FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – BRANDON, FL – Simple and economical tracking of field labor activity is a major accomplishment for any construction company. To most efficiently track time, a company needs an automated system to record when an employee signs in and out, and what exactly the employee was doing in the interim. ACS Connect™, a provider of construction software solutions, has created a neat and efficient system for tracking time on the field: Resource Commander’s ID Card Time Clock.

The problem of automated time tracking has been tackled in various ways. One system has a laborer carry a key ring which contains small data cards, one for each job cost code. This, however, requires an employee to flip through the numerous cost code fobs on the key ring; seconds tick by as he looks for that one fob to correspond with the specific task he’s been assigned to do. Those seconds add up fast.

Resource Commander includes a large number of cost codes in the time tracking system while at the same time eliminating the spastic searching through key fobs. The software system is entirely automated: When an employee walks onto the job site, he swipes a single ID card through a scanner; inside the system, Resource Commander sorts through cost codes already assigned to the employee’s ID by the foreman or supervisor, and matches a specific code to the date, time, and job site. The time and attendance information is then sent to the main computer to be approved for upload to the accounting system. This all takes place before the employee can even put away his ID card. The system itself does the majority of the work; project managers and job site administrators do what’s left.

Not only is the ID Card Time Clock efficient and easy for field laborers to use, but the project managers and administrators who most frequently interact with the system also find it perfect for the field. Administrators interact with the ID Card TimeClock via the administrator screen. On the screen, administrators can view the most recent entries as they appear, edit employee or equipment IDs, and order ID cards to be printed for ad hoc field laborers. ID cards are printed with basic employee information and a picture, a return-to address, and either a barcode or magnetic strip.

The card reader itself is a simple keyboard analogue or wedge that reads the barcodes or magnetic strips: a hand-held scanning device and a wireless receiver attached to a laptop. The activity information is sent directly from the handheld device to the laptop computer, and from the laptop to the home office computer database.

About ACS Connect

Since 1986, ACS Connect has provided solutions for organizations dedicated to streamlining cash flow and building profits. Using an array of products and services, ACS Connect serves some of the fastest growing and most successful companies in the industry. The unique “Listen, learn, change” methodology allows the company’s solutions to be carefully crafted to focus on specific needs and deliver the required outcomes.

ACS Connect and Resource Commander are trademarks of Associated Computer Systems, Inc.