When you’re in the business of optimizing ROI for companies like Hewlett Packard and the United States Postal Service, it only makes sense to have your own operations running at optimum efficiency.

Just ask Optimization Group, a marketing analytics firm that uses Web TimeSheet to track employee time, gain better visibility into projects costs, and generate more accurate project bids for its clients. It wasn’t always that easy. Before using Web TimeSheet, Optimization Group was using Excel-based timesheets and collecting them from employees by hand and e-mail.

Check out how they made the transition to Web TimeSheet, and how it’s helped the Michigan-based company.

In Web TimeSheet, you manage several types of confidential data including project pricing, client information, and payroll records. You need to control who sees this private information. Fortunately, our Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) products are specifically designed to keep your data secure. It will be safe from prying eyes while giving the appropriate amount of access to the users you select.

Here’s how it works:

Secure Browser Connections
The Web TimeSheet host server features Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocols. That means all the information sent between your computers and our host server will be encrypted. This keeps your confidential data safe from external parties.

Customizable Permissions
Every action a user can take in the Web TimeSheet system requires permission. This includes viewing or modifying data, running reports, entering time worked, creating a project, etc. You get to decide who can do what. Use our standard role-based permissions profiles to quickly assign access to each user in your organization. You can fine tune these profiles to restrict or add more capabilities if necessary.

Hierarchy Filtering
Hierarchy filtering prevents users from viewing or editing data outside their own department. A single mouse click allows you to activate this option and ensure confidential information is only accessed on a “need to know” basis.

Password Restrictions
Your overall data security is increased when you use complex passwords and change them regularly. Web TimeSheet helps you follow best practices in this area. You can decide how complex user passwords must be and when they will expire.

Idle User Session Timeout
Use our automatic timeout feature to choose how long Web TimeSheet can be left idle before the system automatically logs the user off. If a user forgets to sign out before leaving their workstation at the end of a session, the amount of time their private data is accessible to unauthorized users will be limited.

Do you have questions about additional steps you can take to increase your level of security? Ask us in the comments section. Also, remember to connect with us on Twitter and LinkedIn to keep up with our latest announcements.

We owe a huge thanks to our customers around the world today! Replicon has just been ranked #17 on the Fast Growth 50 by Alberta Venture magazine.

Hands down, the Fast Growth 50 is the premier authority on the fastest-growing companies in the region, so we’re incredibly honored and excited to be ranked so highly. This is the second time Replicon has made the list, which wouldn’t be possible without the continued support of our customers and the hard work of our teams here at Replicon.

Thanks to over 1.2 Million users in 60 different countries. Fact is, our core mission hasn’t changed much since the company’s inception 14 years ago. Our aim: to make your job easier, more efficient and more productive with easy-to-use Web TimeSheet solutions and expense-tracking software. Achievements like the Fast Growth 50 are a clear sign that these efforts are truly paying off and helping more customers across the globe. The more we can help your organization, the more our businesses can grow together. That’s the way we like it.

From everyone at Replicon, we want to thank our clients and the staff at Alberta Venture for this prestigious recognition!

How have Replicon’s products made your life easy or helped your business grow? Share your story. Comment below or connect with us on Twitter and LinkedIn. Your feedback helps make Replicon a success.

All companies strive to manage their human resources effectively, especially in today’s economy when employee populations already feel a bit lean. It is often necessary to stretch resources – to utilize their skills wherever they can make an impact – even if it means sharing employees across departments.

For managers, sharing skilled workers can present challenges. They must cooperate to schedule employees efficiently, and in a way that applies valuable skills to the company’s greatest advantage. In cases where multiple managers are vying for the same resource, scheduling can become complicated; a single resource could easily end up double or triple booked.

Visible, Real Time Collaboration

Web Schedule addresses these challenges. Similar to Google Docs (TM), it allows multiple managers to collaborate on the same schedule – each from his/her own computer – and see others’ changes in real time. With visibility into each employee’s scheduled activities, managers can avoid scheduling conflicts.

Watch this video to see how easy it is to collaborate on employee schedules with Web Schedule.

Ready to tackle your employee scheduling nightmare?  Try a free trial.  No download required – sign up and get started today!

