TimePilot Tips

Q. I’d like the TimePilot software to highlight when an employee has accumulated more than an hour of overtime. Can it do this?

A. Yes it can. The TimePilot IV software can also highlight any combination of eight criteria (more than a specified number of hours worked in a day, more than a specified number of overtime hours in a week, etc.), and assign a color to each.

Here’s how to set it up:

  1. Start TimePilot Central.
  2. Click the “View” menu, then “Alerts Setup.”
  3. Check the item(s) you want to highlight, set the number of hours to what you want and choose a color for each category. Note: Make sure you choose a light color—otherwise it will be difficult to see. (For instance, a black background isn’t a good choice, because the numbers are also black.)

Q. I forgot to reset the time on my clock for Daylight Saving Time, and now I have many transactions that are off by an hour. Is there any quick way to fix this?

A. An update was issued to the TimePilot IV software on March 1 that gives you that capability. It’s called “Adjust Transaction Dates and Times,” and here’s how to set it up:

  1. Start TimePilot Central.
  2. Click on the transaction(s) you want to change. To select more than one transaction, click the first, then hold down your Control key and click each of the other transactions. To select a group, click on the first transaction in the group, then hold down shift and click the last transaction in the group. All of the transactions in the group will be highlighted.
  3. Right-click on the newly highlighted transactions and choose "Adjust Transaction Dates and Times" in the pop-up menu. In the box that appears, enter the number of hours and/or days (use a negative number if you want to go back in time—for instance, if you want to change a transaction from 8 a.m. to 7 a.m.).
  4. Click OK. All the selected transactions will change.

If your TimePilot IV software doesn’t show the "Adjust Transaction Dates and Times" menu item, you need to update your software.

To do so, click on the “Help” menu in TimePilot Central, then choose “Check for Updates.” Follow the instructions that appear to update your software.

Welcome!
TimePilot newsletter No. 4

Whether you're a current or future TimePilot customer, we're glad to see you.

Every month we'll offer news about TimePilot products tips on how to use them more efficiently, some of the "cool stuff" our employees have come across and a special deal available only to those who receive this newsletter!

New iButton Receptor:
A simple time-saver

Introducing our newest product: The iButton Receptor. It’s really a simple device: two iButton probes attached by a coiled cable to a USB connector.

Simple in concept, but extremely useful if you’re a TimePilot PC, a TimePilot Vetro or a TimePilot Standard user. (TimePilot Extreme users receive an iButton Receptor in their Starter Kit.)

TimePilot PC

If you use TimePilot PC, our software-only timeclock system, adding an iButton Receptor allows you to require your employees to clock in and out with an iButton, greatly reducing the possibility of “buddy-punching”—a situation when one employees clocks in another, even though the second employee is absent.

With an iButton Receptor, you can require specific employees to clock in with an iButton and give other employees the ability to clock in with an ID number or an iButton.

If you have more than one installation of TimePilot PC, you can also require specific PCs running TimePilot PC to only accept iButtons for clocking in and allow other TimePilot PC installations to accept an iButton or an ID number.

Click here for detailed setup instructions on the TimePilot web site. (If your e-mail program doesn’t support clicking on a link, you can find the instructions at https://TimePilot.com/TPPC/ReceptorSetup.htm)

TimePilot Vetro
and TimePilot Standard

If you use TimePilot Vetro or TimePilot Standard, the iButton Receptor can make your life easier. Normally, you set up your software at the PC, and then assign iButtons to your employees at the Vetro or Standard clock. You have to assign the iButtons at the clock, because that’s the only place there’s an iButton probe to read the iButton’s serial number.

But if you have an iButton Receptor, you can set up the iButtons right at your computer. Here’s how to get detailed instructions:

  • TimePilot Vetro: Click here. If your e-mail program doesn’t support clicking on a link, you can find the instructions at https://TimePilot.com/Vetro/ReceptorSetup.htm.
  • TimePilot Standard: Click here. If your e-mail program doesn’t support clicking on a link, you can find the instructions at https://TimePilot.com/TPStandard/
    BlueDotSetup.htm.

This month’s special offer to TimePilot customers:

The iButton Receptor is regularly $59, but for those who receive this newsletter, we’re cutting the price to $49 until May 31!

To get the discount, mention that you saw the special price in this newsletter when you call to place your order. For more details, visit www.TimePilot.com or call us at 1-630-879-6400.

Every once in a while, our employees come across “cool stuff.”
This is where they share their finds.

Do you ever find yourself e-mailing documents to yourself so you can work on them at home? Or maybe trying to send someone an e-mail containing a file that their e-mail system can’t handle? How about burning file after file to CD just so they’re backed up?

We’ve found a pretty cool free service that solves all these problems.

It’s called Dropbox. Here’s how it works: You go to Dropbox.com, sign up with an e-mail address and password, and, optionally, install a small software program.

As long as you have an internet connection, anything you put in your Dropbox is immediately synchronized on Dropbox’s servers. Make a change to a file, and the new version is immediately sent to Dropbox.

But Dropbox can do a lot more than that.

Add your Dropbox account to your other computers and smart phones, and your files can be accessed on any of those devices. When you make a change to a file, the change is

Dropbox Logo

synchronized across all of your devices.

In addition, you can create a folder within your Dropbox, and share the contents of just that folder with another person anywhere in the world. Anything you put in that particular folder will be copied to the Dropbox servers, and also sent instantly to the other user’s shared folder in Dropbox.

Here’s one way this can be used: One of our employees had a son living in China, and when the son wanted to share pictures with his parents, he’d simply put them in his Dropbox folder. Within seconds, they were backed up and copies had arrived on his parents’ computer in the U.S.

We’re pretty excited about this technology, and TimePilot is in the early stages of using Dropbox to provide better support to its customers.