Frequently Asked Questions

Questions

• How is this similar or different from other time management software?

  Answer:
  There are some similarities with other software on the market but there is no software that is as full featured as Time Doctor. Here are the main differences:

  Time monitoring: Strangely there is almost no software on the market (for small and medium sized businesses) that monitors how many hours a person works in an easy to use, comprehensive manner. This seems like an absurd statement because it's such an obvious thing to do. In fact, in our opinion it's crazy to have a business where you pay people hourly but don't monitor how many hours they actually work. There are dozens of software applications that allow a person to report how many hours they have worked, but this is usually a self reported figure and there is no way for you to cross reference and check if it is real.

  Monitoring poor use of time: Most large companies have mechanisms to monitor or block the use of Facebook and other personal web sites. However one of the big advantages of Time Doctor is that it monitors hours worked and websites visited during business hours but NOT while the person is on a break. So this makes it appropriate for people working from home on their own computer (where they obviously would not want to have Facebook blocked!).

  Priorities: The major feature of Time Doctor that is not available in other software is the priority feature and the ability to know how much of the day a person is focusing on their priorities. It's one thing to reduce wasted time, this is a big benefit, but an additional and probably greater benefit is having your team focus on their priorities and knowing exactly what priorities they are focusing on.

• What are the hardware and software requirements?

  Answer:
  Time Doctor desktop application runs smoothly on MAC OS, Linux, Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 operating systems. There is also a web component which works in all latest browsers (IE, Firefox, Safari, Chrome)

• Is the data in a secured environment?

  Answer:
  All communication to the server is secured by SSL encryption. The files on the server are encrypted to provide an extra level of security for company data. The servers are located in secure enterprise datacenter facilities with 24/7 monitoring and hosting support.

• How much time will it take for the person to use it?

  Answer:
  The initial set up will take around 10 minutes for the admin and 3-5 minutes for the users of the software plus a few minutes to watch training videos. After that it takes very little time each day (a few minutes).

• How does it monitor if the person is wasting time?

  Answer:
  There is monitoring of the web sites visited and applications used while the person is working. The manager can receive a report with this information. Managers can also receive a report with a list of "poor-time-use" websites such as Facebook and how long they were used.
  
  Also you have the options of taking screenshots of the person's screen during the day. The process of reviewing these screenshots is extremely quick for a management or HR person. The software also monitors if the person is using their computer when they say they are on the computer. It also provides various online and email reports to management which allow you to see how time is being used.

• Are there any privacy concerns?

  Answer:
  The software does not monitor anything on the person's computer when they are on a break or when they are not working. Therefore even for a person using it from home they can be comfortable knowing that they are not being monitored during their own time. Our position on privacy concerns is that a company has the right to know what team members are doing during work hours, and have no right at all to know what team members are doing during their breaks or after working.

• Is this software intrusive?

  Answer:
  We believe that the employer has the right to know what a team member is doing while they are working, and has no right to know what they are doing when they are not working. The software turns off completely while the person is not working (on a break etc), and in this time the person can do anything they want and it will not be monitored. This is in fact less invasive than similar software which monitors all use use of the computer and does not distinguish the difference between working and non-working time.

• I don't need to "monitor" my team, is there any benefit to this software?

  Answer:
  Absolutely. About 20% of the benefits of the software come from the monitoring features. The other 80% are from implementing other time management principles in your organization. For example one major benefit is the ability to know exactly what your team are working on, and what their current priorities are. It provides a much closer communication with your team, reduces the time spent in unnecessary meetings and a host of other benefits.

• We already block Facebook and other websites in our company, so how can this software help?

  Answer:
  Blocking certain websites is only the first step to increased productivity. People waste time in many different ways, including long lunch breaks, chatting with friends on their phone etc. Unless you are tracking time through the entire work day you can not know where people's time is spent. Outside of tracking time spent working, Time Doctor has many other benefits, for instance, helping a person focus on their priorities, and automatically sending daily reports outlining priorities and tasks completed for an entire team. You could turn off the web site monitoring features and still get significant benefits from the software.

• Is it necessary to track the person's entire day of activities?

  Answer:
  Tracking the entire work day is a necessary first step to a significant increase in productivity. It's not the only step, as other elements such as making sure that everyone focuses on their top priorities are probably more important, but it is an important first step. Also tracking the exact use of time each day has other benefits as well. It allows you to find inefficiencies in your process. If you notice that one person takes a long time to perform a particular task you can find out why and then educate them on how to improve the process. So there are a multitude of benefits to tracking the exact use of time throughout the day.

• Does this software work for individuals?

  Answer:
  It's much more effective with a team, but there are still some significant benefits for individuals. Time Doctor is the best software on the market for tracking your time each day. That ability to track time will help you to know exactly where you are spending your time, and help you to prevent wasting time on unimportant activities. It also will help you tremendously with keeping focused on your top priorities each day.

• Will I get resistance in my organization in implementing this software?

  Answer:
  You might. The software requires change in behavior and it will become immediately obvious when people are wasting time. Some of your team may not like it and may resist it furiously. Generally the hardest working and most productive people on your team will accept it because they can see the benefits it will provide to their productivity. Also team members whom are keen to use this software to work from home, or to work flexible hours will also welcome the software.

• How much does it cost?

  Answer:
  You can see the pricing on the pricing page.