Have a story about your scheduling challenges? Please share your story in the comment section or ask us how we can be of assistance. Get our RSS feed , connect with us on LinkedIn, follow us @Replicon on Twitter.

Replicon is proud and excited to announce that team member Jen Pearson was selected as a torch bearer for the 2010 Olympics. Jen fulfilled her flame carrying duties on January 19th and will no doubt carry the memory with her every day from now on!

It is always a thrill to have our staff members honored for their spirit of participation. We look forward to supporting each of our employees as they carry their passion and commitment into the community throughout this brand new year.

The Olympics represents many of the values that we seek to “replicate” here at Replicon. Our wonderful group exhibits a strong sense of teamwork and a belief that anything is possible. We also have a commitment to excellence. That’s why we set higher and higher goals for ourselves each year. So far, we haven’t faced a challenge we couldn’t overcome!

In closing, here are a few words from Jen:

“…let us applaud the small steps each of us take daily towards our dreams – celebrating our unique journeys as athletes, business people, mothers, brothers and friends. It is through our shared experiences that humanity is woven together.”

What exciting business or personal goals have you set for 2010? Tell us in the comments section. Keep up with our latest vision for Replicon’s future on Twitter and LinkedIn.

As your SaaS vendor, we take full responsibility for continuously upgrading all our products. We’ve just finished improving Web TimeSheet version 8.11.1 to make it even more user-friendly. Check out these new features!

Increased Employee Visibility into Time-Off Requests

As a manager, it’s no fun telling an employee he can’t take a vacation because someone else has already asked for that week off. Now, employees can collaborate in scheduling their time-off. In addition to viewing approved time-off for coworkers, Managers have the option to grant permission for team members to see requests that are still awaiting approval. That way, they have the opportunity to work out their conflicting requests and come up with a plan that satisfies everyone.

Keep Your Work Weeks Straight

Do you need to limit the number of hours employees work each week to stay in compliance with labor laws in your area? Set up a “weekly” Web Timesheet validation rule to automatically monitor hours worked. Base this on your organization’s definition of a work week for each individual’s profile. That way, if you use a monthly timesheet you don’t have to worry about employees surpassing their permitted hours.

In the past, this error might not be caught immediately. This could happen if the excess hours were worked during the final days of a partial week at the end of a month. Payroll would have to manually check timesheets to catch this problem. Now, you can set up Web TimeSheet to validate full work weeks even if they are split between two different months.

See Who Needs To Approve Timesheets Next

Several new fields are available in the Timesheet Status Details report. For example, you can now include the name of the next approver scheduled to review a timesheet. This person appears in the “Waiting Approver Name” column. You can see the previous approver(s) who have already done their job listed under the “Approver Name” column.

Check out the complete documentation on this latest version of Web TimeSheet for more.

Do you have suggestions for further improvements? We are always eager to hear your ideas. Talk to us in the comments. Track our latest developments on Twitter; network with us on LinkedIn; and sign up for a free trial.

Are you handling several projects with different milestones, deadlines and budgets?  Trying to manage all this information is confusing.   Sometimes, you may not even be completely sure how many projects are in the works concurrently (and who is supposed to be working on what).

You are probably frustrated with trying to keep track of all the details.  Without good visibility into your projects, you don’t know which ones are on schedule and which projects are woefully behind.  Even more troubling in today’s cash strapped economy, you can’t identify those projects that are creeping up on the dreaded “over budget” line.

You need a solution that dramatically increases the ease, efficiency, and accuracy of managing multiple projects.

Get Instant Relief with Project Status Reports

With the Project & Billing edition of Web TimeSheet, you have access to tools that help you manage every aspect of your company’s projects in real-time.  You are able to see at a glance where each project stands and how many estimated hours you have remaining.  You can identify and address projects and tasks that are lagging behind as well as those that need to be immediately re-evaluated to control costs.

Get everyone involved in Actuals and Estimates

Getting your team involved in acheiving on-time, on-budget project delivery is key to your success.  You can easily set-up multiple projects with estimates on timeline and cost.  As a project manager, you can assign projects and tasks to team members and start collecting actual time spent and time remaining.  Individual timesheet screens have a project progress bar to provide immediate feedback on where the project stands.  This helps team members see which projects need attention.

