Our rating:
4,8
Kickidler is the most sophisticated and affordable software among top Employee Monitoring Software, designed to help employers keep track of their employees’ work activities. This software allows businesses to increase productivity and efficiency by monitoring employee activity with real-time monitoring and through in-depth reports, thus providing insights on how to optimize work processes. However, like any software, Kickidler has its pros and cons that should be considered before implementing it in the workplace.
Pros:
Increased Productivity: Kickidler can significantly increase employee productivity by providing an overview of how much time employees are spending on different tasks. This information can be used to identify areas where employees are spending too much time and make adjustments to improve overall productivity.
Employee Engagement: Kickidler can also help improve employee engagement by providing feedback on their work. Employees can see their progress in real-time, which can help motivate them to work more efficiently. This feature is called Autokick and is meant to boost the engagement of employees at the same time freeing bussiness owners the urden of following every second of their employees.
Improved Time Management: With Kickidler, employers can track the time employees spend on specific tasks. This allows employers to identify time-wasting activities and help employees manage their time more effectively.
Better Employee Performance: Kickidler also provides performance metrics that can help employers identify top-performing employees. This information can be used to provide rewards and recognition for their hard work, which can improve employee morale and motivation.
Data Security: To start with, Kickidler itself provides a secure platform for storing employee data which can be set on-premise. Besides this, it ensures that confidential information is not leaked or accessed by unauthorized personnel by unlocking the following features for information security specialists: alerting the most malicious websites and applications, sends automatic reports per instruction, e.g. when the file name contains the word “download”, creates email notifications on certain actions set by the employer.
Privacy Concerns: One of the main concerns of using Employee Monitoring Software is the invasion of privacy. Some employees may feel uncomfortable knowing that their employer is monitoring their every move. This can lead to a lack of trust in the workspace and decreased employee morale. That’s why Kickidler blocks the password & login recording and doesn’t show such vulnerable data to the employers.
Cons:
Mobile Application: Kickidler is still optimizing its mobile version of the following the employees and soon will be available.
Cloud: The Cloud version of this monitoring system is currently available only for Time Tracking Version of the software and soon will be available for EM variant, as well.
Conclusion:
Kickidler is a powerful tool for improving productivity and efficiency in the workplace. It provides valuable insights into employee behavior that can help employers identify areas for improvement. However, there are also some downsides to using Employee Monitoring Software. Employers should carefully consider these pros and cons before implementing Kickidler or any other Employee Monitoring Software in their workplace. It is also important for employers to communicate transparently with their employees about the use of such software and ensure that they are not violating their employees' privacy rights.
Our rating:
4,7
Insightful is a web-based software that provides employers with a dashboard that displays real-time information on their employees' activities but lacks real-time video monitoring. It is positioned as a productivity tool to raise the efficiency of employees’ working time spent on each website and project. Its friendly structured interface is easy to use and convenient to do the least to get the most of employee productivity. However, it does have strong and weak points to be distinguished from its competitors.
Pros:
Productivity analysis: insightful is well-structured for monitoring productive use of work time based on the time spent on applications and websites. On its dashboard users can see specific apps the employee is using and the time, as in the case of most other such softs but it still shows only the name of the app and doesn’t demonstrate the video recording. Similar to Kickidler it provides employee ratings and comparison to measure all team’s productivity.
Project Management: Insightful is designed to help see what tasks and projects the employees are currently using, thus assisting the project management team to settle better timeframes for certain tasks. Creating timesheets helps organize better performance on certain projects and brings transparency. With this tool, you may see the actual costs and ROI coming from the project, as well as have a deeper look on the employees’ spent time and dynamics, random screenshots, and apps and websites used during the project.
Attendance: Like all such software Insightful gives information on the start and end of the working time and provides an easy accessible table to see the start and end of the workday. The employees may themselves decide when to start the counting the time.
Access Management: Users of the software may easily share the performance of the project with third-party platforms.
Automatic reports: Insightful creates automatic reports and immediately sends them to the managers/users.
