Frequently asked questions

General
Payments
Questions

General

How does DeskTime work?

When users install DeskTime on their computers, it tracks what kind of applications the person is using and is analyzing it against a modifiable database of productive, distracting and neutral applications. For time tracking DeskTime detects mouse and other input devices.

How does the 30-day free trial work?

After 30 days of using DeskTime for FREE you will be prompted to add your credit card information to continue using DeskTime on a month to month basis.

Who can see my productivity data?

For individual accounts, only you can see your data. For company accounts only the owner and people with administrator privileges in the company can view the employee data. Also, you can always use the "Private Mode" option to opt-out of the productivity tracking for a limited time.

What is “Private Mode”?

If you enable "Private Mode" via the tracker in system taskbar, DeskTime will stop tracking anything you do on your computer. To enable DeskTime again, just press the "Private Mode" button again.

What information is tracked by the DeskTime application?

DeskTime collects user behavior data including application usage and web site visits. We do not and never will collect keystrokes, form input, or anything of sensitive nature. Our records include application name, web site URL, web site title, DeskTime application version, path to the application, start time of use and end time of use. Here's an example of the information which is communicated from the application to the server through secure HTTPS connection:

  1. array (
  2. 'now' => '1314172183',  
  3. 'version' => '1.0.4289',
  4.   'log' => array (    
  5.     0 => array (      
  6.       'app' => 'firefox',      
  7.       'path' => '\\Mozilla Firefox\\firefox.exe',    
  8.       'win' => 'jQuery UI - Datepicker Demos & Documentation',      
  9.       'url' => 'jqueryui.com',      
  10.       'start' => '1314172181'    
  11.     )
  12.   )
  13. ); 

How can I add employees to my account?

Just go to "Settings" tab "Employees". Every employee has its own login with username and password. Each employee is connected the company account it was added from. After you add the employee, you should install the DeskTime client on their computer and login in order to start tracking.

What are "Employee Groups"?

On DeskTime you can group employees into groups like "Marketing", "Sales", "Management" etc. Group allows you to define what applications are productive, unproductive or neutral for each group. For example, Facebook and Twitter is a productive application for social media managers while it is unproductive for others. You can set these values by hovering the necessary app in employee view. Additionaly, you can select what groups you want to see in the Dashboard view.

Do employees know that DeskTime is running?

Yes, at all times. DeskTime is designed to improve employee productivity and the ability for employees to always see their productivity data is necessary. Each employee can access this data by clicking the DeskTime icon and choosing "Show DeskTime".

Can DeskTime log offline time (meetings etc.)?

We investigated an option for DeskTime to ask the employee how productive he or she spent the time away from the computer when user returns to the desk, but this data always comes with human error. Also, people are rarely truthful in their answers and thus DeskTime data as the whole can become subjective. Currently we’ll continue to rely on data that DeskTime can log accurately.

Employees are using their company laptops at home. How can I allow tracking only from the office?

If you want to limit tracking to specific locations (like the company office) enter a list of IP addresses from which employees are allowed to log work hours under “Settings” tab “Company”. You can add as many IP addresses as you want.

DeskTime keeps promting me to install Firefox extension. What is that? (Mac)

In order to track Firefox browser usage properly DeskTime needs you to install Firefox add-on. DeskTime should automatically notify you that this is necessary, but you can also install the add-on manually from here.

Is there a minimum commitment?

DeskTime is a month to month service. There is no contract or long term obligation. You are billed on a monthly basis, and if you cancel you will not be billed again.

Can I add or remove employees?

During the free trial you can add or remove as many employees as you like. Once we start charging you will be billed for the number of employees that you set up. At any time you can go into the billing section and add or remove employees and you charge amount will be changed after the next billing cycle.

Can I delete my account?

Of course. The account owner can delete account by going to the "Settings" tab and pressing "Delete account" button. Keep in mind that in this way all the productivity data will be lost.

What about iPhone/Android version?

Yes, they are available for free at the Apple App Store and Android Market today. You can also search the App Store or Android Market on your phone with the keyword "DeskTime".

What systems and browsers does DeskTime support?

DeskTime supports Windows XP or later and Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) or later. Windows users need to install Microsoft .NET framework in order to run DeskTime. Currently Safari web browser on Windows is not supported and until we fix this we suggest using alternative browsers like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox or Opera.

How to use projects?

Now you have the opportunity to indicate what projects you’re working on. While you’re working on those specific projects, you’ll be able to see which applications you’ve been using for which project.

To make a project, click the DeskTime icon on your computer. Select “Projects”, and then “Create new project”. You can then start typing the name of your project to create a new one, or, if someone in your company has already created it, you can choose that. Projects sync between the company users.

NB! Projects are case sensitive, so remember this when you’re searching for a project.

An administrator can also see which projects take up the most time under the reports section.

Reports section

The reports section is available for administrators and individual users of the “Pro” version of DeskTime.

In the reports section you can choose to see the report for any given day, week, or month. You’ll see different statistics. These will be the average statistics of your entire company. You can use this information to see trends in your productivity or working habits.

How can I set different staring times for employees?

At the moment it is possible to set customized working times and starting times for each employee individually.

To do this, first you have to go to your “settings” tab, and then click on your “employees” tab. Select the employee whose working time you would like to change. You can change two different elements;

  • The amount of hours that they should work in one day (workday length),
  • The set “starting time” that marks the beginning of the day (workday starts at…).

Change the workday length to account for people such as part-time employees, and set the starting time to account for aspects like different shifts. Note that if an employee arrives at work after the set “starting time”, they will be marked as late.

Payments

How much does DeskTime cost?

DeskTime is free to try for 30 days and will always stay free for individual use.

When the 30 days period will run out, company accounts have to pay $9 a month per employee (volume discounts apply). See our Pricing section to find out more.

What are my payment options?

We accept Visa, MasterCard and American Express through our online payment system.

Questions

Any more questions?

Write us at support@desktime.com.



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