Employee Monitoring Sofware
What is employee monitoring software?
Nearly every business, industry, and job title now revolves, in some shape or form, around the use of a computer. With the advancements of computer technology, including Internet connections, cloud networks, and an endless supply of programs, it is possible to do just about anything on a computer. Of course, this is also where a potential problem can come up. With the vast world of the Internet right at an employee’s fingertips, they can easily veer away from work and begin performing tasks that are more personal in nature instead of professional.
The use of the Internet and other non-business related programs can cause a number of problems. First, it essentially is time theft. You’re not paying an employee to check Facebook, search Twitter, or look up food recipes. You’re paying them to work. And while you might have different regulations on what an employee can and cannot do on a work computer, it is important to keep your worker’s focused on their job.
The second and often more serious issue is when an employee accesses their personal email, social media account, or surfs the Internet, it often opens up your network to external threats such as ransomware, spyware, and other damaging viruses. With the help of remote employee monitoring software, you can check in on employees and make sure they are doing what they are supposed to.
Employee monitoring software is designed to monitor what someone is doing on their computer. There are a number of ways to monitor employee Internet usage with these programs. This includes everything from tracking websites visited to screen monitoring software titles that will actually save screenshots. Some titles may also record keystrokes.
In order to stay on top of your business, ensure employees are spending work hours on actual work, and to reduce the chance of external cyber threats infiltrating your networking, it is a good idea to invest in the best computer monitoring software available.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Computer Monitoring Software
It is often in your company’s best interest to install remote PC monitoring software. Whether you decide to go with a free computer monitoring software or pay for an upgrade, there’s no shortage of available titles. However, before you dive into the world of employee productivity tracking software you need to know the advantages and disadvantages.
The advantages are rather obvious. First, when you utilize activity monitor software you will make sure your employees are not doing what they know they shouldn’t be doing. In most instances, you should always let your employees know this kind of software is in place. By simply knowing their actions are being monitored they will become less likely to spend company time on personal activities.
Another advantage is the improved network security of your office. With tracking software for PC or Mac you’ll prevent individuals from visiting their personal email accounts, which will cut down on the possibility of accidentally installing a virus or letting in other forms of malware. A single virus that worms its way into your network can bring the entire system down, siphon off customer financial records, and ultimately cost your business hundreds of thousands of dollars (if not force it to close altogether).
Now, with that said, there are some major negatives associated with using PC performance monitoring software. First, if you don’t inform an employee of the software there may be some legal ramifications, as it might be seen as spying, sleuthing, or invasion of privacy (especially if you read through personal emails). Even though the employee should not be accessing this information during work hours, you don’t have the right to read their personal correspondence. So if you’re looking at how to monitor another computer without them knowing (as in your employees), you should only go behind their backs with the monitoring if you believe there is a theft taking place.
To remain on the up and up and avoid an ethical dilemma, it is always best to let your employees know exactly what is going on and that there is remote desktop monitoring software installed. Of course, if you’re looking for computer monitoring software for parents, you don’t need to tell your child that you’re monitoring them. And in this case, you can typically use an Internet monitoring software free version to stay up on what your child is doing online.