Cons
Real-time Employee Monitoring: Unlike other software as Kickidler, Insightful makes random screenshots without showing what exactly the employee is doing. Moreover, employers are not able to see the violations or unproductive performance of the employees either on real-time video monitoring or history playback and therefore cannot use some of the data as a proof for some certain violations.
Employee time attendance: Even though Insightful detects start and end of the worktime it still doesn’t show vacations, day-offs, hour-offs, etc.
Data protection: Insightful has a personal information protection feature that blocks passwords but can be deactivated at any time. Whenever there is the possibility of data leakage, Insightfuk has no tool to recognize such misactivity and send alerts on them.
Remote Control: Insightful doesn’t provide remote control features.
Price: Insightful enterprise is around 2.5 times more expensive than e.g. Kickidler Employee Monitoring Software enterprise plan.
Our rating:
4,7
Teramind is one of the leading providers, offering a range of features that leverage user behavior analytics to help organizations mitigate risk, enhance productivity, and streamline operations. It caters to various organizations, including enterprises, government agencies, and small and medium-sized businesses.
Pros:
Comprehensive feature set: Teramind offers a wide range of features, including insider threat management, data loss prevention, and productivity and process optimization. These features work together to provide a holistic view of an organization's digital operations, helping to identify potential risks and inefficiencies that may otherwise go unnoticed.
User behavior analytics: At the core of Teramind's solution is user behavior analytics, which tracks and analyzes employee activity on digital systems. This allows organizations to detect anomalous behavior that may indicate an insider threat, such as an employee attempting to access unauthorized data or performing suspicious actions on a system. Additionally, user behavior analytics can identify areas where productivity can be improved, such as identifying and addressing workflow bottlenecks.
Customizable platform: Teramind's solution is highly customizable, allowing businesses to tailor it to their specific needs. This means that organizations can configure the platform to suit their unique workflows and operational requirements, rather than being forced to fit into a one-size-fits-all solution.
Suitable for a range of organizations: Teramind's solution is suitable for businesses of all sizes, from small and medium-sized enterprises to large corporations. This means that organizations can scale their use of Teramind as they grow, without having to switch to a different solution.
Global presence: Teramind has a global presence, having assisted over 10,000 organizations worldwide. This means that the company has extensive experience working with businesses of all types, and can provide valuable insights and support to organizations across different industries and regions.
Cons:
Complex platform: Teramind's platform can be complex and may require some training to fully utilize its features. This means that organizations may need to invest time and resources in training their employees to use the platform effectively.
Pricing: Teramind's solution may be expensive for smaller businesses with limited budgets. This could make it challenging for these organizations to access the benefits of Teramind's solution, and may force them to seek alternative, less comprehensive solutions.
User interface: Some users may find the user interface of Teramind's platform to be less intuitive than other solutions. This could make it more difficult for organizations to quickly identify and address potential threats and inefficiencies.
System resource requirements: Teramind's solution may require a significant amount of system resources to run effectively, which could impact performance on older or less powerful hardware. This means that organizations may need to invest in upgrading their systems to support Teramind's solution.
Data privacy: Teramind's solution may not be suitable for organizations that require strict compliance with certain data privacy regulations. This is because the platform collects and analyzes employee data, which may be subject to different data privacy regulations in different jurisdictions.
Our rating:
4,6
ActivTrak is a comprehensive employee monitoring and analytics software designed to help businesses track and analyze their employees' productivity and engagement. It provides organizations with valuable insights into how employees spend their time, enabling them to make data-driven decisions to improve efficiency and optimize workflow. ActivTrak examines digital work activity data to get insights into how employees operate, whether they are based in an office or working remotely.
Pros:
Enhanced Productivity: ActivTrak helps businesses identify time-wasting activities and optimize productivity by providing insights into employee work habits and task allocation. It allows managers to track how employees spend their time and identify areas where improvements can be made.
Improved Efficiency: By analyzing data on website and application usage, ActivTrak helps organizations identify bottlenecks and streamline processes. Managers can allocate resources more effectively and ensure that employees are focused on high-priority tasks.
