Employee productivity monitoring software ...

[thecomputerguy]

I have a client who is a bit of a pain in the butt. He purchased my original client and they retained me at the IT support ... at least for the time being.

Anyways ... as of him acquiring the company I could tell that he was going to put me to work. He knows just enough to throw out buzzwords and plop projects onto me then disappear for a couple weeks so the projects never come to fruition until our next phone call where there are new projects that never come to fruition.

Think ... "Hi thecomputerguy, we're looking to maximize out profitability and time management protocols so we would like to look into purchasing a SaaS to include in our Tech Stack".

Anyways, the latest request is to deploy employee monitoring software mainly focused around productivity to "prevent wage theft" in his words. He sent me a couple that were probably just the first links he clicked on when he googled it.

Store - Request Pricing

CurrentWare pricing. See the starting price of our employee monitoring, web filtering, and device control software.

www.currentware.com

Time Doctor | Workforce analytics for distributed teams

Time Doctor's workforce analytics solution for distributed, remote, and in-office teams offers peace of mind, accountability, and actionable insights.

www.timedoctor.com

I advised him to check with his lawyer about stuff like this because it may need to be disclosed to the employees that they are being monitored to some extent.

I personally have used teramind.co which handles just about every avenue of spying on your employees you can think of.

Productivity
Browsing Activity
Keyword alerts
Banned website alerts
Keystroke Monitoring
Daily video recordings

All of this being a cloud based management tool.

Does anyone else have any suggestions?

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Years ago...many years ago....had a law firm client (he was a jerk)....who wanted this, and we put it in. Did some digging around and found SpectorSoft. We signed up as a reseller....sold it to 2 or 3 clients over time.
This was back in...oh...I think at this law firm client, Windows Vista had just come out and I sold a few dozen new tiny form factor Opti's....and also put this software on. Stored recordings on the server back then...so had to have a lot of storage on his server for that, the usual "WP Docs" file drive, and Needles.

Since they the company has changed names...and I haven't sold/installed it in...like...over 15 close to 20 years.

Insider Risk Management & Employee Monitoring - Veriato

Veriato offers AI-based user behavior analytics (UEBA) to help organizations manage insider risk and monitor employee activity.

veriato.com

 

[Markverhyden]

For situations like this the company really needs to a written Acceptable Use Policy, aka AUP. All employees need to acknowledge reading and signing an agreement.

 

[britechguy]

Anyways, the latest request is to deploy employee monitoring software mainly focused around productivity to "prevent wage theft" in his words.

This is someone to fire as a client, as soon as is reasonably possible.

Anyone who wants to deploy employee monitoring software broadly, and without any specific purpose or incident as the reason for monitoring, is going to be nothing but trouble. ::shudder::

 

[thecomputerguy]

Years ago...many years ago....had a law firm client (he was a jerk)....who wanted this, and we put it in. Did some digging around and found SpectorSoft. We signed up as a reseller....sold it to 2 or 3 clients over time.
This was back in...oh...I think at this law firm client, Windows Vista had just come out and I sold a few dozen new tiny form factor Opti's....and also put this software on. Stored recordings on the server back then...so had to have a lot of storage on his server for that, the usual "WP Docs" file drive, and Needles.

Since they the company has changed names...and I haven't sold/installed it in...like...over 15 close to 20 years.

Insider Risk Management & Employee Monitoring - Veriato

Veriato offers AI-based user behavior analytics (UEBA) to help organizations manage insider risk and monitor employee activity.

veriato.com

HEY!

I actually used Spector soft back in the day ... about the same time ... probably 15-20 years ago! And HEY! What do you know it was also at a small Law Firm! and what else do you know! The employees were terrified of the Husband and Wife owner, and HEY! They also experienced an incredible amount of turnover.

They eventually shut the practice down, they moved and the Lawyer Husband ended up getting a government job in Law. The wife went back to doing Wife things.

 

[britechguy]

The employees were terrified of the Husband and Wife owner

Is it any surprise? I simply cannot fathom working for an employer who is using the class of software under discussion to monitor my every move. And I can say, with all honesty, that I had nothing to hide when I was "other employed."

But trust is a fundamental expectation on my end between myself and my employer. Until and unless a given employee has done something, anything, to arouse suspicion there is just no reason to have this sort of thing in place. I know if it were part of my conditions of employment, I'd decline the position. It's invasive, and where invasive is corrosive to the very trust that must be in place initially.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

HEY!

I actually used Spector soft back in the day ... about the same time ... probably 15-20 years ago! And HEY! What do you know it was also at a small Law Firm! and what else do you know! The employees were terrified of the Husband and Wife owner, and HEY! They also experienced an incredible amount of turnover.

They eventually shut the practice down, they moved and the Lawyer Husband ended up getting a government job in Law. The wife went back to doing Wife things.

The law firm client I had....he was...nationally famous. Big ego. Sometimes when I was onsite at their office doing work, I'd hear him, witness him...yelling at his employees...and I mean YELLING! One time I saw one of his female employees quickly leaving his office....running down the hall...crying hard. I totally lost respect for the guy after that. I know he paid his staff well, and their Christmas bonuses were HUGE. like...5 grand. This was over 20 years ago when I heard that.

I remember after losing respect for him when witnessing that last yelling at one of his employees....I took my time answering calls, and one call..was for one of the lawyers there having an issue with his Blackberry...I told him to just call his cell phone guy...that I couldn't help him (I didn't want to).

One good thing I got from having them for my client....I met a beautiful woman there who shortly after...started dating, and became my wife! No..she was not the one who was crying...but she did have some stories about him blasting a lot of staff...she has a thick skin though.