Are you a new business looking to implement employee monitoring software into your business? I know it can be a daunting task, but today I am here to make your life easier by giving you our top picks for the best employee monitoring software and more.
Let's begin!
What Is Employee Monitoring?
Businesses implement employee monitoring, a method of tracking and logging employee activity, for a number of reasons, including helping cut down on costs, getting rid of inefficient employees, incentivizing and rewarding dedicated employees, and increasing employee participation.
Recently, employee monitoring has become much more efficient and streamlined. They enable businesses to improve individual employee performance, increase participation and involvement, and eliminate the need for micromanagement.
By observing and evaluating employee working patterns, businesses can boost their staff productivity and profitability. This strategy is based on the data collected from the logging of employee activity during work time.
This includes device usage, idle time, GPS, etc. Employee monitoring provides businesses with a clear overview of how they work both inside and outside the workplace, which serves as crucial insight.
What Does Employee Monitoring Offer?
Employee monitoring offers the following improvements:
1. Increases Productivity
It is a well-known fact that employees are more willing to put in additional effort when they believe their employer values, appreciates, respects them, and acknowledges the significance of the work they do.
Because of this, the whole organization receives the advantages of improved productivity that comes as a direct outcome of higher employee output.
The final product of the company is a reflection of employees as well. It is possible to provide outstanding customer service with the right combination of effective working management and dedicated employees, regardless of your business.
2. Reduces Costs
The expenditure associated with onboarding employees is one of the many instances of costs associated with managing operations. Usually, businesses are required to spend and invest a lot of money and resources into employee acquisitions and their management.
So having effective employee monitoring options will allow you to save costs by removing incompetent workers and rewarding competent ones, increasing productivity exponentially.
Based on the size of the business, the recruitment and selection campaigns can be a lengthy and expensive venture. This can turn out to be even more expensive in the case of instances with high employee turnover rates.
3. Balances the Workforce
Just because a job is high-salaried doesn't make it highly sought after. Most of the time, what employees and applicants want is to work in an environment where they are respected and paid sufficiently.
All employees crave and strive to achieve a balance. This balance means reaching that sweet spot where the amount of work they do and the salaries they receive are worth the effort so that they get to enjoy their personal lives.
Employee monitoring ensures that employees hit that perfect work-life balance and are satisfied.
What Does Employee Monitoring Software Do?
Employee monitoring software helps in the following aspects:
1. Internet Usage Tracking
The use of the internet is a must in any business or company. Starting from research to marketing and communicating, you cannot avoid using it. However, that being said, the internet can also be a big distraction.
Often it is seen that employees get distracted by using social media and other sources of entertainment on the internet.
2. Email Tracking
Monitoring and tracking emails give employers insight. It provides them with behavioral data of both employees and customers.
This can later be used to improve customer service and train employees on what to do in specific cases. Moreover, it is an excellent asset for marketing and branding teams.
2. Application Monitoring
Some employee monitoring platforms enable employers to track employees' use of computer and mobile applications, much like they can with their internet usage.
Comprehensive reports are generated from the gathered information, showing, for example, the percentage of time spent actively working, the percentage of time spent inactively by using pc, programs used, and idle time.
3. Keylogging
Keylogging, also known as keystroke logging, is a method that keeps track of every button an employee presses on their keyboard. Such applications also have the capability to take snapshots in response to the occurrence of specific phrases.
While keylogging may seem like a great idea, it has several serious downsides. Others regard this as an invasion of their personal space in employment.
It has a well-deserved reputation for being employed maliciously. As a result of the privacy considerations it poses, keylogging is not included in modern employee monitoring solutions.
4. Call Recording
Recording calls and phone activity is a crucial part of the monitoring process. Excessive phone usage may be a sign of unproductive employees.
Moreover, recording calls and logging them helps improve customer service because almost all instances of interaction with customers can provide insights into customer and employee behavior.
5. Location Monitoring
The usage of a work vehicle can be tracked by GPS whenever the vehicle is on the road. Tracking cars could be useful for distribution, transportation, and mailing services because it would allow businesses to choose effective routes.
It's helpful in verifying that packages have been sent, tracking lost items, and keeping everyone secure.
Best Employee Monitoring Software overall
Here are the 10 best employee monitoring software for businesses.
1. ActivTrak
ActivTrak software is a cloud-based system that companies can use to increase their working potential.
Features
- It is an HR analytics software.
- It can handle large datasets.
- It is a data visualization software.
- It provides predictive analytics.
ActivTrak analyzes the working structure of the employees and provides predictive insights that can help the admin panel understand their workers more accurately.
Its high efficiency of analytical perspective can build trust and create a stronger bond between employees and the management teams.
It can analyze an employee's working nature, working efficiency, the capacity of workload, productivity, and focus on work. It is undoubtedly one of the best monitoring software for its low pricing and user-friendly interface.
ActivTrak has an analytical team that takes data from all of its users and makes changes accordingly to get a better version of it.
ActivTrak Productivity lab, which is a global center consisting of researchers and experts, always relies on users' and customers' overviews for their improvement.
Reasons for choosing this software
- This software can monitor idle time.