Everyone Benefits from Project Visibility

Keep project managers or your whole team up to speed with automated emailing of any report you select (or configure build) in Web TimeSheet.  Depending on how fast your projects are moving, you can set up this automatic distribution to occur once a month, once a week – or even every day.

Do you want to start managing your projects for success? Watch a video or take our project time tracking software for a test drive with a free trial (no downloads, immediate access).

Want to share your advice on managing projects for success? Do you have questions about how to use Web TimeSheet to keep your projects on track and under budget? Share your thoughts or ask us for advice in the comments section. And, don’t forget to stay in touch with us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

The 90-day period after you first introduce an application to your employees is critical when it comes to ensuring adoption.  Getting people to use a new time management system can be challenging.  Let’s face it – filling out timesheets is pretty boring.  Some employees get into the habit of putting off this tedious task.

When this happens, it hampers the organization’s ability to conduct business.  If you are managing a project, not having timesheets filled out promptly keeps you from effectively managing costs and forecasting accurate completion dates.  Inaccuracies in payroll due to missing time data can cause unintentional lapses in compliance and leave you open to possible litigation.  If you are billing your clients based on time data, it delays your ability to send out error-free invoices.  How do you ensure your employees get on board with using timesheet?  Here are 2 tools in Web TimeSheet that can help:

Automated Reminders

You can easily configure Web TimeSheet to send out reminders to all your employees encouraging them to complete their timesheets.  You choose the timing and frequency of these notifications.  A typical reminder email tells your employees which time period needs to be filled out and when it is due.  It also contains a clickable link to take employees directly to their timesheet.

That’s just one of the automated email notifications you can use to promote compliance.  Choose from our full range of templates and modify them specifically to meet your needs:

We also provide reporting functions which allow you to identify workers who consistently have difficulty completing their timesheets and turning them in.  That way, you can offer additional assistance to those who need it.  Use one-on-one counseling to help these employees understand how Web TimeSheet works and why adopting it will help keep your company running smoothly.

The results are in for the 2009 TechRev awards recognizing tech innovators in the Calgary area.  Now, sources ranging from the Techvibes.com blog to Alberta Venture Magazine and the local Calgary Herald are buzzing with information about the recipients of these accolades.  Although this is the first year TechRev presented this honor, competition was steep. 132 companies were under consideration – only 10 winners were chosen for special recognition.

These successful nominees include companies offering a variety of applications from biotech to collaborative hardware.  Established businesses as well as startups were represented in the lineup.  Here at Replicon, we are proud and happy to be listed among the top 10 innovators in our community.

What made our company stand out from the rest?  Products like Web TimeSheet that have been developed to put the customer’s needs first and which offer Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) for over 1.2 Million users in over 60 countries.  This Software as a Service approach uses sophisticated technology with a simple interface – offering companies quick deployment, easy adoption and low cost of entry.  It can also be seamlessly integrated with existing project management, accounting or HR/payroll software.

Do you have questions/comments?  Let us know in the comments.  Connect with us on LinkedIn and keep up with the latest innovations via our Twitter feed.

Two big thumbs up to our own Lakshmi Raj as she once again joins the ranks of the 100 most powerful women in Canada! WXN™ (Women’s Executive Network) is honoring Replicon’s cofounder as one of the top 10 female entrepreneurs of 2009.  The award is well deserved; Lakshmi Raj has been diligently building Replicon as the leading provider of time and expense Software-as-a-Service business since 1996.  The last 13 years of inspiration (and perspiration) have resulted in smashing success for this privately held company.

Lakshmi Raj has spearheaded the development and refinement of user friendly Web TimeSheet solutions with the help of two groups – the Replicon team and the company’s ever expanding customer base.   Her leadership skills have seen the business through its challenging initial years to its current place as the industry front-runner in project and time management solutions.

The hands-on approach Raj models for other woman entrepreneurs is one reason Replicon and its employees continue to thrive.   Expect to hear more great things about this Canadian “captain” of technology and her team as Replicon continues to innovate and excel.

Join us in the comments section to congratulate Lakshmi on her continued commitment to excellence! Let’s all stay connected on Twitter and LinkedIn too.  Your feedback helps make Replicon a success.