Version 3.2.2 Released

As I write this entry Time Clock MTS Version 3.2.2 is being uploaded to our web-servers. This minor release includes some fixes to the employee image capturing features of the software, a fix to some MySQL database creation code, and a fix to a problem that a recent Windows update caused in many programs (not just Time Clock MTS). Details of the fixes are below:

  • In cases where there was latency in database writes (especially when using SQL Server or MySQL) captured employee images could sometimes become mis-matched with the times they were associated with. This has now been resolved.
  • One user was reporting a case where the image capture directory could not be opened to view captured images. I’ve put in some extra logging to try to work out why this is happening.
  • An error was thrown by anyone upgrading to V3 of the software if they were using the MySQL backend. This has now been fixed.
  • Referenced the backwards compatible ADO type library rather than the ADO 2.5 type library. This is because our main build machine is now a Windows 7 x64 machine with SP1. This problem is documented in this Microsoft KB Article.

With direct reference to the last point this is a failing with Service Pack 1 of Windows 7 rather than anything to do with Time Clock MTS. If you install and run our software and receive the error “Error 430 : Class does not support Automation or does not support expected interface” please get in contact with us as soon as possible so we can get to the bottom of the problem.

Free Timesheet Templates

We’ve just posted up a new page containing 6 timesheet templates that are free to download and use by anyone. These free timesheet templates can be used to record 2 weeks worth of timesheet information for one employee and could then be printed out to give to a supervisor or your payroll department. Alternatively they could be attached to an email and sent that way. Right now we’ve posted up Microsoft Excel Timesheet Templates, Microsoft Word Timesheet Templates, a PDF Timesheet Template, and an Open Document Text Timesheet Template. If you’d like to see any more free timesheet templates in other formats please contact us and let us know.

We hope that these simple timesheet templates will be of some use, but you should be aware that manual timesheets like these are not an ideal time and attendance tracking system for any business. They are inefficient, prone to inaccuracy, and often lead to timesheet fraud. Time Clock MTS is a far superior system that allows any Windows based PC in your company to be used to track your employee’s attendance. It’s simple to use, accurate, and can generate your payroll reports in just a matter of seconds. There’s a free 30 day trial available and for very small businesses (track just 3 employees) it can even be used for free forever!

Free Online Time Card Calculator

We’ve just spent time developing a simple, and free timecard calculator that can be used online to record a single weeks time and attendance data. It’s very simple to use, just enter the clock in and out time for each day along with any break time taken. The free time card calculator will take care of the calculations for you automatically giving you a total amount of time in hours and minutes worked for each day along with the total time worked for the week. You can then print the page to give to your payroll department or print the page to PDF for easy emailing. We hope you find this new tool useful and as always we welcome your feedback and comments.

Version 3.2.1 Released

I’ve just uploaded Version 3.2.1 of Time Clock MTS. This version contains a couple of new reports, some (hopefully) helpful new features, and some minor cosmetic fix ups to several screens. Details of the changes can be found below.

  • Added several tips focussed fields to the payroll information report section template.
  • Added some “OTHER” time classification fields to the accruals report section template.
  • Fixed up the TAB order on the bulk time entry screen, fixed some minor layout issues on the same screen too.
  • The time period on the Edit Times screen is now remembered.
  • Added the “Insert Missing Punch” button to the Edit Times screen. Allows you to insert a clock out and in into the middle of an existing clock in/out. That sentence is confusing enough to warrant a dedicated blog post on the topic. Stay tuned.
  • Changed the status message delay on the Keypad Interface to 10 seconds.
  • Fixed up some dodgy tooltip text on the Edit Employee screen.
  • Added the Time Off Report and the Simple Wages – Departmental Report.

Time Clock MTS Version 3.1.9 – Error while unpacking program, code LP5, Please report to author

Code LP5 Error

Code LP5 Error

Above you can see an error message a group of Time Clock MTS users were reporting last week when they tried to run the program. This not only included new users of the software but also some people using versions nearly 2 years old! Thanks to a top rate IT department at one company we were informed of what was causing the problem before we even really knew there was a problem! Thanks go out to them.

Anyway, the issue was due to a recent update to Windows Vista and Windows 7 conflicting with a third party component that we use in our software. We’ve contacted the authors of this component who have supplied us with a version that Windows appears to like a lot more and have now uploaded version 3.1.9 of Time Clock MTS. There are no other changes to the software in this release.

Free Time Card Calculator Available

For those people who just need to manually record a single weeks worth of time card information we created our free timecard hour calculator. This handy online timesheet can be used to enter the time you arrive for work, the time you leave, and the number of hours you take for breaks during the day. The free time clock calculator then automagically totals up the hours you worked for each weekday and the total number of hours worked for the week (as well as the total number of break hours you took for the week). The weekly time card can then easily be printed from within your browser to give to your payroll department or even out to a PDF file for emailing.

If you need to record your time more robustly and automatically you should try out Time Clock MTS, time clock software that can be used on one or many computers inside your company to track your time and attendance information.