- It exports and associates data into Excel.
- It helps to organize meeting schedules.
- It can record screen activity on a pc..
Things to consider
- There is no live broadcasting feature on employees’ screens.
- Sometimes users find the interface a little bit complex to use.
2. Backlsh
To get the best result of working activity on any desktop, Backlsh ensures the best result of it. Backlsh can track the time of active hours on a desktop very accurately, and also it is very helpful for project management.
Features
- It can track time in offline mode.
- It provides billable and nonbillable reports based on the job.
- It can automatically capture time.
- It creates a database of employees’ information.
Backlsh has the ability to monitor how employees are using their working hours on desktops and improve workflow collectively. Its automated technique of taking screenshots and recording the mouse and keyboard activity is a unique feature that helps the admin panel understand more about their employees.
Advantages of using it
- It costs less.
- It provides a free trial option.
- It arranges tasks in an organized way.
Things to consider
- It is not available on Mac.
- Interfaces can be difficult to understand.
- It has a few integrations with third parties.
- There is no option for highlighting the reminder feature.
- Customer support is less responsive.
3. DeskTime
DeskTime is a monitoring software that can work on pc and mobile for real-time activity tracking for any organization. DeskTime makes it easier to monitor employees’ productivity levels and performance.
Features
- It can automatically capture time.
- It can analyze productivity.
- It calculates overtime pay.
- It can track offline time activities.
- It monitors idle time.
- It can generate automatic reminders.
- It works in both online and offline modes.
DeskTime is a fully automated, real-time tracking software that significantly affects employees' productivity by increasing 30% of their working ability. DeskTime keeps a record of the working process of the employee and tracks the working time of a project.
Using this software, the admin can see how much time an employee gives online or offline. It can also provide general reports for in-house activities and can plan a vacation period for employees.
It also helps to calculate the overtime payment and can keep data of employees in a single store.
DeskTime can keep up to date with both managers and employees by providing necessary data about who is doing what and, in total, the team's overall performance. This software is very useful for companies with remote and hybrid working employees.
Reasons for choosing it
- It is effective for midsize and small businesses.
- It can keep records of browsing webs and programs.
- It helps to increase productivity on a project.
Things to consider
- The updated version’s interface is not user-friendly.
- It can have a negative impact on employees as it tracks their every move while they are working online or offline.
4. Hubstaff
Hubstaff can fight inefficiency and accurately give results on productivity with streamlined tracking of time.
Features
- It is reliable for workforce management.
- It has an attendance tracking system.
- It has a real-time monitoring system.
- It offers payroll management services.
- It has a GPS tracking system.
- It provides professional service automation.
- It has online punch card services.
Hubstaff is, comparatively, the best monitoring software with its unique features and productivity management system. Hubstaff can keep track of time management and productivity of employees by simply using a desktop, web, or mobile app.
This software is accessible by 30 apps that make the business run more efficiently.
Features like taking screenshots, real-time tracking, URL and app tracking, automatic payroll management, scheduling, GPS and location tracking, and timesheet management make this software more reliable for the administration of a company.
Hubstaff also can create invoices, reports, and more through a single dashboard.
A growing business can have a practical impact by using Hubstaff. More than 40,000 remote workplace and field service organizations like e-comm, software, and startup companies are using Hubstaff to maximize productivity.
Reasons behind choosing it
- It reduces pressure on admin workers.
- It has PC, Mac, and Mobile app versions.
- It provides remote support to customers and employees.
- It can arrange tasks based on their importance.
Things to consider
- It sets a default productivity measure which sometimes creates pressure on employees’ mindsets.
- It provides limited payroll options.
- There is no option for manually setting up the working structure for the employees.
5. Insightful
Insightful is one of the best options for businesses that wish to automate the process of reporting, recording, and analyzing productivity.
Features
- It provides client invoicing.
- It can create timesheet management.
- It has collaboration tools for sharing files.
- It has a biometric recognition system.
- It can track task timing.
- It creates a task report of an employee for the admin panel.
Insightful is a cloud-based software and is also available on-premise. Users can get enterprise-grade security and protection for data. Companies of any size, small or large, can rely on this software’s performance to get the best result from their employees’ productivity.
Insightful software can show a good insight into employees’ productivity, working nature, working process, and efficiency to the admin panel of a company. It has more than 1000 global users that rely on this software's efficiency.
Insightful has an analytical workforce that provides insight into the optimization of employees’ performance and productivity through deep behavioral data. This software creates a more efficient workflow to follow and helps to balance the workload for effective changes in a job.
It is usually best to have the present-time data so that the remote team can instantly make effective changes to get the best output of work.
Advantages of this software
- It works on desktops.
- It provides insights into the real-time data of an employee.
- It has an online user support team which is very responsive.
Things to consider
- Users from the admin panel find it difficult to flag work based on productivity and unproductivity.
- Someone could find the interface somewhat difficult to use in the beginning.
6. Kickidler
The new generation solution of user activity and employee monitoring can get through Kickidler.
Features
- It can monitor computers online.
- It can record employees’ activities.
- It can playback employees’ activity history.
- It can analyze work efficiency.
- It tracks time and provides information security.
