A New Clocking On System Using Sms Technology

New technologies can be used imaginatively to solve long-standing problems in industry

. Typically an emerging technology will experience a period of rapid mass market penetration, with specialist business applications being developed after the initial growth phase. In the case of SMS, there was an initial explosion of text messaging as a means of both personal and business communication. The benefits of using SMS technology in marketing, emergency preparedness, appointment scheduling and a host of other commercial applications followed in its wake.

We're going to look at how one company used SMS technology to develop a revolutionary new clocking in system, which was more efficient and reliable than the old style mechanical time clocks and also allowed staff to clock in or out at remote locations.

SMS technology is easily integrated into existing systems, websites and applications using SMS API (application programming interface). SMS API allows programmers access to the SMS platform in order to automate the sending and receiving of SMS messages. Programmers can develop in a wide variety of languages including PHP, .Net, ASP, Java, Visual Basic and C++.

Clocking in has been a workplace ritual since the 19th century. Old style systems involved each member of staff being issued with a clocking on card. The worker inserts the card into a clocking in machine on their arrival and departure, the time of the event being stamped onto the card. Payroll staff would analyse the cards to determine the hours worked by each staff member, in order to monitor absence and calculate wages.

Mechanical clocking in systems suffered from two major shortcomings. Firstly, staff members could collude to clock in colleagues who were late for or absent from work, enabling them to claim pay for hours that had not been worked. Secondly, the system worked poorly for employees who were required to work at more than one site. While it was possible to install clocking in machines at all the sites, it was necessary for mobile workers had to carry their clocking in card around with them. This increasing the opportunities for fraudulent activity and caused practical difficulties for payroll departments, who needed access to clocking in cards to process the payroll.

SMS technology allowed the shortcomings of traditional clocking in systems to be overcome, while offering significant additional benefits which enhance absence management and payroll processing. In the new clocking on system based on SMS technology, mechanical clocking in machines are replaced with electronic devices which can be installed at all the sites where staff have either to clock in or out. The device has a unique site code and an 8 digit LCD display that changes every 30 seconds. A member of staff can clock in or out at any location by texting the site code and the 8 digit code that is displayed on the device to a specially allocated number. The developer chose to use a Free-Text SMS Short Code for receiving the clocking on texts, which means that any mobile phone capable of sending and receiving text messages can be used and there is no cost to the employee.

When a clocking in or out message is received, the employee is identified from their mobile phone number, the accuracy of the site and time codes are validated and the employee is clocked in or out as appropriate. Importantly, clocking in and out data is received in real time, which enables more effective management of work schedules and workplace absence. Furthermore, the data can be generated in a format which can be processed by payroll software, eliminating the need for staff to manually transcribe information from clocking cards.

For companies with staff working at remote locations, the innovative clocking in system developed using SMS technology offers significant advantages over traditional mechanical clocking in systems.

by: Lisa Hall

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