Clocking in and out is the most practical way to keep track of the hours worked by your team. However, the actual clocking process may not be so practical. Old time clocks tend to have a way of malfunctioning or being exploitable in all the worst ways. Your team may struggle to clock in when they’re in a hurry to get started or it may be unfortunately easy for buddies to clock each other in, even when one is late.
The biggest problem is typically that your clocking solution is terribly out of date. Just because your team is still clocking in like they did 30 years ago doesn’t mean you still have the right tool for the job.
In modern environments, a time clock kiosk can fully upgrade your time tracking solution and offer your team an experience they can enjoy when arriving for the day, catching a break, and wrapping up to go home.
What is a Time Clock Kiosk?
A time clock kiosk is a service kiosk with a touch-screen display. The touchscreen offers a smooth, seamless time tracking workflow that makes it easy for your employees to quickly log in, check leaving or arriving, and enjoy the rest of their day hassle-free.
The kiosk itself is three to four feet high, just high enough that it’s easy to interface with, but not so high that your shorter employees will be unable to reach the screen.
When they approach, each user will be able to log into the system using a specialized code and clock their own hours with optimized speed and perfect accuracy.
Common Time Clock Problems
Many employers experience regular problems getting their team to clock consistently and accurately. Some of this is a backflow issue because the team is having problems with the time clock itself. Some are issues with time clock management that have been solved by the latest technology since your original time clock hardware was installed. There is a good likelihood that you will see your own problems reflected in these common issues.
Fingerprint Scanners Don’t Always Work
One of the most popular ways to track time a few years ago was fingerprint scanning. Scanners were even added to old time clocks in a desire to upgrade the function. Fingerprint scanning is a good way to ensure personal authentication for hours clocked, but not always the most efficient when starting or ending a shift.
For one, those scanners don’t always work the way they’re supposed to. While it would be great if fingerprint scanners worked like they do in the movies, team members often must try multiple times to get their fingers to scan. Dry skin, hand damage, the wrong angle, or just a bad day for the scanner can make a process that should take a few seconds take minutes and back everyone else up at the same time.
Self-Tracked Hours Aren’t Always Accurate
Self-tracked hours occur when your team keeps notes on when they stop and start each shift. Ideally, self-reporting hours could be done with the same transparency as the time clock, but you likely already know this isn’t the case. Most people will conveniently round up on their hours and may fudge the numbers to cover arriving late or leaving early. Some people just need to see their times line up perfectly on the page, even if their arrivals and departures are not so perfectly aligned. In other words, you can never fully trust self-reporting because there is an inherent risk of inaccuracy compared to the time clock.
Buddy Punching is a Constant Problem
Another common issue is buddy-punching. This is when a buddy “punches the card” of a friend so that they appear to have clocked in on time. buddy punching is a common way for shift workers to express friendship, even when it’s not necessary. But this, too, leads to inaccuracies that are reflected in the payroll.
Old Time Clocks are Hard to Use
The fact of the matter is that most old-time clock systems are difficult to use. Whether you have fingerprint scanners, punch cards, or just old software, these aging systems pose challenges to both the employees and managers.
Clocking In/Out Early or Late
Lastly, with traditional timeclocks, overtime and overlapped breaks are calculated with very little control on the part of workers. Those who want to decide when to take breaks and when to clock overtime are often disadvantaged.
How the Time Clock Kiosk Works to Solve These Problems
Time Tracker’s time clock kiosk seeks to solve all these problems one by one and has been successful. Once a kiosk is installed, your team will delight at the ease of use, while managers will appreciate the absolute protection against both slow punching and buddy-punching.
Easy-to-Clock Process
The time clock kiosk allows employees to log in with a simple yet personal 4-digit pin. No more struggling to get a fingerprint or a worn old badge to be acknowledged by the system, getting started and clocking time is easy to do.
Clock In/Out Photo for Review
When a time entry is clocked, the kiosk takes a quick picture of the person using the device. This can be quickly reviewed by managers to ensure buddy punching does not occur.
Overtime Alerts
The time clock kiosk also keeps track of time through a management dashboard and can send alerts to either workers or managers when overtime is at risk. This can allow the team to make intentional decisions about overtime instead of going over by accident and increasing department costs.
Break Reminders to Start and Stop
Your team also benefits from break reminders, both reminders to take their breaks at legally mandated times and reminders to come back from break before the time clock marks them as late, all from their phone.
Multiple Kiosk Locations
Finally, you’re not limited to just one clock-in, clock-out location. You can install multiple kiosks at convenient spots around the property so that your team can clock in and out at the appropriate moment when they re-enter the work area and are ready to begin.
Discover Time Tracker’s Time Clock Kiosk
If you’re tired of the constant hassle and management challenges that come with an outdated time-clocking system, it may be time to upgrade. Time Tracker by eBillity can help you install one or more adaptive and easy-to-use time-clocking kiosks to empower your team and management. Setup a 14-day Time Tracker trial and see for yourself how easy a time clock kiosk can be.