Data-Driven Decision Making: ActivTrak's comprehensive analytics and reporting features enable businesses to make informed decisions based on real-time data. By understanding employee behavior and performance trends, managers can implement targeted strategies to drive productivity and success.
Employee Accountability: ActivTrak fosters a culture of accountability by tracking and monitoring employee activities. It encourages employees to stay focused and avoid unproductive behaviors, leading to increased productivity and a more efficient work environment.
Easy to use: AktivTrak is a relatively easy-to-use Employee Monitoring Software. The interface is intuitive and the installation process is straightforward.
Detailed reports: AktivTrak provides detailed reports on employee activity, including websites visited, applications used, and time spent on each task. This information can be used to identify areas where employees are spending too much or too little time and to make adjustments as needed.
Cons:
Interface: The number of reports is of great quantity and finding out where to seek the information and which filters to use to get exactly what you need requires a lot of effort.
Load times of dashboard: The load time on the dashboard takes several minutes or even freezes.
Pricing: Although the Essential plan includes all other main features provided by other Em it still has paid add-ons that become an additional burden for buyers in case they need more than the suggested plan.
Screen Viewing: In case some staff managers need to disable the screen viewing option, it is not supported by the
Focus on Quantity over Quality: Companies may become too focused on tracking employee activity metrics rather than fostering a work environment that promotes creativity, collaboration, and employee well-being.
Not as feature-rich as some other Employee Monitoring Software: AktivTrak does not offer as many features as some other Employee Monitoring Software, such as the ability to track phone calls or chat messages.
Our rating:
4,5
StaffCop is a robust employee monitoring solution offering benefits such as heightened productivity, security against insider threats, policy enforcement, and compliance adherence. It empowers businesses to track computer activities, detect breaches, and investigate incidents while facilitating remote work oversight. With customizable settings, it promotes resource optimization, skill development, and user behavior analysis, though maintaining a balance between monitoring and privacy is vital.
Pros:
On-Premise installation: Cardholder data built-in templates include personally Identifiable Information (PII), Personal Financial Information (PFI), CC numbers, bank accounts, ABN/swift codes, and more.deep data analysis of the content of both structured and unstructured data. Content discovery "on the fly" using cutting-edge OCR and digital fingerprinting.
Fully customized reports: Today's market for employee monitoring offers a variety of respectable options for keeping an eye on employees' productivity. Similar tools are typically used to classify websites and applications as productive or ineffective, take screenshots as needed, and occasionally collect keystrokes as well. A number of reports comprising the gathered data serve as the output, and in most circumstances, these reports are sufficient. What if the assignment is not so typical, though? What if we need to alter the report's format or remove a portion of the data? With StaffCop, you can accomplish this by producing customized reports.
All-in-One solution: Because StaffCop Enterprise is an All-In-One solution, all of the features offered by StaffCop are included in the official distribution and can be quickly enabled or disabled. We don't charge separately for each module. We advise creating administrator accounts without the ability to alter configuration OR/AND documenting the responsibility of using the system if certain of the modules absolutely need to be disabled (to prevent violations by employees responsible for running StaffCop).
Web-based interface: A web-based administration interface is used to manage StaffCop Enterprise. The IP address of the machine (server) running StaffCop Server must be entered in order to access the admin interface. What advantages does this strategy have? 1) No need to install additional software for system administration 2) Anywhere with an internet connection can access the admin interface from outside the local network. 3) Using different login credentials, a single installation of the system can be used to manage multiple departments or even entire businesses.
Cons:
Privacy Concerns: Extensive employee monitoring may infringe on personal privacy and erode trust between employees and management.
Employee Resistance: Monitoring can lead to resistance, reduced morale, and negatively impact the work culture and employee engagement.
Ethical Dilemmas: The fine line between monitoring productivity and respecting individual rights can raise ethical dilemmas.
Overemphasis on Metrics: Sole reliance on metrics might overlook qualitative aspects of performance and collaboration.
Complex Implementation: Integrating and managing StaffCop can be complex, demanding IT resources and expertise.
Legal Compliance Challenges: Striking a balance between monitoring and adhering to data protection and labor laws can be challenging.
