TimePilot Central. Click the "File" menu, then "Retrieve Data from Phones" to start the TimePilot Clock Manager.
   
   
2. Right-click the image of the iPhone to which you want to send your profiles. Choose "Send Profiles to Phone" from the pop-up menu that appears.
   
   
3. On the iPhone, tap the button in the lower left corner of the Main View (Item 4 in the diagram in the section above titled "Using the app").
   
   
4. Tap the "Check for Profile Updates" button. All of the employee profiles you have in TimePilot Central will be copied to the iPhone. Any profiles that are transferred that you don't want can be deleted from the iPhone. See "Deleting Profiles and Transactions," above, for instructions.
   
   
5. The final step is to return to the TimePilot Clock Manager. You'll see that the name of the iPhone to which you sent the profiles is now in red, meaning there are transactions to download. Right-click the iPhone and choose “Retrieve Data from Phones.” Even though no new transactions will be downloaded to TimePilot Central, this action will complete process of the copying the profiles to the iPhone from TimePilot Central.