Introduction to Time Tracking
The Time Tracking menu offers you with several time and task management features. You can create and manage tasks and timesheets, and track costs by employees or tasks. Employees can also access the web-based time tacker from this menu to clock in their time without installing the Teramind Agent.
These features are seamlessly integrated with the Teramind Agent, Behavior Policies & Rules, Scheduler, Employee Profiles/Departments, and other Teramind productivity features. This makes time tracking and reporting autonomous and easy to use.
Accessing the Time Tracking Menus
1. Hover your mouse over the Time Tracking menu, then
2. Select an item from the sub-menu:
Tracker
The Tracker screen is only accessible to an employee if an admin enables the User can log in to the Teramind Dashboard option and the User can clock in and out using Web interface option from the Employee Profile (under the ACCOUNT INFO tab).
The Tracker screen allows employees to clock in or out and log their tasks from the web without having to install the Teramind Agent. This is particularly useful for tracking the time of consultants, freelancers, and other external users.
1. On top of the Time Tracker screen, you will see the total hours for all tasks under the Day Total and Week Total.
2. You can search for a task using the Search field.
3. You can open the Time Tracker in a new browser window by clicking the Pop-Out icon.
4. You can refresh the task list by clicking the Refresh icon.
5. Click the Clock icon to view your work history. Once on the History view, click the List icon to go back to the Tasks view.
6. When you hover over a task, a Play button will be displayed. Click this button to start a task. You can also click the RUN: button to restart the last task. This will switch the window to a green theme and start the clock-in timer.
7. You can enter a Description for the current task in progress. This description will show up on the Time Records report under the Notes column.
When you enter a description, you have two options to record it:
Click the Pencil icon to update the current time record with the description. You can also press the CTRL + Enter keys.
Click the Refresh icon to create a new time record with the description. You can also press the Enter key.
8. You will be able to see the total time spent for the currently running task under the Task Day Total. Note that, this time includes all sessions for the task. For example, if you worked on this same task on and off several times during the day, it would show the total time.
9. Click the CLOCK OUT button to stop the timer and clock out.
Tasks
The Tasks screen is accessible to the Administrators and Operational Administrators only (check out this Knowledge Base article to learn about access roles and permissions).
The Tasks screen allows you to create and manage tasks and subtasks. You can also assign these tasks/subtasks to specific employees, departments or the entire organization.
What You Can Do with Tasks
You can utilize tasks in various ways. For example:
Assign tasks with the Revealed Agent | See the How to use the Revealed Agent article for more information. |
Assign Tasks with Rules | See the Defining Rule Actions section of the Rules Guide for more information on rule actions. |
Set the Default Task | For Individual Employees: from the employee's profile under the ACCOUNT INFO tab > DEFAULT TASK option. |
Use the Web-Based Time Tracker | See the Tracker section for more information. |
Import Projects/Tasks from 3rd Party Solutions | See the Setting Up a New PM integration with Jira section for an instructions. |
View Productivity Reports | See the BI Reports > Productivity for more information. |
Navigating the Tasks Screen
1. Using the options from the the top of the screen, you can filter by list of tasks by task name or assignments (employees). You can also show/hide archived tasks (if you enable Show archived tasks, they will be displayed as light grey color).
2. On the left side of the screen, you can see the list of existing tasks. If a task has subtask(s) it will show a Folder icon with a small + or – sign in front. You can expand/collapse the folder by clicking the +/- sign.
3. You can select a task/subtask by clicking on its name from the left panel or by clicking a link from the breadcrumb from the right panel.
4. When you select a task/subtask, you can view/edit its details on the right panel of the screen. See below for details.
5. You can refresh the list of tasks, scroll to the top of the list of tasks, or scroll to the selected task by clicking these icons. If you click the X icon, it will hide the task details panel on the right (select a task/subtask or create a new task to show the panel again).
Creating / Editing a Task or Subtask
1. Click the ADD NEW TASK button to create a new task or select an existing task/subtask from the left panel. You will be able to edit the task on the right panel.
2. Enter a Name for the task.
3. Select a Location for the task. The location decides the level at where the task will be added. If you select ‘Top level’ it will be added at the top-most level without any parent task. If you select an existing task, then the task you are currently editing will be added as a subtask/child task under that task (note: you can also create a subtask by clicking the ADD SUBTASK button. See below for more information).
4. You can optionally provide a Description for the task.
5. Select an option from the Assign to section. Here’s the explanation for each option:
Nobody = the task will not be assigned to anyone.
Inherit = the task will get its assignments from its parent task. This option is only available for subtasks.
Everybody = all employees will have this task assigned.
