TimePilot Tips

Q. I recently took over responsibility for my company's TimePilot system and have some questions to ask your support technicians. What do I need to know before I call or e-mail?

A. You can save yourself time by knowing a few things about your system:

  • What is the name of the product you're calling about? TimePilot has a variety of timeclocks, and the technician's answers to your questions may well depend upon which product you own. Not sure? Click here to see photos of each.
  • What version of the TimePilot software are you using? To find out, click the "Help" menu in the TimePilot software, then choose "About."

Q. I just bought a new Vetro system and am having trouble getting the new software to import my old data. I’ve run the Conversion Utility, but it appears my old transactions aren’t being imported. What am I doing wrong?

A. When you use the Conversion Utility, it will create a database file named tpdata.mdb that contains all your old data. Make a note of where you save that file. The first time you open the new software, it will ask you if you have an existing database. Select “Open an Existing TimePilot Database,” browse to the tpdata.mdb file that you just created and click “Open.”

Q. Our Vetro clocks are on our network. Is there a way to assign iButtons right at my PC and transfer that data to the clocks? 

A. Yes. You'll need a Blue Dot Receptor. (You're in luck: They're on sale to readers of this month's newsletter. See the right-hand column of this newsletter for details.) With the Receptor plugged into your PC, you just tap the employee's iButton while you're creating the employee's profile. You can also use a TimePilot Tap for this purpose. See the answer to the next question for instructions on how to get the employee's name and iButton number into each clock.  

Q. I have a Vetro system that’s connected to my network. What's the best way to get the employees' info into my clock?

A. When you’re using Vetro on a network, here’s what to do: Start the Vetro Data Manager (In TimePilot Central, click the “Setup” menu and then “Vetro Data Manager”) and right-click the image of the clock. From the menu that pops up, choose “Network Functions,” then “Transfer User Setup.”

Q. How do I restrict an employee from clocking in and out, but not remove him or her from the system?

A. Uncheck the "Active" checkbox in the employee's profile. This will prohibit the employee from clocking in and out but will allow the employees' information to remain in the system for processing payroll. If an employee has current transactions, he or she cannot be deleted until their transactions are extracted with a pay period.

Generally, we recommend marking an employee "Inactive" instead of deleting an employee. However, once all the employee's clock-ins and clock-outs are extracted, you will be able to delete their profile. Even if you delete an employee profile, though, that profile will remain in any extracted pay period where he or she has clock-ins and clock-outs; if it did not, there would be transactions without a name attached to them.  

Another good reason to use "Inactive" is for seasonal employees or employees who might get rehired: When they come back to work, you don't have to set up a new employee; just make them "Active" again.

The adjustable hour: The ancient Egyptians defined the hour to be one-twelfth of the time between sunrise and sunset. So as the days grew longer in winter and spring and shorter in summer and autumn, the length of the hour varied from one day to the next.

Source

Time warp: Australia has both horizontal and vertical time zones, and only two of the country's five zones use daylight saving time.

Australia has five time zones.
 

Source

Welcome!
TimePilot newsletter No. 16

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!

In this issue:

  • TimePilot Tips: Installing on multiple PCs.
  • A less-than-obvious way to use TimePilot Tap+.
  • Cool Stuff: Sketchup.
  • The Deal: Blue Dot Receptors, $20 off!

An unusual way to use TimePilot Tap

A little over a month ago, we unveiled our newest product: TimePilot Tap, the ultimate portable timeclock. It has become a very popular product, and we’re finding out that the clock is being used in surprising ways.

We intended Tap to be the ultimate portable timeclock, and envisioned companies using two or three or more Tap clocks throughout their facility as well as by employees on the road and in the field.

TimePilot Tap+, used on a desk.

But some customers have been using their Tap clocks in a very different way. Instead of carrying them far and wide, they’re leaving their Tap clocks on a desk or a counter, cabled to their PC. Used this way, the Tap becomes a very simple, easy-to-use timeclock, both for employees and for supervisors.

Here are some of the benefits to using the Tap in this way:

  • Employees can clock in and out whether the PC is running or not. If the PC is running, the clock gets power through the USB Cable. If the PC isn’t running, the clock’s internal battery takes over and holds the clock-ins and clock-outs in its memory. It can last for up to a year without a recharge.  (How do you recharge it? Simply plug the USB cable into the clock and a USB port on your PC.)
  • Clock ins and clock-outs are transferred instantly to the PC (if it’s running!), so supervisors can see immediately who’s at work and who’s not.
  • Other desktop timeclocks are heavy and have a large “footprint.” The Tap is just 5 ounces and a little larger than a deck of cards. In other words, it's easy to slide it out of the way if it starts making a nuisance of itself.
  • When you add a new employee or an employee leaves your company, there’s no need for a supervisor to transfer those changes to the clock--it's done automatically.

The TimePilot Tap Starter Kit is just $299 and additional clocks are as little as $130 each. For more about TimePilot Tap, visit our web site, www.TimePilot.com.


New TimePilot Vetro accessory

The new Vetro Mounting PlateOur new TimePilot Vetro Mounting Plate simplifies securing your Vetro to a wall and provides some security. The heavy-gauge steel plate mounts with the two included wall anchors and screws. Two hooks at the top of the plate fit indentations on the back of the Vetro clock and the clock is secured to the plate with a screw at the bottom of the assembly. When the clock is secured to the plate, the screw is hidden from casual view.

The optional plate measures 5 inches by 2.5 inches, is painted black and contains four holes in a diamond pattern. Just $24.00.


This month’s special offer
to TimePilot newsletter readers:

Blue Dot Receptor 

Blue Dot Receptor

For users of TimePilot PC, it can be mounted at a PC and used with iButtons to clock in and out. For users of TimePilot Vetro and TimePilot Standard, it can be used to set up iButtons at the PC.

This product is included in the TimePilot Extreme Starter Kit and is used to set up iButtons for the system.

Special price for newsletter readers:

Just $39!

(save $20 over list price)

To learn more about the deal, click here, visit www.TimePilot.com/newsletter/newsletter4.htm 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.

 
This house was designed by an 8th grader using Sketchup

Sketchup

SketchUp is a free, easy-to-use 3-D drawing program that turns you into an architect, designer or artist. It was popularized by Google and sold in early 2012 to a company called Trimble.

If you’re designing a house, a garden or a piece of furniture, for instance, you can draw it in Sketchup to see how it will look in three dimensions. There are online libraries of pre-made elements (windows, doors, etc.) that you can add to your design. If you're an artist, you can make things like this, by Australia-based artist Thomas Pavitte.

Children catch on quickly to Sketchup, but it’s so powerful that architects use it too. It’s also found a very unexpected fan base: children with autism.

One of our employees, a woodworker in his free time, uses the program to design the furniture he builds.

You can download Sketchup here.