How Do I Install TimeForge with Dinerware Point of Sale?

TimeForge can integrate with several Point of Sale systems, including Dinerware. Dinerware is a wonderful Point of Sale system, with dealers all over the world.

TimeForge integration with Dinerware involves installing the TimeForge Dinerware Bridge software on the Brain computer system.

The software will read and write to your Dinerware system as necessary, and can enforce your TimeForge schedules – preventing employees from riding the clock. Additionally, you can use the TimeForge Fingerprint scanner with Dinerware to allow biometric clock-in’s and clock-out’s.

Install the TimeForge Dinerware Bridge software

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Begin installing the TimeForge Dinerware Bridge software.

Accept the EULA

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Accept the terms of the End User License Agreement.

Choose a Directory to Install the Software

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Choose a directory to install the TimeForge Dinerware Bridge. The default is usually correct.

Pick a Start Menu Folder

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Choose the Start Menu Folder to install the software.

Enter Your Web Service Username and Password

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1. If you already have a TimeForge account, enter your Web Service Username and Password to connect with TimeForge.

A web service username and password is not the same as your TimeForge username (usually your email address), but is a secured username and password that allows the Dinerware TimeForge Bridge to communicate with TimeForge.

You can create a Web Service account by logging into your account, and go to the Settings for your location / store. You can then set your web service username and password.

2. If you do not yet have a TimeForge account, get started by creating a TimeForge account. We will create a Web Service Username and Password for you automatically.

Create a TimeForge Account

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If you need to create a TimeForge account, please fill out all of the fields, including your company name, first and last name, email address, password, and a password recovery answer.

We will automatically create your Web Service Username and Password for you.

Configure Dinerware Connection Settings

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Set up the Dinerware database connection settings. Most likely, the default settings will work with your Dinerware installation.

All Done!

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At this point, go ahead and run the TimeForge Bridge software.

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How do I use Schedule Templates to Create a Work Schedule?

After creating several daily templates, or weekly templates, you can begin making a schedule using the templates.

Templates allow you to rapidly build a schedule, if you will simply spend some time in advance thinking about your labor needs.

Use Schedule Templates to quickly and easily manage your workforce, and reduce the amount of time that you must spend changing the schedule on a weekly basis.

Add a Labor Schedule

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Navigate to the Schedule tab, then the Schedule sub-tab, and create a new schedule. Choose an applicable start and end date, name your schedule, and if necessary, choose other options such as the department or sales type.

Choose Weekly Templates and Daily Templates

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If you have templates set up at your location or store, you will see a screen prompting for you to use templates to quickly build your schedule. Choose an appropriate Weekly Template, or alternatively, identify specific templates for each day of your schedule.

When you are ready to build the schedule, choose “Assign Employees”.

Review the Created Schedule

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TimeForge will then create your schedule, based on the templates you have chosen. TimeForge will assign employees where they are available, create Open and Bid shifts, and may attempt to run the AutoScheduler if any AutoSchedule shifts are available.

If staff members are unavailable to work, but have been indicated to work in the template, TimeForge will normally run the AutoScheduler to find you a better fit for the schedule. The software will then notify you of any changes it needed to make, based on staff availability or staffing shortages.

Create a Template based on the Work Schedule – Daily View

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Additionally, while editing the schedule, you can create a template, or use an existing template, for a single day. This gives you greater flexibility while managing your work force.

In the TimeForge Daily View, click on the Use Templates link to add shifts from a template to the day, or click on the Make Templates link to create a template based on the shifts you have already created.

Create a Template based on the Work Schedule – Detail View

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In the TimeForge Schedule Detail, click on the header for the day, and you will also be able to Use a Template, or Make a Template.

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TimeForge University: Availability Requests 102

Managing staff members, and when they want to work (and do not want to work) in TimeForge is easy! This video shows some of the more advanced features of TimeForge availability requests. Review time off requests, approve and deny work availability, and maintain staffing levels.

Get the Flash Player to see this movie.

Using TimeForge, availability requests can be easily managed and monitored and schedules can quickly be rearranged based on the needs of staff and management.

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TimeForge University: Employees 102

Managing staff members in TimeForge is easy! This video shows some of the more advanced features of TimeForge staff management. Review employee-centric scheduling and time cards, and learn how to export employees to a CSV format.

Get the Flash Player to see this movie.

Using TimeForge, schedules can be reassigned based on turnover, or staffing emergencies, and employees can work at more than one location.

Working with labor in TimeForge at more than one store (or location) is easy! Staff members in TimeForge can clock in, clock out, receive schedules, send messages, and request time off or time they would like work.

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TimeForge University: Positions 101

TimeForge Positions allow you to group common job requirements into functional schedules, and this video shows you how to create schedules to quickly and easily schedule staff members.

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Use TimeForge Positions to track base pay rates, and to easily schedule staff members with similar skill sets.

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TimeForge University: Employees 101

Managing employees in TimeForge is easy!  This video walks you through creating staff members, modifying employees, and removing employees from your account.

Get the Flash Player to see this movie.

The video addresses minimum and maximum weekly hours, daily shift requirements, setting up pay rates, and creating TimeForge accounts for your staff members.

Working with labor in TimeForge is easy!  Employees in TimeForge can clock in, clock out, receive schedules, send messages, and request time off.

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What is a Shift?

