Web-Based Time & Attendance Solution From UniFocus
SEPTEMBER 13, 2007. UniFocus, the most comprehensive performance management company in the hospitality industry, now offers the latest technology in an easy-to-use Web-based Workforce Time and Attendance Solution developed with its partner, Orlando-based ITCS. Watson Time and AttendanceTM enables hoteliers to collect and analyze real-time labor data for salary and hourly personnel online.
"UniFocus is pleased to add its new Time and Attendance System to its growing portfolio of industry leading labor-management solutions for the hospitality industry," said Mark Heymann, UniFocus CEO. "With this fully web-based tool, hotels managers can control and schedule their workforce from any location. A computer and Internet connection is all that is needed for managers to standardize and automate their attendance processing and streamline administration tasks."
Watson Time and AttendanceTM enables managers and administrators to identify overtime situations, correct any mis-punches or errors quickly, and allocate time to tasks for job costing and different work allocation.
"Coupled with our Watson Labor Scheduling Module, Managers can create group schedules or individual employee schedules with the touch of a button," Heymann said. "They can run reports for absenteeism, see who is late or left early, and-in conjunction with the time-off features-see who has been approved for time off so that scheduling is truly automatic. In addition, employees can view their schedules at a click of a link on the browser, or see if they have been approved for time off as requested.
"With Watson Time and AttendanceTM, UniFocus continues to offer the most advanced labor-management tools available from a single source, helping hoteliers to increase profits, improve service quality and produce more accurate reports," he said. "We are delighted to grow our business with ITCS, and, as a scalable solution, Watson Time and AttendanceTM can grow as quickly as our customers' business' needs grow."
Web-based T&A here to stay
William Flanagan, president of ITCS, said he is delighted that UniFocus is the company bringing Watson Time and AttendanceTM to the hospitality market. The tool was originally built in 1996 as a software solution, but in 2004 it was launched as a Web-based product.
"In 2004 there was a lot of skepticism surrounding a web-based time-and-attendance product, but today the search engines and our sales invoices reflect that there's a real demand for it," Flanagan said. "Consumers are realizing that they don't need spreadsheets and big punch-card systems to collect and secure reliable labor information. The web-based solution - which we anticipate will soon make PC-based legacy systems obsolete - enables hotels with multiple properties to manage time centrally and cost-effectively in real time around the world."
Flanagan explained that by users outsourcing the T&A function and moving time-and-attendance information to a secure data center operation offsite, it alleviates infrastructure costs that in-house solutions bring. Watson Time and AttendanceTM, an extremely affordable solution, integrates with biometric, badge-reader and traditional systems. Now companies that still use manual solutions can have access to labor information anytime and from any location.
"Labor is the single largest controllable expense for hotels, and for the past 25 years UniFocus has been helping hotels better manage labor costs while delivering the right staffing level for the right amount of service at the right time," Heymann said. "We have created several proven labor-management solutions under the Watson R.M.TM family of products, including Business Forecasting, Labor Scheduling to standards, budgeting and financial tools in addition to our guest, meeting and employee satisfaction surveys, and consulting / business re-engineering services that today are in high demand.
"We anticipate Watson Time and AttendanceTM will be in as high of demand as our other industry solutions, considering it is a very cost effective system that, as with our other technologies, will always be supported," he added. "With the additional contribution of Watson Event Labor TM (the only Banquets and Events automated labor scheduling system on the market today) our Watson, R.M.TM Labor Management System will continue to be the industry's leading solution for hotel, casino, resort and other service operations."
For more information on Watson Time and Attendance, visit www.unifocus.com or call (972) 512-5100.
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