Agent or Department = you can assign the task to one or more employees or departments when you choose this option.
6. If you enable the Employees can track this task option, the employees will be able to select this task from their Revealed/Visible Agent. This does not apply to the Silent/Hidden Agent.
7. Click the SAVE button to save the task or the DISCARD button to cancel your edits. If you are editing an existing task or subtask, you will see two more buttons: ADD SUBTASK to add this task as a subtask, and an ARCHIVE button to archive the task.
Subtasks and Employee Assignments
When you create a subtask under a task for the first time, you will see a pop-up message:
Select the YES option to allow employees to track their time for the parent task and the subtask. Select the NO option to allow them to track only the subtasks.
Archiving / Unarchiving a Task or Subtask
1. Select a task/subtask from the left panel.
2. Click the ARCHIVE button to archive it. Or, if it’s already archived, click the UNARCHIVE button to restore it.
An archive task will not show up on any of the places where tasks are used. For example, on the Revealed Agent’s task list, on the Set User’s Active Task rule action, on the employee's profile under the ACCOUNT INFO tab > DEFAULT TASK option, or on the Settings screen’s Agent Default option.
If you archive/unarchive a task that contains subtasks, all those subtasks will be archived/unarchived too.
Employee Cost
The Employee Cost screen shows a report of time worked, rate, and the cost by employees for a period.
1. You can set a reporting period by clicking the Calendar .
2. By accessing the options near the top-right corner of the screen, you can filter the report by employees/departments, and tasks.
3. You can specify what columns the report will display by clicking the Cog Wheel/Gear icon. Check out the Changing the Report Settings section for more information.
4. Clicking the small Graph con in front of an employee’s name will open a pop-up window where you can view a breakdown of cost by tasks and time records for that employee. See the Task Cost and Time Records sections to learn more.
5. Clicking an employee’s name will open the activity history for that employee. Check out the Viewing an Employee's Monitoring Report section to learn more.
To calculate the employee costs properly, you need to set the RATE option from the employee’s profile > PERSONAL INFO tab.
Task Cost
The Task Cost screen shows a report of time worked, rate, and the cost by tasks for a period.
1. You can set a reporting period by clicking the Calendar .
2. By accessing the options near the top-right corner of the screen, you can filter the report by employees/departments, and tasks.
3. By clicking the PDF/CSV icons, you can export the report in CSV/PDF format.
4. You can specify what columns the report will display/export and set up auto-export by clicking the Cog Wheel/Gear icon. Check out the Changing the Report Settings and the Auto-Exporting the Reports sections for more information.
5. Clicking the small Person with Clock icon in front of a task will open a pop-up window where you can view a breakdown of cost by employees and time records for that task. See the Employee Cost and Time Records sections to learn more.
To calculate the employee costs properly, you need to set the RATE option from the employee’s profile > PERSONAL INFO tab.
Time Records
The Time Records screen shows a report of time started, time finished, duration, task, activity %, etc. by employees for a period.
1. You can set a reporting period by clicking the Calendar .
2. By accessing the options near the top-right corner of the screen, you can filter the report by employees/departments, and tasks.
3. By clicking the PDF/CSV icons, you can export the report in CSV/PDF format.
4. You can specify what columns the report will display/export and set up auto-export by clicking the Cog Wheel/Gear icon. Check out the Changing the Report Settings and the Auto-Exporting the Reports sections for more information.
5. Clicking an employee’s name will open the activity history for that employee. Check out the Viewing an Employee's Monitoring Report section to learn more.
6. Turning the SPLIT BY DAY toggle button on will group the rows by date.
7. Adding Time: You can click the ADD TIME button on top of the report. A pop-up window will appear:
Select the EMPLOYEE and TASK and enter a START date/time and END date/time. Click the Locked or Unlocked icon to lock/unlock the DURATION field. If it’s unlocked, you can enter a duration manually, otherwise, it will be calculated automatically. You can optionally add NOTES to the time record.
8. Editing Time: Hovering over a time record/row will show two small icons on the right side of the screen. Click the Pencil icon to edit time. You can edit the time the same way you would add time.
Removing Time: Click the Trash Can icon to delete the highlighted time record. Depending on the type of time record, you will be shown one of the following two pop-up windows:
| These options will be shown if the slot you selected has a time/task record and video recording:
1. Remove time and keep screen records: will remove the time/task record but will keep the screen recording.
2. Remove time and restrict access for screens: will remove the time and task record and make the screen recording accessible to users who have the Play restricted historic screen stream access permission. Users without this permission will not be able to view the screen recording.