Misinterpretation of Data: Automated systems might misinterpret actions, generating false positives and leading to misunderstandings.
Costly Investment: StaffCop's pricing can be a significant financial commitment, especially for smaller businesses.
Resource Intensive: StaffCop requires time and effort to set up and manage, diverting attention from other strategic initiatives.
Technical Glitches: Reliance on technology for monitoring can lead to disruptions and frustrations due to technical issues.
Our rating:
4,5
A software called iMonitorSoft focuses on creating tools for computer and personnel surveillance. The company, which was established in 2002, has become well-known for its products that allow companies to keep an eye on and track the computer usage of their employees with an emphasis on boosting compliance, security, and efficiency.
Pros:
- Unobtrusive monitoring: The software is designed to be as unobtrusive as possible, so employees are not aware that they are being monitored. This can help to avoid any privacy concerns.
- Wide range of monitoring features: iMonitorSoft offers a wide range of monitoring features, including keystroke logging, website tracking, application usage, and time tracking. This allows you to track all of your employee's activities on their computer.
- Remote access: iMonitorSoft allows you to remotely access the software from any web browser. This means that you can monitor your employees from anywhere in the world.
- Easy to use: iMonitorSoft is easy to use, even for non-technical users. The software comes with a user-friendly interface and a comprehensive help documentation.
- Affordable: iMonitorSoft is almost as affordable as Kickidler.
Cons:
- Privacy issues: Being observed by their employer may cause some people to worry about their privacy. All computer activity by an employee, including keystrokes, websites viewed, and programs used, can be monitored by iMonitorSoft. Depending on the regulations in the relevant jurisdiction, this can constitute a violation of the privacy of the employee.
- Legality: Using iMonitorSoft to monitor employees is legitimate in different jurisdictions. Employee monitoring without their consent is prohibited in various nations. While employee monitoring is permitted in some other nations, there are limitations on what can be observed and how the data can be utilized.
- Cost: IMonitorSoft is not the most affordable employee monitoring program available. Other software packages with less expensive features are available.
- Technical help: The technical support provided by iMonitorSoft is occasionally unreliable. When they faced issues with the software, some users claimed they had trouble reaching the firm for assistance.
- Installing and configuring it might be challenging: Installing and configuring iMonitorSoft can be challenging, especially for non-technical people. The user manual for the software is included, although it might be confusing and difficult to grasp.
- It can require a lot of resources: The resource-intensive nature of iMonitorSoft may cause employee computers to sluggishly operate. Employees who must use their laptops for taxing things like video editing or gaming may run into trouble because of this.
Our rating:
4,4
Pros: This software is a good set of tools for employee tracking and information security provision. It can record desktop activity video and give a full analysis of websites and apps that an employee visits and uses during working hours. It even engages some machine learning on the basis of user behavior patterns. On the whole, if you spend time on settings configuration, this program will be a useful tool for your business.
Cons: Interface is outdated, and customers often complain about support service. We also would like to mention that machine learning here leaves much to be desired. It’s easier to customize it yourself. Machines still have a long way to go till they learn to truly comprehend people, in our subjective opinion. Moreover, this software does not provide for cloud server hosting.
Our opinion: Veriato is a professional tool for professional use. Though difficult to install and configure its settings, this soft boasts a wide range of options. If this soft developer nails somehow its machine learning ability, this program will be just priceless. Probably it has a great future!
Our rating:
4,4
Hubstaff is a productivity and time-tracking tool designed to assist companies in managing their remote workers. Employers can use it to keep tabs on workers' hours worked, assess productivity, and provide thorough reports. Numerous more functions, including project management, payroll processing, and invoicing, are also provided by Hubstaff.
Pros:
- Effective Time Tracking: Hubstaff provides a powerful and intuitive time-tracking system that makes it simple for staff members to precisely log their working hours. This is especially advantageous for companies that charge their customers by the number of hours spent.
- Effective Remote Work Management: Hubstaff offers tools to track and manage remote workers in light of the growing popularity of remote work. Regardless of geographical location, it enables companies to keep an eye on production and maintain communication with their workers.
