Is it Time to Expand Your Solution with Timekeeping Systems?

If this is a question your software company hasn’t asked itself recently, now is the time to take another look. Offering time clock systems is an untapped opportunity to better serve your customers and grow your revenue.  

At ATS, we help our partners easily start selling employee time clocks once they decide to offer them. From integration to deployment, our ATS team has you covered.  

Here, we share the signs indicating the time is ripe for your company to offer a time clock system, and some signs that your customers and prospects want you to.

Top 3 Signs You Should Add a Timekeeping System to Your Solution

If you recognize any of these signs at your company, it might be time to add a time clock system to your portfolio. 

Sign #1: Your Software Demands a Reliable Time Keeping System  

As you continually enhance your software suite, reliable hardware becomes crucial to maximize its value. A robust timekeeping system, including a terminal, is essential to track employee time accurately. The clock serves as the gateway for the attendance data to reach your software.  

By offering time clocks alongside your solution, you: 

• Ensure data quality: The effectiveness of your payroll or time and attendance system hinges on accurate attendance data from your payroll and timekeeping system. 

• Remove barriers: Customers that are still using inefficient, manual time tracking methods limits your software's benefits. Help them get the most from your system by automating collection of their employee work hours. You can do this by adding a biometric time clock, or an automated time keeping system that works seamlessly with your software.  

• Control your ecosystem: Pre-selecting compatible time clocks simplifies your support load. It limits the presence of unknown devices and software into your environment. Working at scale with the same time clock systems helps you optimize your solution's capabilities and increases customer ROI.  

• Protect your reputation: Vetting time clocks for your customers helps you influence their choice.  If a customer makes a poor hardware choice, it can negatively impact their perception of your entire system. 

Safeguard your customers' success and your relationship with them. By offering a time clock that is already integrated into your time and attendance software company's system, you can influence the hardware component selection. 

Sign #2 Your Timekeeping Software is Primed to Expand 

Is your business attracting larger organizations with more complex labor management and scheduling needs? Perhaps your organization is thinking about breaking into the small businesses market? Either way, you’ll need to start scaling your systems. 

Integrating a flexible, user-friendly time clock system into your portfolio is a natural step.  Working with a vendor who has many different clocks, and a complete timekeeping system can help your company: 

• Broaden your market range: The partner should have a variety of different time clocks to let you customize solutions for your customers. 

• Simplify Scaling: The time clock system has advanced technologies and tools to make scaling easier. These tools enable you to reduce costs and minimize support time as your customer base grows.  

• Enhance visibility: Integration between your system and timekeeping software can often be opaque. The timekeeping system should include tools that provide real time oversight into time clock and data flow status, as does AccuCloud, our cloud-based time collection system. 

• Simplify operations: Selling time clocks shouldn’t complicate your operations. The vendor should be able to handle all the provisioning, from building the clock to delivering to your customers. 

Integrating your solution with a high-value timekeeping system positions your company to serve a wider market more effectively without increasing complexity or costs. 

Sign #3: Your Customers and Prospects are Looking for a More Integrated Solution 

Are your customers and potential clients showing interest in a vendor that provides a full workforce management or time attendance system? 

If so, it's time to expand your offerings. Adding a timekeeping system to your portfolio addresses this need by: 

• Providing a true end-to-end solution: Without automating the collection of employee hours via a time clock, your customers aren’t running a fully automated solution. 

• Ensure reliability: It’s easier to support the integration built for your solution and the clocks your company sells, than creating and supporting new integrations for devices from various vendors.  

• Simplifying support: Eliminate the cost and customer’s frustration of dealing with multiple vendors and fragmented help desks. 

• Building trust: Position your company as a one-stop solution provider, capable of meeting all their time and attendance needs. 

By offering an integrated timekeeping system, you meet evolving customer demands and strengthen your position as a trusted, full-service partner. 

How to Know if Your Prospects are Ready for an Automated Timekeeping System 

The presence of any of these indicators suggest your prospects would benefit from an integrated timekeeping solution: 

• Reliance on Manual Processes: If prospects are still using manual time tracking or spreadsheets, they're experiencing inaccuracies and inefficiencies. This hinders their ability to fully leverage your workforce management solution and manage overtime effectively. 

• Dependence on Mobile Devices for Timekeeping: Mobile apps for tracking time spent at work are unreliable and introduce security risks. It may also raise HR and legal concerns about privacy and personal device usage for work purposes.  

• Frustration with Multiple Vendors: Prospects expressing a desire for streamlined operations and integrated support are prime candidates for a comprehensive solution. They want to avoid the hassle of coordinating between multiple support teams and integration partners. 

By offering an automated timekeeping system that addresses these pain points, you can provide a more robust, reliable, and user-friendly solution that enhances the overall value of your workforce management offerings. 

What to Look for in a Time Clock Vendor  

When selecting a time clock vendor, it's critical to choose a partner whose products and support align with your attendance management system's quality and reputation. Consider these factors to ensure you're offering the best solution to your customers: 

1. Provisioning 

Handling time clocks takes time, money, and experience in managing hardware inventory. An experienced clock vendor already has the hardware inventory management process down to a science.

There’s no reason the software vendor should have to bear the costs and resources needed to store, configure, and ship out time clocks.  

2. Seamless Integration with Your Software 

Select a vendor whose timekeeping systems and time tracking software integrate effortlessly with your workforce management software. The integration should be two-way, easy to set up, and adaptable to evolving solutions. Having a reliable data flow enhances analytical capabilities and automates processes across departments. The more data your solution can share between the time clock and the workforce management systems, the stronger role your solution plays in your customers’ success. 

Look for flexible integration options. ATS time clock data can integrate with your system through flat files or web services, to make integration easy for businesses with different levels of technology. 

For our partners who prefer attendance software to operate on the cloud – our AccuCloud monitoring portal gives direct visibility into the data integration status of each time clock in a deployment.  

3. Durability

Choose a vendor with a track record of producing durable time clocks to ensure long-term customer satisfaction and cost-effectiveness. High-quality time clocks can last up to a decade, reducing replacement costs and business disruptions.  

Ask vendors about the average lifespan of their devices and ensure they offer a range of models to suit different work environments, including biometric time clocks and ruggedized versions for tough industrial settings. 

Low quality time clocks get more expensive every time they need to get replaced. If your customers are buying the low-quality clock from you, they’re going to wonder why you aren’t offering them a more durable option.

Look for vendors offering a range of models, including ruggedized versions designed to withstand harsh environments like construction sites or manufacturing floors. 

4. In-House Manufacturing and Support for the Timekeeping System

All ATS time clocks are manufactured in the United States with the highest quality materials and by skilled employees. Our customer service support team is also in-house and located in the United States. 

Any questions that pop up about hardware and functionality can be swiftly answered by our team. Our in-house customer care continues to be a key reason why our partners choose to stay around for years.  With a vendor with these in-house capabilities, you're ensuring a higher level of reliability and support for you and your customers. 

You Should Be Selling Timekeeping Systems  

If you're looking to scale your business and quickly enhance your market offerings, integrating time clocks into your solution is a strategic move. This expansion augments the value of your entire solution and positions you to offer a comprehensive solution that meets evolving customer needs. 

By partnering with a vendor who handles provisioning, you can effortlessly incorporate timekeeping hardware into your business model, while maximizing your profits from this new revenue stream.  

Ready to revamp your business model and unlock new growth opportunities? The best way to go to market quickly with a high added value service to your workforce management suite is to offer a timekeeping system, including the hardware. 

Schedule a call with a time clock expert to explore how this integration can transform your offerings and drive your business forward.