Can Staff Clock-In at Home or with a Cell Phone?

By default, staff members are able to clock-in from anywhere that has an Internet connection, and this includes work, home, or their mobile Internet on a cell phone. In some circumstances, this is the correct and desired set up. However, for many businesses in the retail and foodservice industries, it is not desirable to provide staff with these abilities.

To support these businesses, TimeForge includes the ability to restrict clock-in and clock-out functionality to specific IP addresses, or physical locations.

Navigate to the Attendance Options

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Navigate to the Attendance Options in the Attendance tab.

Add IP Addresses

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You can specify one or more IP addresses which employees must be at, for employees to clock in. To add an IP address for employees to clock in:
- You can type your IP address into the text box. If there is more than one allowed IP address, they should be separated by a space, comma, or on separate lines.
- Instead of typing in the IP address, you can click on the Add this computer to allowed IPs button, and TimeForge will add your current IP address to the list of allowed IP addresses.

Remember to click Save Company Settings.

Posted in Attendance Tab / No Comments.

How can I view my schedules and time card on my cell phone?

TimeForge will allow you to view schedules, messages, time cards, and more using any phone capable of reading an RSS feed. Of course, you can always use a web browser, such as Mobile Safari or Opera Mini, to view the TimeForge website at www.TimeForge.com

However, TimeForge schedules, messages, shift swaps, and much, much more can be viewed directly on your cell phone, iPhone, Blackberry, or other non-web browser reader by using RSS feeds.

TimeForge uses RSS feeds to deliver the information directly to your cell phone, and requires that your phone be able to read both encrypted RSS feeds (over an SSL connection), as well as secured RSS feeds (which require a username and password).

Please note: Not all RSS readers are capable of doing both SSL and security.

Get to the Setup Tab

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First, navigate to the “Setup” tab. From the “Today” Tab, you can click on the Setup tab, or click on the Change My Settings button.

Find the RSS URL (the RSS Feed)

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Locate the personal information RSS feed URL, which is located on the right hand side, and starts with:

https://www.TimeForge.com/Scheduler/rss.html

Managers may have several RSS feeds, which include information on different locations / stores within the business.

Add the TimeForge data to your RSS reader – Step 1

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Each RSS program is slightly different in how it requires that you add a feed. In this example, we are using Sage, a popular RSS feed reader for the Firefox web browser.

Click on the Find icon. Other RSS readers may require that you enter the URL of the RSS feed. If that is the case, enter the RSS RSS URL directly into the software. This URL is most commonly:

https://www.TimeForge.com/Scheduler/rss.html

Some RSS readers (such as Viigo for the Blackberry) do support encryption, but do not support username and passwords. In some cases, these RSS readers can be coerced to support username and passwords by using a URL with the format of:

https://username:password@www.TimeForge.com/Scheduler/rss.html

For example, if your username is ‘abigail@timeforge.com‘ and your password is ‘testing123‘, the URL you would enter is:

https://abigail@timeforge.com:testing123@www.TimeForge.com/Scheduler/rss.html

Please note: This step only needs to be done one time.

Add the TimeForge data to your RSS reader – Step 2

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Sage, like many mobile web browsers (such as Safari and Opera) will automatically find any relevant TimeForge RSS feeds. Click on the feed (“Timeforge’s Information“), and then choose Add Feed.

These feeds have a lot of information in them, and contain information such as:

- Upcoming schedules
- Shift Swaps and Open Shifts
- Time card information
- Approved, pending, and denied requests
- Messages from other staff members and management
- And other items …

View the TimeForge RSS Feed

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Sage, or any RSS reader, will show the items relevant to your TimeForge account.

View Upcoming Work Schedules

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Use the TimeForge RSS feed to get upcoming schedule information directly on your cell phone, at any time, without browsing the web.

View or Send Staff Member Messages using TimeForge

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Using the TimeForge RSS feed, you can easily view and send TimeForge messages.

Posted in Setup Tab / 1 Comment

How can I receive text messages or emails about my work schedule?

TimeForge can send nightly emails about upcoming shifts that you are scheduled to work. In addition, your management team may use your email address to contact you about important work messages.

In addition to nightly email messages, TimeForge can send a reminder text message to your cell phone before shifts start, and can notify you of successful / approved shift swaps by text message as well.