- Enhanced Productivity: Hubstaff's tools for tracking productivity enable companies to spot wasteful spending and inefficiencies. Businesses can increase productivity by using data-driven decision-making to better understand how time is spent.
- GPS Tracking: This function, which allows for real-time position monitoring to make sure staff members are where they need to be while boosting efficiency and security, is perfect for companies with mobile and field teams.
- Simplified Payroll and Invoicing: Hubstaff integrates with widely used accounting and payment systems to streamline payroll and invoicing. This lowers the amount of manual data entry and payroll processing errors.
- Data-Driven Insights: Hubstaff offers thorough analytics and reports that give companies insightful information on the productivity of their workers, project expenses, and time management. Making educated judgments and optimizing operations are made easier with this data-driven approach.
- Integration Capabilities: Hubstaff is an adaptable complement to your current tech stack since it connects with numerous project management, CRM, and accounting programs. Overall efficiency is increased and workflows are made simpler by this interoperability.
- Employee Scheduling: Businesses may effectively assign work and make sure that team members are given equal responsibilities by utilizing the employee scheduling tool. This facilitates better teamwork and workload management.
Cons:
- Employee Opposition: Workers may object to the deployment of monitoring software such as Hubstaff if they believe it violates their privacy or betrays a lack of confidence. A decline in morale and job satisfaction may arise from this resistance.
- Data Security Risks: There may be security issues when storing screenshots and private employee data on cloud servers. Even though Hubstaff takes precautions to protect data, confidential information may still be compromised by a breach or security lapse.
- Complexity & Learning Curve: Some users may find Hubstaff's capabilities and settings too complex, particularly for smaller companies or less tech-savvy teams. Effective implementation of the program may necessitate additional time and effort due to its sophisticated setup and continuous management.
- Costs: Hubstaff is not a free service, and smaller companies on a tight budget may find its subscription-based pricing to be a drawback. As more features or users are utilised, the price may go up.
- Internet Connectivity։ Requires internet connectivity to function, which might be problematic for field or distant employees in places with inadequate or nonexistent internet access. This is because Hubstaff's offline capabilities are limited. In these kinds of situations, offline work tracking and synchronization might not be as useful.
Our rating:
4,3
Through real-time staff monitoring, SoftActivity and its flagship product, SoftActivity Monitor, enable enterprises to improve security, assure policy compliance, and promote productivity. Their program is easy to use and may be used by a variety of people with little training required. The business is seen as a reliable partner because of its dedication to innovation and client pleasure. They kept changing their products as of January 2022 to accommodate changing workplace requirements. Please check SoftActivity's official website or get in touch with them directly for the most recent information.
Pros:
- All-inclusive employee tracking: SoftActivity Monitor keeps tabs on a variety of employee activities, including as screen time, productivity, internet use, and browser history. Employers may use this to find areas where staff members are doing poorly or squandering time, as well as to discover possible security risks.
- Simple to use: Even for users with no past expertise with employee tracking software, SoftActivity Monitor is simple to install and operate. All employee activity is summarized succinctly and clearly on the web portal, and creating reports is a quick and simple process.
- Reasonably priced: SoftActivity Monitor is incredibly inexpensive, particularly in contrast to other employee monitoring programs available on the market. It provides a free trial and a range of payment options to accommodate companies of different sizes.
- Outstanding customer service: SoftActivity Monitor provides outstanding customer service. The group is friendly, accommodating, and quick to respond to inquiries and offer support.
- Watch history as a video: This is an excellent feature for monitoring precisely what staff members have been doing on their PCs.
- Live view allows employers to observe in real time what staff members are doing on their laptops.
- Customizable screenshot frequency: The frequency at which employers capture screenshots of employee activities is up to them.
- Even when workers are working from home, employers can still keep an eye on their activities using remote monitoring.
Cons:
- Absence of features for reports. It might be challenging to follow trends and pinpoint areas for improvement when SoftActivity users are unable to generate reports on employee activity.
- Disconnected frequently. SoftActivity is known to disconnect frequently, which might disrupt staff processes and make it challenging to keep an eye on prolonged activity, according to some users.