• Do you have mobile applications for tracking time?

  Answer:
  At this time we do not have a mobile app. There are significant limitations with tracking time on mobile apps. Time Doctor is designed for constant real time tracking. A mobile app is less suited to this because you have to remember to track your time which is VERY difficult to do. Time Doctor on your computer reminds you to track your time, but this is not possible on a mobile app. We think a better method for most people is that if you are on the go, you simply record what you are doing when you come back. We will develop a mobile app in future for some people who need it, but it's not currently a priority.

• Do you have Time Doctor for Linux?

  Answer:
  Yes we do you can find it on the download page http://www.timedoctor.com/download.html

• How do I use Time Doctor to see what my contractors are doing?

  Answer:
  We have several methods of checking that the time tracked is accurate:
  
  1.Screenshots - an optional feature but you can use this method to see screenshots of the contractors screen every few minutes. However we do not think it's the best method as it takes time to review the screenshots of your team (which is really wasted time)
  2.Websites visited and applications used weekly report - you receive a report in your email weekly of websites visited and applications used on the computer whilst team members are working.
  3.Daily and weekly activity reports
  

• Can you monitor the websites I visit?

  Answer:
  Yes you will get a weekly reports of websites visited and software applications used on your computer (for yourself or your team). You can also see the information whenever you want on the reports page.

• Does Time Doctor block Facebook and other websites?

  Answer:
  We don't believe in blocking websites for a few reasons. Firstly some people need to use that website for work. Secondly team members might want to use and should be able to visit whatever sites they want to during a break. We do have a pop up which comes up when visiting websites like Facebook to confirm if the person is really working. This gets them back on track if they were not working, or they can continue to use Facebook (or another site) if it was related to work.

• Can you record time when offline?

  Answer:
  Yes Time Doctor works to record hours even when not connected to the Internet. The tracking will be uploaded to the Internet when you come back online?

• What is the difference between this and say Freshbooks or Harvest?

  Answer:
  Freshbooks and Harvest are invoicing applications. We will be integrating with them in the future, and we do not plan to have comprehensive invoicing with Time Doctor. They do have a time tracking component however these websites along with every other time tracking software is severely limited when it comes to tracking time accurately and effectively.

• How is this different to other time tracking applications?

  Answer: There are several reasons why Time Doctor is effective at tracking time accurately and other applications are not:
  
  1.Time Doctor tracks time in REAL TIME, rather than remembering afterwards the time to be tracked. When you remember afterwards you usually will make significant errors and the time tracked will not be accurate.
  2.Time Doctor reminds you to track time, other applications do not so you often forget and then have to remember later.
  3.Time Doctor automatically stops tracking time when you leave the computer. If you don't do this is really hard to remember when you took a break and again the time tracking will not be accurate. You can when you come back confirm if you were working when away from the computer or not.
  4.Time Doctor has multiple ways to confirm if the time tracked was real and the time was genuine working time (such as checking websites visited and software applications used on the computer).
  5.Time Doctor does not allow you to "double book" your time, in other words when you allocate time to 1-3pm you can't allocate a second activity to that same time slot. It seems incredible but 95% of time tracking applications allow you to track multiple activities to the same time slot. Wouldn't it be nice, that way you can work 48 hours every day! (I'm sure some lawyers charge like this!).
  

• My employer asked me to install Time Doctor but I have some privacy & safety concerns.

  Answer: Not to worry! These concerns almost always dissolve once employees understand how Time Doctor works. Let us explain:
  
  Besides helping employees to manage their time through prioritized task lists, Time Doctor lets business owners & managers see how time is being spent. That means that once you install Time Doctor, your manager will be able to see when you worked, how much time you spent on which projects & tasks, and which websites & applications you used. Managers can use this information to run their operation more effectively.
  
  Want to know exactly what information your manager can see about your work? Easy! Just log into your account on the Time Doctor website, and you'll have access to exactly the same reports and data about your work that your manager can see.
  
  Time Doctor ONLY tracks how you spend your time when you're working. If you tell the Time Doctor software that you're on a break (by clicking the "Break") button, Time Doctor stops recording your activities until you tell Time Doctor that you've begun working again. And of course if you sign out of Time Doctor or close the application, none of your activities will be recorded.
  
  Our position on privacy issues is that a company has the right to know what team members are doing during work hours, and has no right at all to know what team members are doing during their breaks or after working.
  
  If your manager is using the "screenshots" feature, you'll also be able to see all screenshots that were taken while you were working, and can delete any screenshots that you choose (the associated time would also be deducted from your work hours). We've included this screenshot removal option to give you control over your privacy.
  
  Is your data safe? You bet. All communication to our servers is secured by SSL encryption. The files on the server are encrypted to provide an extra level of security for company data. The servers are located in secure enterprise datacenter facilities with 24/7 monitoring and hosting support, so you can rest assured that your data is safe.
  
  Once you start using Time Doctor and experience how it works and what is recorded, we're sure you'll be comfortable with it, and will also find it to be an effective time management tool. A significant percentage of our customers are individuals who use Time Doctor simply to organize their tasks & manage their own time better (no one else is managing them).
  
  Many employees who use Time Doctor (especially employees who work remotely) are happy that their managers finally know how much time they really do spend working, erasing any doubts that they may be less productive than other team members.