Kickidler is a very effective monitoring software for automatically controlling employees and information security. For increasing business efficiency, Kickidler is the best.
For any kind of small or large company, Kickidler can work effectively. Additionally, Kickidler is very useful for communication optimization and monitoring remote workers.
Reasons for using it
- It has an easy installation process.
- It is very useful from a security perspective.
- It is helpful from a transparency perspective.
- It gives users a free trial option.
Things to consider
- It does not have a mobile app.
- It does not have live-screen viewing.
- The user needs a static IP for this software.
7. SoftActivity Monitor
SoftActivity is a kind of monitoring software that can monitor real-time activities.
Features
- It has an employee email monitoring system.
- It provides server monitoring.
- It has a virtual machine monitoring system.
- It has a free trial version.
- It can keep all the activity tracking of a company.
- It is easy to set up.
- It provides a high-security system for a company.
SoftActivity Monitor allows monitoring and recording remotely. It can record employees’ all types of online activity. It can record employees’ communications activities and real-time activities as well. For later view, it records everything in the Central Log Database.
Reasons behind choosing it
- It has a free trial version.
- It is cloud-based.
- It works on PCs.
- It provides customer support 24/7.
- It offers a per-feature price model.
Things to consider
- It does not have a user-friendly interface.
- It does not provide all features in the free trial version.
- It can not manage inventory.
- It does not provide any performance reviews of employees.
- This software accounts for management issues.
8. Teramind
Teramind is a cloud-based monitoring software that can be securely deployed and remotely used. This software can reduce data loss and monitor the activities of employees.
Features
- It provides employee email monitoring services.
- It can give real-time alerts.
- It has IT asset management.
- It can track idle monitoring time.
- It can record screen activity.
- Deployment management services.
Users can get a user-centric security option that monitors employees’ digital activities from Teramind monitoring software. Teramind systematically arranges employees’ data to ensure a secure environment for work.
It prevents suspicious activities, improves productivity, monitors employees’ work efficiency, and sets secure industrial compliance.
Teramind has features of giving alerts, notifications, redirects, warnings, and user lock-outs that can protect a company from all threats and make the company securely run all the way.
Teramind can automatically take action against all threats and ensure security for the company.
Teramind can significantly put tremendous effort into efficiently and effectively running a business. The installation process of this software is easy, and without informing the employees about monitoring their activity, it can work reliably.
Reasons behind choosing it
- It has a free trial version.
- It can be installed on PC, Mac, and Mobile.
- It is enriched with features.
- It can accurately track the times and activities of an employee.
- It provides customer support 24/7.
Things to consider
- The price of this software is high.
- The installation process is a bit complex.
- The trial version does not give users a genuine and realistic experience.
9. Time Champ
To unlock the potential of productivity, business owners can rely on Time Champ for its great effectiveness. It can boost the productivity level to 20%-30% through its rich features.
Features
- It has a keystroke recording system.
- It can monitor employee activity.
- It has a screen recording system.
- It can keep track of browsing history.
- It can analyze productivity based on some statistical data.
- It monitors idle time.
- It can keep track of work completion.
Time Champ is not only a time tracker but also software for ensuring productivity levels based on employees’ working nature.
It can show the employees’ productivity level, working behaviour, and performance in a single screen by which the administrative team can easily find out the least and the best employee of their team.
Reasons behind using it
- It has a free trial.
- It has a free version.
- It ensures customer support 24/7.
- It can be used in Windows, Linux, and Mac operating systems.
- It is a cloud-based software.
Things to consider
- It does not have a mobile version.
- It can not keep live-tracking activities such as meeting activities.
- It needs to update regularly; otherwise, some functions may not work.
10. Traqq
Traqq monitoring software helps to gain accountability. If the tracker is offline mode and you need to edit or add the recording time, then Traqq can help you add or edit it manually.
Features
- It has different operating system versions for PC and Mac.
- It can remotely configure actions and operation of hardware.
- It has an offline mode.
- It can keep a time record of working on a job.
- It gives weekly statistical reports for balancing productivity.
- It has policy compliance management.
Traqq can give you a statistical report on a weekly basis that can help the user to track the productivity level. Traqq can take screenshots and can record them in the background. For working from outside computers, this feature is really helpful.
By using Traqq, users can monitor web and app usage in a better way that helps to understand the employee’s working actions. Traqq helps the organization to work more efficiently and transparently, improving the work efficiency of employees.
This is one of the best software for HRM teams to monitor their employees in a more transparent and effective way that helps their organization make effective changes.
Traqq is very helpful for working with freelancers as long as its transparency and analytical workforce are well maintained with its performance.
The reason behind choosing it
- It reviews data on an employee's productivity and gives a report on that basis.
- It has a free trial.
- It has a free version.
- It can capture real-time screen activity.
- It creates an interaction between users and parties by providing bills and invoices.
Things to consider
- It does not have a mobile version.
- It does not work on Linux operating systems.
To Conclude
I suggest that now that you have a better understanding of what to acquire, you experiment with a few different options to find the one that works best for your company before shelling out the cash for the full version. It could take a while, but you'll find something that fits like a glove.