- Human mistake. SoftActivity depends on workers to manually track their own activities, which might result in mistakes made by humans, such forgetting to track or tracking the wrong project or activity incorrectly.
- Privacy issues. Because SoftActivity tracks all employee activity on work devices, several customers have expressed worries about the privacy consequences of using the software.
Our rating:
4,2
Time Doctor is a productivity management and time-tracking tool made to assist both individuals and companies in monitoring their work hours and enhancing their time management skills. Users can keep track of the time they spend on particular projects, monitor their work activities, and generate reports for more accurate productivity analysis. In addition, Time Doctor provides features like screen capture, tracking of websites and applications, and interfaces with other project management and accounting solutions. For teams trying to maximize their productivity and time, freelancers, and remote workers, it can be a useful tool.
Pros:
- Accurate time tracking: Even when staff are working on several projects at once, Time Doctor can precisely track the amount of time spent on each one.
- Detailed reporting: Time Doctor offers comprehensive reports that include task breakdowns, websites and apps utilized, and time spent. You can utilize this data to pinpoint areas in need of development and increase output.
- Versatile usage options: Time Doctor is available for both interactive and silent use. Interactive mode gives managers real-time insights into employee activities, while silent mode lets workers work uninterrupted.
- Mobile-friendly: Employees may track their time while on the go with Time Doctor's mobile app.
- Reasonably priced:To accommodate companies of all sizes, Time Doctor provides a range of price options.
- Simple to use: Time Doctor is simple to set up and utilize for employees and managers alike.
Cons:
- Concerns about privacy: Time Doctor may collect a large amount of information regarding employees' computer activities, such as screenshots, webcam footage, and website and app usage. Some employees may perceive this as an intrusion into their privacy.
- Inaccuracy concerns: Some users have complained that Time Doctor does not always precisely measure time. This can be particularly difficult for freelancers and remote workers who must bill their clients by the hour.
- Problems with mobile apps: It has been reported that the Time Doctor mobile app crashes and has synchronization issues. This can make it tough to keep track of time while on the run.
- The timer will stop if the mouse and keyboard are not in use: Time If the mouse and keyboard are not in use for a particular amount of time, the doctor's timer will stop recording time. This can be troublesome for employees who need to take short breaks or step away from their computers.
- There is no free version: There is no free plan available from Time Doctor. This can be too expensive for small organizations and individuals on a tight budget.
Our rating:
4
DeskTime is a time-tracking and productivity management tool designed to help individuals and organizations monitor and optimize their work hours. It provides insights into how time is spent during the workday, offering a comprehensive overview of productivity and helping users make informed decisions about their time management.DeskTime is beneficial for individuals and organizations looking to enhance productivity, manage time effectively, and gain insights into work habits. Whether used by freelancers, remote teams, or traditional office-based employees, DeskTime provides a valuable tool for understanding and improving time spent during the workday.
Pros:
- Automatic time tracking: DeskTime automatically tracks time spent on applications, websites, and documents, so you don't have to manually enter your time. This can save you a lot of time and effort, especially if you track your time for multiple projects or clients.
- Detailed reporting: DeskTime provides detailed reports on how you spend your time, including breakdowns by application, website, project, and client. This information can help you identify areas where you can improve your productivity and make more informed decisions about how you allocate your time.
- Productivity insights: DeskTime also provides insights into your productivity patterns, such as your most productive times of day and the applications that you use most frequently. This information can help you to optimize your workflow and make the most of your time.
- Private time: DeskTime allows you to set private time, so that your time spent on personal activities is not tracked. This can help to protect your privacy and ensure that you have a healthy work-life balance.
- Team tracking: DeskTime can also be used to track the time of your entire team. This can help you to identify productivity trends, identify potential problems, and make sure that everyone is working effectively.
- Invoicing: DeskTime can be used to generate invoices for clients based on the time you have tracked. This can save you time and help you to get paid more quickly.
- Improved focus: DeskTime can help you to improve your focus by showing you how much time you spend on unproductive activities.
