High-tech Time Monitoring

The time tracking program runs on Wi-Fi and is hosted on the cloud — meaning the system can operate and be accessed from virtually any location. The primary benefit of installing the timekeeping software, according to Gaudy, is that the program has allowed Interstate to monitor employee attendance records in real-time.

As a janitorial and maintenance firm with thousands of employees working in hundreds of dispersed locations across the country, having the ability to collect attendance information from any site has translated into real savings, says Gaudy.

“Labor is about 70 percent of our jobs,” Gaudy says. “We can go into the system and see who was working at a particular location. It gave us more relevant data, in real-time.”

Interstate services large commercial properties, such as shopping and lifestyle centers, upscale specialty office buildings, national department stores and large-scale grocery chains. The sheer size of many of these facilities, in addition to their high-traffic nature, means that more than 10 janitors can be on site at any given time, especially at porter locations.

During busy shopping seasons, such as during the Christmas holiday, those numbers can easily double. If a janitor shows up late or not at all, the brunt of the work falls to his colleagues, which can slow the cleaning process and add labor hours. With timekeeping software, Interstate can immediately identify if a worker is on time, late or a no-show, as well as ensure that the site is properly staffed.

The software offers the company a digital red flag — usually long before a client has a chance to complain.

“If a client were to call us and we only have two people in the store we can immediately go online through the web-based program and tell them where that person is,” Gaudy says. “We can see, ‘Did they forget to clock in? Are they sick? Are they on their way?’ It’s been very helpful to us.”