TimeForge schedules are a collection of many shifts, and each shift is assigned a corresponding start and end time, as well as position (or job), and employee. Other information can be included with each shift, including whether the shift is for an “extra” staff member, the section or station being worked, and other pertinent information.

Shifts can easily be created for a specific day on the schedule or copied to other days on the schedule. Shifts can be grouped together into days on the schedule, and then can be used to create a template for future schedules. Additionally, shifts can be reassigned to other staff members, and are used by the TimeForge AutoScheduler to estimate anticipated needs for schedules in the future.

Shifts can be Viewed Graphically

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TimeForge shifts can be viewed graphically, for easy visual display of the staffing load for the day.

Adding and Editing Shifts is Easy

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Adding and editing shifts on a schedule is simple! Each shift needs to include a start time, end time, position, and an employee. In many cases, TimeForge can automatically pick the employee based on availability, requests, and automated suggestions from the TimeForge AutoScheduler.

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What is a Department?

TimeForge departments provide larger organizations with the ability to partition, or assign, groups of employees to individual managers.

Each department can have a number of positions (positions can even overlap departments, if necessary), employees, supervisors, and managers. Employees may belong to more than one department, if necessary.

Examples of departments include:
- A restaurant could have a front of house, back of house, and bar department.
- A grocery store might have many departments, including cashier, meat counter, bakery, and other departments.
- A cinema or movie complex might have departments for the ticket counter, concessions, and floor.

Departments are created at the Corporate Level – all locations (or stores) within a single corporation share departments.

Please note: Enabling departments within TimeForge will change the TimeForge interface to accommodate the many new department features. For example, schedule forecasts, sales, and positions are all linked to departments.

Enabling Departments inside of TimeForge

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Departments, while powerful, should only be enabled by organizations needing them.

Adding or Editing Departments

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Each Department can have one, or more, positions assigned to it. Assigning positions will ensure that staff members, supervisors, and managers are not distracted or confused by other departments that are using TimeForge.

Employees can be assigned to Departments

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Each staff member can be assigned to one or more departments. Employees cannot belong to a position unless the position is assigned to one of the employee’s departments.

Schedules can be created on a department basis

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Each schedule can be assigned to a department, providing very fast reporting and schedule building on a per-department basis.

Additionally, schedule templates and weekly templates are assigned to departments, providing one-click scheduling for each department.

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What is the TimeForge Corporation level?

TimeForge is a sophisticated labor management and employee scheduling system, and works well for both independently owned and operated businesses, as well as chain concepts.

TimeForge has two separate operating “levels” depending on the desired usage within your organization.

The “location” level of TimeForge is used when examining the labor or employee schedules at a single location, store, or unit.

The “corporate” level of TimeForge is used when multiple locations are being used.

When operated by a business with more than one location / store / unit, some of the functionality of TimeForge is moved to the corporate level to ensure consistent labor reports and employee schedules among all of the business locations.

The TimeForge Corporation Level – Multiple Locations

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When operating with multiple locations inside of TimeForge, a drop-down box will appear in the top right hand corner. This drop-down box allows managers and supervisors to switch locations with a single click.

In addition to the drop-down box, a new link “Corporation Settings” is available to allow manipulation of Corporate level data.

TimeForge Corporation Today Screen

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At the corporation level, many of the menus are similar to the menus at the location level, including the ability to change position names, set request types and certifications, configure sales forecasting, and manage departments across all locations.

Additional capabilities include multi-location / multi-store reports, a corporate level dashboard (displayed above) with indicators for labor costs, posted schedules, and shift satisfaction among employees.

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How can I send a message to other staff members?

TimeForge’s messaging system provides a single location for convenient and simple work related messages. Messages sent through TimeForge are sent as both email messages, and are also available as TimeForge messages when logged into TimeForge.

To send and receive messages, make sure that you have provided an email address on the TimeForge “Setup” page.

Get to the Messages Page on the Schedules Tab

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First, navigate to the “Schedules” tab, and then the “Messages” sub-tab.

From the “Today” Tab, you can click on the Schedules tab, or click on the I Have Unread Messages button.

Navigate to the Messages Page

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The “Messages” page displays all incoming / received messages from managers and other staff members, as well as messages that you have sent to other team members.

Send a Staff Message

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The last several messages sent through TimeForge are listed in the Sent Messages section.

To send a new message, click on Send a Message.

Choose Staff Members and Send Your Message

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Choose the staff members that should receive your message, and enter an appropriate message. Selected individuals will receive notification of the message through their TimeForge account as well as through email. Click on Send a Message to send the message.

Staff members are displayed in an easy to read / locate fashion, and you can send a message to multiple staff members by simply selecting all of the staff member names. Team members and managers that do not have a TimeForge account are shown with a line drawn through them, as these individuals cannot receive messages using TimeForge.

Please note: If the recipient of your message responds via email, it will be delivered to your email account that is registered with TimeForge.

Review Sent Messages

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At any time, you can review the status of messages sent using TimeForge.

TimeForge records the message date and time, the actual message, and the number of recipients (click on the Sent Messages link to see which staff members the message was sent to) . If an email address for the recipient(s) was configured with TimeForge, emails were also sent to these coworkers, and anyone that has viewed the message will be displayed in the Viewed Messages link.

Please note: TimeForge cannot accurately record any message that is read via the recipients email account, so the number listed in Viewed Messages is likely lower than the actual number of read messages.

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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

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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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