Wouldn’t it be great if we could take our purchases home and try them out before deciding if we want to keep them? That’s exactly what many time clock software providers offer with their free software trials. It’s like a dating relationship. You can find out if you’re compatible, which character traits you like and which ones are likely to drive you crazy, and if there are red flags preventing a long-term relationship. This provides an environment to test the relationship before moving forward with a large commitment of resources, both time and money. When you take advantage of employee time clock software free trials, there are several questions you’ll want to ask early on. Is the free time clock software trial limited in any way, or is the software fully functional? How long will the free trial last? Can I get help and support during the free trial period? Do I have to start over after the free time clock software trial ends? These are important questions to ask yourself before you even start your time clock software free trial.
Make sure it has the features you want
The free trial of timeclock software is the perfect time to make sure that the timeclock program has all the features you will need. That’s why it’s so important to make sure the free trial is fully functional. A limited set of features, or worse yet, a remote demo, are not enough to ensure that employee time clock software meets your business needs. You should be testing the exact software you will be prompted to purchase. You’ll also want to make sure you don’t have to re-enter all the information you entered during the free trial after you purchase a permanent license. That is why this dating period is so important. You want to see how your future partner responds in as many different situations as possible before committing to a permanent relationship.
Make sure it’s compatible with your company’s payroll rules
The free trial of timeclock software should allow you to fully use the program with your payroll rules. In other words, use the free trial for an entire payroll period. This will allow you to confirm that the software can handle your same payroll cycle, overtime settings, and rounding rules. A great scenario is to run the free trial of timeclock software alongside your current time and attendance system. This should bring any obvious shortcomings to the surface. A 30-day trial might seem like enough time to test the software thoroughly, but if you don’t start using it for several weeks after downloading, you may run out of time before you’re ready. The last thing you need is for your free trial to expire right before you meet with management to demonstrate your new time and attendance system. Free trials based on a number of clock ticks used before expiration may be a better option.
Make sure it works in your office setup
Another crucial test during your timeclock software free trial is to make sure that the software will work with your current office settings. For example, if you’re looking for a clock replacement, putting an unattended computer in the break room may not be the best solution. Now is the time to think about other implementation strategies, such as networking personal clocks on all employee computers. This also gives you the opportunity to verify that the software will work with your existing infrastructure. This will reduce unexpected expenses later, since you will know which computers meet the system requirements and which ones will need to be upgraded.
Make sure employees find it easy to use
Is the new time clock software more or less efficient than the time and attendance system it is replacing? There may be a learning curve for your employees, but bugs and inefficiencies should disappear within a few days of using the free trial of timeclock software. If your employees are still experiencing difficulties at the end of the trial period, it is likely that they will continue to experience difficulties after purchasing a licensed version of the software. If the software is difficult or confusing to configure, don’t ignore it as a warning sign that the software may also be difficult or unintuitive to use. This is the time to test the support of the time clock software vendor. The type of help and support you receive during the trial period is a good indicator of the support you will receive later. For example, are there multiple ways to contact a member of the support team? Beware of clock software companies that only provide email support, as this likely indicates that they are not equipped to handle a high volume of support requests, or that they are not involved in full-time time and attendance projects. .
Time Clock Software Review Strategies
Here are a couple of quick strategies to help you through the review process. A good rule of thumb is to use your current time and attendance system as a reference and then start expanding from there. In other words, start by seeing if you can automate your current time and attendance system with the new software. That should immediately eliminate previous inefficiencies. Then start exploring the other features available with the employee time clock software you’re testing. Finally, come up with a deal-breaker list (must have features) and a wish list (nice to have features). This will allow you to compare different time clock programs and help you decide the best time and attendance solution for your business or organization.