DeskTime employee computer monitoring software
Use DeskTime employee computer monitoring software to see which URLs, programs, and apps your employees spend time on. Get the complete productivity analytics to improve your team’s efficiency.
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What does DeskTime computer monitoring software do?
DeskTime computer tracking software lets you track employee activity on PC and Mac by noting every website, program, and application that's being used and categorizing them as productive or unproductive.
Have you ever wondered what your employees are actually doing on their computers? They might look busy and focused, but in reality they might be watching YouTube cat videos all day long or chatting with their friends. If your team works remotely, making sure that your employees spend their work hours productively can be even more challenging.
By monitoring employee internet usage, managers can track working hours and make sure that everyone dedicates their office time to work-related tasks.
Here's how it works
If you want to monitor your employees' computer activity, you need to decide which apps, programs, and websites DeskTime should categorize as productive and which ones – as unproductive. DeskTime account admins can then divide tracked applications and websites into Productive (green), Unproductive (red), and Neutral (gray):
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Productive: apps/websites that are important to a team's work
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Unproductive: apps/websites that distract from job tasks and are irrelevant to the particular user's work
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Neutral: apps/websites that don't interfere with or distract from work but are not directly involved in getting the job done
The benefits of employee computer monitoring
Checking how productive your team's computer usage habits are during work hours is not just about catching an employee slacking off (although that definitely can happen).
Studies show that when team members know they're being monitored, they become more disciplined and motivated to stay on task. This results in the instant 30% productivity boost that companies report just a week after they start to use an employee computer monitoring software.
Frequently asked questions
What is employee computer monitoring software?
It is software that lets you track employee computer activity by noting every website, program, and application that's being used. Websites and apps are categorized as productive or unproductive.
Why monitor employee computer activity?
Tracking employee computer activity can help you understand what your team is actually doing during office hours. Using computer monitoring software can help boost your employees' productivity by up to 30%.
How detailed is the information provided by DeskTime employee computer monitoring software?
If you monitor employee computer activity, you will see exactly which apps or websites they visit during the day. You can see how each team member's daily overview looks in the Productivity bar, where you can check out how much time they have spent on each app or website.
Can I see which documents my employees are working on?
Yes, with Desktime's document title tracking feature you can see not just which apps your employees have been spending time on, but also which specific projects they were working on. While at first glance it might seem that an employee has had a very productive day working on a Word document, what if instead of preparing that blog post you asked for, they were actually writing down recipes? Or maybe you simply want to check if a team member has started to work on a particular project on time. However, note that DeskTime can see document titles, email subject lines, or chat group names, but it can't see their content.
What if an app that's set as unproductive for one team would be productive for another?
Different teams and departments have different needs. DeskTime employee computer monitoring software lets you set your own parameters for each department or team member. This way, you can customize the productivity list according to each team's needs – your employees will appreciate a more individual approach, and you will be able to see more accurate and relevant data in the DeskTime reports.
Can I change an app's productivity status?
If you change your mind about a particular app, its productivity can be changed at any time – but only by account owners and administrators (so employees won't be able to tinker with the productivity data on their own).
What happens if an employee steps away from their computer?
Naturally, not every second of the work day is spent on the computer – your employees need breaks, they attend meetings, etc. That's why if there are no mouse movements or keyboard inputs on the computer for more than 3 minutes, DeskTime will go idle and time will no longer be tracked.This way, the employee computer monitoring data provided to you will be as accurate as possible. If an employee stepped away from their computer to attend an hour-long meeting but left open an unproductive website that they were checking on their break, DeskTime won't create an impression that the employee wasted all that time on a non-work activity. Plus, you can encourage your team to take advantage of the DeskTime offline time tracking feature where work hours spent off the computer can be logged as well.
Can employees still protect their privacy if I monitor their computer activity?
Although knowledge that their managers monitor employee computer usage can increase your team's productivity, your team members might also worry that such a close observation is robbing them of their privacy. Throughout the work day, employees need some time for themselves with proper breaks which they can spend however they wish. The possibility that employee computer monitoring might reveal some sensitive information can cause stress and even resentment in your team. That's why it's important for managers to be transparent about the way they use DeskTime to track their employees. We also encourage you to let the team know about the private time feature – basically, it's a digital timeout on their computer. During private time, all tracking of computer activity stops, and employees don't have to worry that some personal information might be tracked by their employer. You can also check out our blog post for some more tips on how you can make sure your employees feel safe using DeskTime.