Cons:
- Limited customization: DeskTime's customization options may not be sufficient for all organizations or individual needs. The software might not provide the flexibility to tailor tracking parameters to specific roles, workflows, or company policies.
- Cost considerations: DeskTime is a premium service with pricing based on the number of users. While it may offer valuable insights, the cost may not be justifiable for all organizations or individual users.
- Potential for micromanagement: DeskTime's detailed tracking data can be used by managers to micromanage employees. This can create a stressful and unproductive work environment.
- Inaccuracies in tracking: DeskTime's tracking system is not always accurate. It may misclassify websites or activities, and it may not always track time correctly.
How we evaluated Employee Monitoring Software for top 10 best rating
Our team has tested software solutions of 10 key players on computer surveillance software market, installing them on virtual machines. When ranking these solutions, we took into account their price, employee monitoring features, work-time recording tools, as well as their provisions for information security enhancement.
This rating reflects our subjective opinion. When choosing best solutions for your business, we recommend taking into account the actual tasks you need to solve.
The best Employee Monitoring Software would be different for different businesses depending on the line of business and its specific tasks. Before choosing a particular monitoring soft, it is important to come up with clear understanding what monitoring options your company needs.
We included some of the most popular Employee Monitoring Software into our rating. All data is presented in the comparative table of their features with a brief description of each program.
We reviewed the following 10 employee monitoring apps: Kickidler, ActivTrak, Desktime Pro, Hubstaff, StaffCop Enterprise, Time Doctor, Teramind, Veriato 360, iMonitor EAM and Activity Monitor. The programs that we tested vary from simple time-trackers with some additional monitoring options to full-scale computer surveillance software.
For example, Hubstaff and Time Doctor are basically tools for work-time tracking of remote staff and freelancers, with an option to make per-hour payments via built-in payment systems, such as PayPal. Teramind and Kickidler are programs designed for total surveillance over employees with real time computer monitoring option and screen video recording tool.
What Is Employee Monitoring Software?
Employee Monitoring Software is a tool that monitors almost all user activity at the computer and then transmits these data in the form of graphics and reports to system administrator or to employer. Using such software, you can track almost everything: the programs used, the files transferred, the websites visited, the keys pressed, and the chats opened in social networks and instant messengers.
Some software presented in our rating have an option of real time screen monitoring with simultaneous screen actions video recording or periodically taking screenshots.
Many Employee Monitoring Software in our rating can analyze employee productivity during work hours. The administrator can sort websites and applications into productive and non-productive ones, and put users into groups depending on their work duties.
The same website can be useful for work performance for some employees and non-productive for others. For example, such resources as Facebook, YouTube, Tweeter or Reddit are the main work tools for an SMM manager, whereas for a sales manager they are completely unproductive.
Time tracking reports, user activity and productivity data is stored in the form of various reports in the database and is available for further analysis in the web interface. For the convenience of users, the majority of the programs offer an option of e-mail reporting.
The rise of employee monitoring programs on the market was also caused by the increasing number of insider threats. Confidential information leaks, such as, for example, having client base stolen from CRM, can bring critical consequences for business. At the same time, unauthorized misuse of the company's resources such as cryptocurrency mining, for instance, leads to serious losses.
How does Employee Monitoring Software work?
Operation principle of all monitoring software is practically the same. An agent program is installed onto the employee's computer. It collects data and transfers it to the server. You can then review these data in the form of graphics via web interface or desktop application on the computer of the person in charge of employee monitoring.
When choosing Employee Monitoring Software, it is important to pay attention to server hosting options: On Premise or Cloud Hosted.
On Premise is the most common server hosting option offered by the majority of Employee Monitoring Software. You install the program on your own server and the data collected will be stored there as well. It ensures that the data is stored locally and it will be quite hard to get unauthorized access to it from outside. However, its installation requires some IT competence and take more time. For instance, for Veriato 360 installation you will need to review system requirements more thoroughly.
Hubstaff and Time Doctor offer only Cloud Hosted option for server hosting, which is not suitable for some companies. On the other hand, it is easier to manage cloud-based solutions and you can install them faster than run a local server deployment.
