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February 18, 2009

New Time Clock MTS Fingerprint Scanner Tutorial Available

The release of version 2.2 of Time Clock MTS included integration with Digital Persona 4000 and 4500 fingerprint scanners. You can use these scanners to authenticate employees clocking in and out and thus elminate buddy punching and time clock fraud. There's a comprehensive page in the help file covering the use of the DP fingerprint scanners but there's nothing like a series of pictures to show you how easy it is. So, I've just built a new animated flash demo covering the use of the Digital Persona fingerprint scanners with Time Clock MTS.

Take a look at it today, it really is very simple using Time Clock MTS with the excellent Digital Persona scanners.

Posted by mnemtsas at 1:31 PM | Comments (0)

February 17, 2009

Getting your Time Clock MTS Database Back

In a previous entry I talked about emailing your Time Clock MTS database to us, perhaps for a password reset for example. In this post I'll talk about what you need to do when you get it back from us.

  1. Not long after you send us your database we'll send it back (if required). We'll send it back attached to an email just like you sent it to us. The only difference is that we will zip the file up using Winzip because a lot of email servers will block the type of file that the Time Clock MTS database is. You can see above what this email might look like. Of course this will vary depending on what email client you use. The attachment to the email is called 'timeclock.zip".
  2. The next step is to open the timeclock.zip file with a program that is capable of reading it. In this case I am opening it with Winzip, but you can open zip files with a number of programs and can even open them with Vista Explorer if you are using Windows Vista. You can see above what the contents of the file are. It contains a single file called timeclock.mdb which is the file you will have sent us.
  3. The last thing you need to do is unzip the timeclock.mdb file into the correct location. Now this location depends on your version of Windows and how you setup your version of Time Clock MTS. You should remember exactly what the file location is depending on where you found the file when you emailed us the database.
  4. Exactly how you unzip the file is dependent on what tool you are using to view the zip file. In this case using WinZip I just right clicked on the timeclock.mdb file and selected extract. This shows the screen above. I am unzipping the file to the default file location for Windows Vista which is c:\Program Data\Time Clock MTS\Database. I'll unzip the file OVER the existing file. So because of this it is worthwhile backing up the old file before you do this extraction process.

That's all there is to it! Hopefully you'll never need to send your Time Clock MTS database to us. But if you do, you should now know how to send it to us and what to do with it when you get it back.

Posted by mnemtsas at 1:22 PM | Comments (0)

Free Windows Punch Clock

You can use Time Clock MTS as a Free Windows Punch Clock system FOREVER but you'll be subject to certain limitations. To get started just download Time Clock MTS, install it, and you'll be able to trial the full commercial version of the software for 30 days free of charge. The full commericial version allows you to use any computer as a clock in/out station, you can use it with one of the advanced database compatibility options, and track attendance for up to 75 employees. If you haven't purchased the software once the 30 day trial period is up then Time Clock MTS will change to the free version.

Time Clock MTS is perfectly good free Windows punch clock software. If you are a very new business or a micro business with 3 or less employees then the free version of Time Clock MTS will still be of great benefit to you. While operating in free mode Time Clock MTS is restricted with the following limitations:

  • The Time Clock MTS database can only contain 3 active employees. If you have more than this then you will not be able to do anything but disable employees.
  • You can use one PC only to install the software on. This same PC must be used to collect all attendance information as well as configure the software and run all reports.

The free version of Time Clock MTS can be used forever given that you dont go over the three employee limit. If at any time you want to take advantage of the more advanced features of the software you can convert your free Windows Punch Clock Software to the full commercial version by just purchasing it and registering the software with the license code that we'll supply.

Posted by mnemtsas at 11:23 AM | Comments (0)

February 16, 2009

Emailing your Time Clock MTS Database

At some stage it may become necessary to email us your Time Clock MTS database. This might be to reset your administrator password or to help us get to the bottom of some sort of problem. This is a pretty simple task but it is worth providing some simple instructions leading you through the process.

  1. Locate the database. By default this file is called timeclock.mdb and is found in different locations depending on what version of Windows you are using. If you are using Windows XP or earlier then you will find the file in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Time Clock MTS\Database. If you are using Windows Vista you will find it in c:\ProgramData\TimeClockMTS\Database.Note that if you have moved the database because you are using the multi client version or for some other reason then the file will not be found here, and you or your system administrator should know where the file is.
  2. If you cannot find either of these locations using Windows Explorer then you most likely need show system files and folders.

  3. You can see above that I have located the file timeclock.mdb in Windows Explorer in the default location for Windows Vista.

  4. Now that you have found the file you need to attach it to an email and email it to us at support@timeclockmts.com. Exactly how you do this depends entirely on what email tool you use. Discussing each email client is well beyond the scope of this post so I wont go into it. However, this article looks a good place to get some tips.


  5. Once you've attached the file to your email it should look sometime like the image above (this screenshot is taken from Microsoft Outlook 2003). You can now go ahead and send the file to us!

In the next post I've cover what to do with your Time Clock MTS database once you get it back from us.

Posted by mnemtsas at 2:16 PM | Comments (0)

Time Clock MTS 2.2.1 Released

Just a minor release today that includes a few small fixes.

  1. If fingerprint verification was being used and the first enrolled fingerprint was used to clock in or out the message 'not verified' was displayed in error when scanned correctly. This is now fixed.
  2. Fixed up window sizing of the employee list screen when the maximize window button was clicked.
  3. Reports exported to TAB delimited files are now with a .txt extension rather than a .csv extension.
  4. Possible fix to rare occasion where enrolled fingerprints were not saved correctly.

Posted by mnemtsas at 2:02 PM | Comments (0)

February 14, 2009

Setting up Employee PIN's or Passwords

I've just posted a new flash tutorial taking you through the process of setting up Time Clock MTS to use employee PIN's. To be able to view the tutorial your browser must be able to display flash animations. Why not take a look at the Enabling Employee PIN's tutorial now!

Posted by mnemtsas at 6:20 AM | Comments (0)

February 5, 2009

Time Clock MTS 2.2.0 Released

A new version released today. One small fix to stop a constant slow down of the software over time and one major new feature. The major new feature is the integration of Time Clock MTS with a Fingerprint Scanner. This is the last word in employee security and along with the other security features in Time Clock MTS should help you to eliminate buddy punching and payroll fraud completely.

The software will only work with the Digital Persona U.are.U 4000 and 4500 fingerprint scanners. Currently I am not selling the hardware but Digital Persona recommended I use California PC as a supplier for the scanners. The price they offer is good and they should provide you with good after sales service. To get the software running with a Digital Persona scanner try taking a look at the using Time Clock MTS with a fingerprint scanner help topic.

As always please email me if you have any questions or problems.

Posted by mnemtsas at 7:02 AM | Comments (0)

February 4, 2009

Time Clock MTS goes Biometric!

Within the next few hours version 2.2 of Time Clock MTS will be released. The key feature in this new version is integration with Digital Persona fingerprint scanners that you can purchase from California PC. By using a fingerprint scanner with Time Clock MTS you'll pretty much eliminate payroll fraud and buddy punching. I bet that most companies will recoup the cost of the software and scanners in just a few weeks, with the ROI over a year likely to be in the hundreds of percent.

If you want to read more about Time Clock MTS will work with a fingerprint scanner then there's that page on the main site. Stay tuned, new release due out shortly!

Posted by mnemtsas at 4:22 PM | Comments (0)