Common Qlockwork Questions
I was just writing this out for a prospective customer. Made sense to post it here too.
How does Qlockwork work?
-Qlockwork comes in 2 parts: an application that runs all the time (see the Qlockwork icon in the system tray) and an addin to view your data in Outlook. This means that Qlockwork always records your activities even if Outlook isn’t running.
-The desktop application monitors what application you are currently working on (is in the foreground and you are typing into or clicking on). If you are moving between multiple windows/applications on your desktop then for each tracking period (2,5,6 or 10 minutes as selected) Qlockwork will decide which application you’ve used the most and track your time against that.
-Qlockwork only tracks your time if you are using your PC. If you are away from your desk and not using the mouse and keyboard it will not track your time.
So shouldn’t I always track at 2 minute intervals as that will be more accurate?
-It depends how you work. 2 minute intervals work well if you constantly switch between applications and spend very little time just sitting and thinking. We tend to find that 5 minutes (the default) is ideal for work where you may write for a bit, then spend a while thinking, then write again. For example, when writing or reading documents, composing spreadsheets or using something like autocad.
-We have customers who use all the different time intervals, they just choose what works best for them.
Does it track any application?
-Basically yes. Almost all applications interact with the Windows operating system in the same (standard) way. Qlockwork then talks to the operating system directly to find out what you are doing.
-Usually about once a year one application (usually Google Chrome) changes how it works and we need to roll out a patch to Qlockwork to keep working with that application. That patch is then freely available to all Qlockwork users.
What about new versions of Windows?
•Qlockwork has been available since 2006 and we have released new versions to handle every new Windows release since then (Windows Vista/7/8/8.1) and Office (2007,2010,2013) these releases have been freely available to existing customers. Fortunately, Microsoft are usually careful not to break existing applications when they release a new OS so generally only very minor fixes are required for a new OS.
Will Qlockwork record activities on phones or Apple products?
•Unfortunately not, it will only record on Window Oses
Can you tell Qlockwork not to record?
•Yes, Qlockwork is not an employee monitoring tool and employees can turn it off if they want to, they can also exclude certain activities from their reports or they can instruct Qlockwork to only record during normal work hours. Doing this will leave an obvious untracked hole in their day, but it does mean you are not recording them against their will.
Does Qlockwork record meetings as well as activities?
•Yes, Qlockwork reports contain meetings as well as activities
What if I attend a meeting but while it’s going on I work on another project or browse the web?
•You can instruct Qlockwork to report your time as spent in the meeting and ignore the activity or vice versa or a combination of the two
Does my IT department need to get involved?
•No, Qlockwork is designed to require no involvement from your IT department. Everything happens on the desktops of the users and syncs with your existing Exchange server automatically. All you have to do is install Qlockwork on each desktop.
Where is the data stored and backed up?
•The data is all stored in a new calendar on your Exchange server. As long as your Exchange server is fully backed up the data should all be backed up.
Is the activity data secure?
The data never leaves your systems.
Please hit the Recommend button below if you found this article interesting or helpful, so that others might be more likely to find it.
Please check out Qlockwork Automated Time Tracking for Outlook and Windows to explore image metadata, and you’re very welcome to follow @qlockwork on Twitter.