3. Remove time and keep screen records: will remove both the time/task and screen recording. |
| These options will be shown if the slot you selected was manually added (see item 7 above). |
Deleting time will only remove the records from the various Time Tracking reports such as the Time Records and Time Cards reports. It will not remove the user activities/logs from the Monitoring and BI reports. However, deleting the screen records will remove them permanently.
You can configure the default option for the above delete pop-up window from the DEFAULT ACTION FOR SCREEN RECORDS DELETION setting located under the Settings > Agent Defaults screen.
You can also add/edit/remove time from the Time Cards and the Screen Snapshots screens.
Time Cards
The Time Cards screen shows a detailed report of time worked and activity % of the employees. You can also add/remove time, view session records, and key monitoring reports from this screen.
Activity Graph Color Guide
The Time Cards report shows the activity level on a colored bar graph:
The table below shows what each color bar represents:
Day View
The daily view shows the time worked, shift start, shift end, shift duration, and detailed breakdown of activity for a single day.
1. Click the DAY button to switch the view to the daily view.
2. You can set the report date by clicking the Calendar . Note that if you select a period instead of a single day from the calendar, the view will automatically switch to the Week View.
3. Clicking the SHOW GRAPH button to show/hide a white line graph overlaid on top of the activity bar graph. While the bar graph shows the activity level as a color chart (see Activity Graph Color Guide above), the line graph shows the actual activity %.
4. Click the SHOW EMPTY graph button to show/hide empty days.
5. You can filter the report by employees/departments, and tasks by using the filter options near the top-right corner.
6. By clicking the PDF icon, you can export the report in PDF format.
7. You can specify what columns the report will display/export and set up auto-export by clicking the Cog Wheel/Gear icon. Check out the Changing the Report Settings and the Auto-Exporting the Reports sections for more information.
8. Adding Time: Clicking the ADD TIME (either on top of the report or under an employee’s name on the left) button will pop up a New time record window:
Select the EMPLOYEE and TASK and enter a START date/time and END date/time. Click the Locked or Unlocked icon to lock/unlock the DURATION field. If it’s unlocked, you can enter a duration manually, otherwise it will be calculated automatically. You can optionally add NOTES to the time record.
9. Hovering over the activity graph will show a small pop-up window where you can see the details for that time slot such as start time, end time, duration, activity %, and task. At the bottom of that window you will also see several icons:
Editing Time: Click the Pencil icon to edit time. An Edit time record similar to the New time record window (see 8. Adding Time above) will pop up where you can change the time.
Deleting Time: Click the Trash Can icon to delete the selected time slot. Depending on the type of time record, you will be shown one of the following two pop-up windows:
| These options will be shown if the slot you selected has a time/task record and video recording:
1. Remove time and keep screen records: will remove the time/task record but will keep the screen recording.
2. Remove time and restrict access for screens: will remove the time and task record and make the screen recording accessible to users who have the Play restricted historic screen stream access permission. Users without this permission will not be able to view the screen recording.
3. Remove time and keep screen records: will remove both the time/task and screen recording. |
| These options will be shown if the slot you selected was manually added (see item 7 above). |
Deleting time will only remove the records from the various Time Tracking reports such as the Time Records and Time Cards reports. It will not remove the user activities/logs from the Monitoring and BI reports. However, deleting the screen records will remove them permanently.
You can configure the default option for the above delete pop-up window from the DEFAULT ACTION FOR SCREEN RECORDS DELETION setting located under the Settings > Agent Defaults screen.
You can also add/edit/remove time from the Time Cards and the Screen Snapshots screens.
Viewing the Session Records: Click the Movie Camera icon to view the session recording of the employee for the selected timeslot:
Check out the Session Player section for more information.
Viewing the Monitoring Reports: Clicking the Monitor icon will pop up a window that will display some key monitoring reports, such as the Snapshots, Web Pages & Applications, Emails, etc. for that employee:
Check out the Viewing an Employee's Monitoring Reports section to learn more.
Week View
The Week view shows the time worked, shift start, shift end, shift duration and detailed breakdown of activity.
1. Click the WEEK button to switch the view to the weekly view.
2. You can set the reporting period (max 7 days) by clicking the Calendar . Note that if you select a single day from the calendar, the view will automatically switch to the Day View.
3. Clicking the SHOW GRAPH button to show/hide a white line graph overlaid on top of the activity bar graph. While the bar graph shows the activity level as a color chart (see Activity Graph Color Guide above), the line graph shows the actual activity %.
4. Click the SHOW EMPTY graph button to show/hide empty weeks.
5. By accessing the options near the top-right corner of the screen, you can filter the report by employees/departments, and tasks.
