Friday, October 15, 2010

Observe Your Staffs With A Desktop Remote Monitoring Service

Countless studies have revealed that a majority of employees who have access to the internet during their workday spend a lot of time conducting non-work related web browsing at the expense of their employer. The result is hours upon hours of lost production and potential profits. But there is a way to effectively increase production and it comes in the form of a desktop remote monitoring service.

Chances are that you have already tried various tools and methods to encourage your employees to not use the internet for personal reasons. However, they did not help and you just ended up wasting your money. You might run a business where internet access is vital and cutting service is not an option. Furthermore, blocking websites with filtering software can have negative results when your employees are also blocked from sites they need to be able to access.

With a desktop remote monitoring service, you can have specialists monitor the productivity of your employees without restricting their internet accesses. You can ensure that their internet activities are work-related and not just for pleasure. Furthermore, employers can use these services to verify that employees are not accessing websites that can be harmful to their networks or make sure that confidential data is not being leaked.

There are many tools available to choose from. Some things that a business owner needs to consider are the cost of the services, what is monitored, and how the data that is being monitored is accessed. Monitoring internet usage can be a full time job for one or more people, so the employer also needs to think about the additional manpower and resources that will be needed.

As technology costs get lower, monitoring software and services also get cheaper. In fact, some basic software packages are free. Online services will provide the programs that you need without business owners having to invest in costly tools or worry about upgrades.

You will also have to consider how in depth you want the monitoring to be. Basic monitoring programs keep lists of what websites your employees viewed without much additional data. More advanced programs can capture detailed information about their internet activities, such as how much time was spent on each website or what was downloaded or uploaded to and from the website. Other programs even log employee keystrokes, capture emails, and can even record voice.

Desktop remote monitoring services work in two different ways. The more secure, costly method is to have the monitoring serviced connected directly to your network. This requires that you have specialists employed for the task, but it keeps all of the data on your local network where it cannot access the internet. Outsourcing to an online remote monitoring service, on the other hand, is much cheaper. However, there is a risk that the data could be intercepted by competitors to your business.

If you choose to utilize a remote monitoring service, you have a legal obligation to ensure that your employees are aware that their activities are being monitored. One of the easiest methods for this is to have them sign a document giving you their consent. Failing to inform your employees may be illegal and can result in lawsuits, fines, and even imprisonment.

A great way to increase productivity and profitability in a workplace that has internet access is through desktop monitoring services. They give business owners the ability to monitor internet usage without truly restricting access. And for some businesses, the increase in profits may even outweigh the costs of these services.

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