Accounting
ClockShark Adds GPS Location Functions to Time Tracking Software
A new update to the ClockShark mobile time tracking software includes GPSFence, a new geofence boundary detection feature. The feature provides GPS location data while employees are clocked in. The rollout is available and free to all ClockShark ...
Mar. 22, 2017
A new update to the ClockShark mobile time tracking software includes GPSFence, a new geofence boundary detection feature. The feature provides GPS location data while employees are clocked in. The rollout is available and free to all ClockShark customers.
GPSFence and GPSTrak were developed by ClockShark to provide location data with each time punch workers log in the field from their smartphones. This data allows companies to have more accurate job costing data which makes payroll and invoicing more accurate and easier to do. GPSFence detects when an employee crosses a geofence boundary and sends them a friendly reminder through their mobile phone to clock in or out. It also notifies managers if clock punches are registered or travel is detected outside of a geofenced job site.
“Geofence boundary detection has been one of the most frequent requests we’ve heard from customers” said Cliff Mitchell, ClockShark’s CEO. “When you have workers in the field that change jobs and tasks you have to be able to track that information accurately otherwise you’re just guessing.” While the feature was met with much anticipation by company owners, some of their employees were initially leery of the technology.
“Typically, employees use their own smartphones to clock in and out in the field. It’s called BYOD, or Bring Your Own Device.” explained Luke Zancanaro, head of Customer Success at ClockShark. “When we first announced this upgrade included live GPS tracking, employees showed some concern about their employers knowing where they were all the time. After we showed them that GPSTrak and GPSFence were only enabled when they are clocked in, and nothing is tracked when they are on break, at lunch or clocked out for the day they were ok with the update.”
Privacy and data collection is a growing concern, especially as employers see the benefits of real-time data collection. “The idea is to have the technology do as much of the work as it can, so the people are left to provide better service.” said CTO and Co-founder Joe Mitchell. “Because smartphone sensors like GPS can collect so much data automatically, it’s tempting to have it collecting everything all the time. The key is to remember how the people are affected by this technology and what the implications are. Data should only be collected to solve real business problems. You have to keep the focus on having the technology serve the people, not the other way around. It’s a commitment we’ve made and one of the reasons our customers are so loyal.”
The roll out of these new features puts ClockShark in the same class as much older and larger time tracking software services. ClockShark has been growing quickly over the last year, nearly doubling its size in the past six months, and the company expects that this new set of features will only accelerate that growth.