6. By clicking the PDF icon, you can export the report in PDF format.
7. You can specify what columns the report will display/export and set up auto-export by clicking the Cog Wheel/Gear icon. Check out the Changing the Report Settings and the Auto-Exporting the Reports sections for more information.
8. Adding Time: Clicking the ADD TIME (either on top of the report or under an employee’s name on the left) button will pop up a New time record window:
7. Select the EMPLOYEE and TASK and enter a START date/time and END date/time. Click the Locked or Unlocked icon to lock/unlock the DURATION field. If it’s unlocked, you can enter a duration manually, otherwise it will be calculated automatically. You can optionally add NOTES to the time record.
9. Hovering over the activity graph will show a small pop-up window where you can see the details for that time slot such as start time, end time, duration, activity %, and task. At the bottom of that window you will also see several icons:
Editing Time: Click the Pencil icon to edit time. An Edit time record similar to the New time record window (See 8. Adding Time above) will pop up where you can change the time.
Deleting Time: Click the Trash Can icon to delete the selected time slot. Depending on the type of time record, you will be shown one of the following two pop-up windows:
| These options will be shown if the slot you selected has a time/task record and video recording:
1. Remove time and keep screen records: will remove the time/task record but will keep the screen recording.
2. Remove time and restrict access for screens: will remove the time and task record and make the screen recording accessible to users who have the Play restricted historic screen stream access permission. Users without this permission will not be able to view the screen recording.
3. Remove time and keep screen records: will remove both the time/task and screen recording. |
| These options will be shown if the slot you selected was manually added (see item 7 above). |
Deleting time will only remove the records from the various Time Tracking reports such as the Time Records and Time Cards reports. It will not remove the user activities/logs from the Monitoring and BI reports. However, deleting the screen records will remove them permanently.
You can configure the default option for the above delete pop-up window from the DEFAULT ACTION FOR SCREEN RECORDS DELETION setting located under the Settings > Agent Defaults screen.
You can also add/edit/remove time from the Time Cards and the Screen Snapshots screens.
Viewing the Session Records: Click the Movie Camera icon to view the session recording of the employee for the selected timeslot:
Check out the Session Player section for more information.
Viewing the Monitoring Reports: Clicking the Monitor icon will pop up a window that will display some key monitoring reports, such as the Snapshots, Web Pages & Applications, Emails, etc. for that employee:
Check out the Viewing an Employee's Monitoring Reports section to learn more.
10. Adding/Editing Time in Batch Mode: Clicking the EDIT TIME CARD button under an employee’s name will expand the row to show a breakdown view of all the tasks and time entries for the week. You can then edit existing tasks/time entries or add new entries if wanted:
11. Select an existing task or choose a new task by clicking the Choose task pull-down menu.
12. Enter time in the fields marked with seven dots.
13. Click the SAVE or DISCARD button to save or discard the time entry.
You can also add/edit/remove time from the Time Cards and the Screen Snapshots screens.
Exporting the Reports
Manually Exporting the Reports
You can export a time tracking report in PDF or CSV format. Note that, some reports (i.e. Employee Cost) do not have any export option.
If you do not see the PDF/CSV export buttons, and you are a department manager, this means the DISALLOW MANAGERS TO SEE AND EXECUTE EXPORTS option is enabled under Settings > Security > Access to exported data. Please contact your admin to turn it on.
1. Click the PDF export button or the CSV export button near the Search bar at the top-right corner to export the report in those formats. You will see a message that the report is queued for export. Once the report is ready you will see a download message like below:
2. Click the message to download the report.
You can later view and download all the exported reports from the System > Report export menu.
Auto-Exporting the Reports
You can schedule a report to be delivered automatically to email address(es) on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. To set up auto-export of the report, do the following:
1. Click the Cog Wheel/Gear button to access the report’s settings window:
2. Click the DAILY EXPORT tab to change which columns will be exported.
3. You can also turn on the Enable Auto-Export feature for a scheduled delivery of the report.
4. EXPORT PERIOD will let you define how long exported data will be. Daily reports will be sent every day with single day only. Weekly reports will contain last 7 days and sent on everyday basis too.
5. You can specify the EXPORT DAYS (daily/weekly reports) or EXPORT DAY OF MONTH (monthly reports). Note that, for daily/weekly reports, auto export will happen only on the selected days of the week (Sun-Sat). For monthly reports, you can specify exact day when auto export should happen. For this type of report, it will contain data from same day (including) in previous month to export day (exclusive).
6. You can select PDF or CSV from the EXPORT FORMAT option.
7. You can specify who will receive the reports in the EXPORT TO EMAIL(S) field. You can specify multiple email recipients.
You can later view and download all the exported reports from the System > Report export menu.