Employee Monitoring Software features
Desktop monitoring
One of the main ways to monitor the user's activity is to track desktop actions in real time. It can be done in 2 different ways: admin sees everything that the user sees and does on the computer in real time, or later watches screen activity video playback (History Playback) or screenshots saved. For example, such software as Kickidler and Teramind can playback history of screen actions. Moreover, Kickidler has a filter for searching history by a particular app or website.
Internet tracking
Internet is a serious means of confidential data leaks, so most user monitoring programs have internet usage monitoring options:
- Website monitoring software detects when employees are idle for no reason or busy with personal stuff and tracks their web search requests. These programs record websites url, headings of visited pages, time and duration of visits. Some monitoring systems even implement real time website tracking option.
- Social networks. In addition to being number one work-time killers, they are a possible means of confidential data leaks.
- Instant messaging. To prevent data leak or prove that it took place, messages sent via the most popular IM-protocols and instant messengers are intercepted and stored.
- E-mail monitoring. Oftentimes, data leaks are performed via e-mails, therefore it is vital to monitor employee e-mail correspondence, for the purpose of which monitoring systems log all e-mail messages of the employees. In the majority of the cases they implement it by intercepting messages at local e-mail client, but it is also possible to intercept messages sent via web client.
Major local actions of the user are also under monitoring:
- Keyboard monitoring. The program records all the pressed keys, including system keys (CTRL, SHIFT, ALT). What is more, monitoring programs may also record the name of the window the input was made in, layout language, etc. It allows to monitor confidential data use or to restore forgotten passwords. Programs that only log keystrokes are known as keyloggers.
- Clipboard. The program logs everything that was copied to the clipboard. It prevents data loss and detects any disclosures of confidential data.
- Logging file activities: any copying, deleting, or editing files are recorded, together with the name of the program through which the action is performed. This way you can find out which files an employee worked with and detect the source of virus attacks.
- USB access monitoring. Removable usb-drives pose a serious threat to information security. Some computer surveillance software provide for blocking access to all devices, devices filtering and usb-device usage logging. It is a great tool for data leak protection and fighting off virus attacks onto working computers. With access authorized, everything copied to removable drive is also stored elsewhere and can be used for investigation of company policy violations.
- File printing. Printer can also be a source of confidential data leaks. One only need to print out an important paper and thus get away with it. Therefore, many software solutions for employee tracking log printed file names, time and date of printing.
Productivity and efficiency of the employee
In Big Data era, many companies analyze employee productivity at different times of day or different days of the week, in order to tailor their business process in accordance with employee behavior patterns. For example, when employees are least productive, you can appoint meetings or other corporate events, while in the most productive period it's better to not distract employees from work. You can optimize business workflow using analytical tools and employee monitoring reports.
With software like Kickidler or Teramind, you can configure productivity parameters for websites and programs that employees engage for work.
Timesheets
Tracking employee log-ins, recording clock-in and clock-out time, as well as lunch breaks, smoke breaks, etc. Timesheet is one of the main tools of any employee monitoring system.
Remote Desktop Control
Remote access option provides connection to employee computer via Internet from anywhere in the world and allows monitoring employee desktop activity in real time.
Besides screen monitoring, such monitoring programs allow you to control a remote computer as if you were literally sitting at this computer.
Pricing
Many software development companies set fixed price for their products at their websites. Some companies sell their products starting with single-user licenses and up to multi-user licenses, and some companies put the minimum number of licenses for purchase. This way, the annual subscription for Kickidler single-user license starts from $ 45, while Teramind offers the minimum package of 5-users license costing $ 750 per year. If you have a huge number of employees, we recommend to clarify the price directly with the provider company.
To get the best price, pay attention to the following points:
- Volume discounts: many companies will give you a discount if you purchase directly from them and buy a bigger number of licenses.
- Discount for long-term subscription: sometimes it’s better to opt for long-term subscription and thus get price reduced.
- Promo codes: You can enter a discount promo code when registering account at some companies. Contact the company directly, perhaps they have any special offers at the time being.
- Discounts for educational institutions: Some companies provide extra discounts for non-profit and educational organizations.