To enable this functionality, TimeForge needs to know your email address and cell phone number.

Get to the Setup Tab

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First, navigate to the “Setup” tab. From the “Today” Tab, you can click on the Setup tab, or click on the Change My Settings button.

Enter your email address and cell phone number in TimeForge

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On the “Setup” tab, enter your email address into the “My Email” field, you can also enter your cell phone number into the “My Cell Number” field.

Identify which Alerts you want to Receive

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TimeForge can generate a number of different email and text message alerts, based on the information that you would like to know about.

For example, you can receive daily schedule reminders as text or email messages. You can also be notified of bid shifts, or when other co-workers want to swap shifts with you. Other notifications include when shift swaps are approved or denied, or when a request is approved or denied by management.

If you would like to be notified about upcoming schedules, choose the check box which starts with “I would like to be emailed…” You will receive nightly emails about any posted schedules. The number in the drop-down box (above shown as “2“) is the number of days you would like to be notified, and can be set up to 30 days.

Note: You will only be able to receive information about schedules that your management team has posted.

If you would like to be notified about upcoming shifts, choose the check box which starts with “I would like to be sent a text message …”. TimeForge will send you a text message before the shift begins as a reminder of your upcoming work schedule.

Note: You may be charged by your cell phone carrier to receive the text message. TimeForge is not liable for any text messaging charges that you may receive from your carrier.

Click on Save My Settings when you are done.

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What is on the Today Tab?

The Today tab displays important information about your TimeForge account such as pending, approved, and denied requests, and includes the ability to clock in / clock out (if enabled), and information about upcoming schedules or possible shift swaps.

Top portion of the TimeForge Today Tab

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1. Important Messages from the TimeForge team are displayed here. This will include information about planned downtimes, outages, relevant upgrades, and other information.

2. Warnings about your account may appear if there appear to be issues with your TimeForge account. Make sure that you have entered your email address, cell phone number, and a Secret Question to ensure that you receive the most from TimeForge.

3. The weather for today and tomorrow at your work location is displayed.

4. If you are allowed to clock in from the computer you are using to access TimeForge, an appropriate clock in message will be displayed here.

Bottom portion of the TimeForge Today Tab

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1. Information about your TimeForge account can be viewed with this set of control buttons. Upcoming schedules, available shift swaps, unread messages, and availability / requests can be viewed from these buttons.

2. Pending Employee Requests are schedule requests / changes to availability that have not yet been approved or denied by your management team. These are displayed for your reference.

3. Approved Employee Requests are schedule requests / changes to availability that have been approved by your management team. These are displayed for your reference.

4. Denied Employee Requests are schedule requests / changes to availability that have been rejected by your management team. These are displayed for your reference.

Posted in Today Tab / No Comments.

heartWhat some of our clients have to say ...

We are one year into it now, well past being enamored with the newness. We are married to TimeForge. It's as essential to us now as any of our management tools today, and we very happy about that.- Steve @ Hermosa Cyclery
We really like the program so far. I know that it is geared towards restaurants, but we are a real estate company and we love it because it is inexpensive and it is so easy to use.- Nicole @ Exit Premier Realty
The Timeforge scheduling system has not only increased our efficiency tremendously; decreased the errors in what is normally an error prone environment; it has also saved us ten times what it costs us each month.- Michael @ Tiara Cafe
I would highly recommend TimeForge to anyone making work schedules. ... What used to take 1-2 hours, now takes 15 minutes. The reports section is comprehensive and useful.- Lawrence Payne @ Mid Pacific Country Club
I've been really pleased with this latest version of TimeForge. I'm really getting familiar with this program and its become a great time saver! Keep up the good work!- Loren @ Fresh Produce
Before using TimeForge, creating a schedule took 2 hours. With TimeForge, it takes less than 10 minutes.- Gail @ Kerr Drug

Quick Contact

3417 73rd Street
Suite G
Lubbock, TX 79423

Phone: 1 866 684 7191
Fax: 1 866 684 7191
E-Mail: info@timeforge.com

 

About TimeForge

The best tools available for managing labor in the restaurant, retail, food-service, and hospitality industries. Includes time management, employee scheduling, and other labor management tools.

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