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Accurate Time Collection for your Mobile, Field, Remote Workforce
You are ready to process your weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly payroll, but come to a screeching halt or dead stop when you realize that you do not have timesheets for a number of your remote, hourly employees. This is not the first time it has happened. And, you know it will not be the last unless you find a solution to resolve this highly critical issue that directly affects your organization’s most valued asset – the employees.
As a payroll professional, you understand that your field, mobile, and remote employees do not have access to a computer, badge reader, or biometric reader to collect hours worked. With some simple research, you will find Interactive Voice Response (IVR) as a solution. IVR is telephone technology that allows a computer to detect voice and touch tones using any telephone, including cellular. Employees without access to a traditional or web clock can easily clock time using a cellular phone.
Used to optimize your workforce management, telephone-based time collection lowers cost and reduces the workload of valuable resources by making it a field task. The telephone can validate hours worked in real-time, as well as track specific and billable projects. The data can be easily sent to your time and attendance or workforce management solution at the same time it is sent to your accounting department for billing. Billing is no longer dictated by the pay period, so accounting can bill customers on its own schedule and increase cash flow.
Another benefit of the telephone is an employee can dial-in and let the supervisor know about a tardy or absence. As soon as an employee knows he or she will be unavailable, the supervisor knows, so a replacement can be found quickly.
The telephone-based time collection system is integrated into your workforce management solution, so an employee’s information is stored in one location, including time and attendance, accruals, point tracking, FMLA management data, and more, making this a truly optimized workforce management tool.
How IVR Time and Labor Data Collection Works
It is as simple as using the telephone. The employee dials in, enters his /her ID, and selects clock-in or clock-out. Caller ID is used to validate the location of the employee, and new biometric technology, Voice Vocal Chords, eliminates ‘buddy punching’ to ensure accurate information is processed into the workforce management system. When clocking in/out, there can be pre-defined steps to indicate the appropriate project or work order for billable or non-billable jobs. A sophisticated system, the employee can assign specific hours and minutes to specific jobs, clients, departments, etc.
Low Cost of Ownership
IVR is a cost-effective time and data collection solution, as existing telephones and cellular phones are the data collection terminals. Since the employees are remote, there is no need to purchase and maintain traditional time clocks or even PDA’s. Since IVR leverages the existing telecommunications infrastructure, there are no costs for maintenance, repair, and replacements associated with traditional terminals. Employee training has already been established since it is technology that is used every day. The employee just needs to follow the prompts. The return on a company’s investment is seen within months of implementation. Not only is the process streamlined, but also your accounting department can release invoices immediately to collect payments quicker.
Common Call Dialogs
The most common call dialog is the time collection, and time and labor data reporting, but the IVR supports crew time collection, absence/late arrival notification, accruals inquiry, time-off requests, and schedule reviews. Remote employees do not have to go back to the office or contact the HR department to access this information, as it is readily available in real-time using the telephone. Employees are more productive and they have increased job-satisfaction using the available self-service functions.
Whether your organization has 250 employees or more than 100,000 employees, IVR supports massive call volumes without disruption while significantly reducing payroll processing costs.
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