Virtual TimeClock Tip & Tricks NewsLetter


Helpful hints and information about Virtual TimeClock from the experts at Redcort Software.

January 2009          
 

Happy New Year! I hope you’re looking forward to a rewarding 2009. Since we had such a great response to last month’s newsletter outlining what year-end procedures need to be performed with Virtual TimeClock, we’ve decided to offer some suggestions at the beginning of the year to make sure your Virtual TimeClock software is ready to go for another 12 months.

Backup, backup, backup!

We receive lots of support calls from customers who are in the midst of some very real disasters: hard disk failure, computer viruses, employee vandalism, theft, or natural disaster. Restoring all of your Virtual TimeClock employee time and attendance data from a backup file is a minor inconvenience. Recreating an entire period of timecard entries is a major payroll hassle.

The built-in Virtual TimeClock backup utility allows you to perform manual backups or schedule your backups to run automatically. Both are blazingly fast and result in very small backup files since we utilize the latest compression techniques.

Manual backups are as easy as choosing Backup from the File menu, choosing your backup folder destination, clicking the Backup button, and waiting a few seconds for confirmation that the backup was successful.

Scheduled backups make it easy for you to select when you want automatic backups to occur. You can pick from a variety of selections, including every day, weekdays, weekends, or a specific day of the week. You also get to decide the time you want the scheduled backup to occur, and how many backup files you want to keep around.

Here’s a quick Tip:
Get familiar with the manual backup process. You’ll need to perform a manual backup of your time clock data prior to upgrading to our upcoming Virtual TimeClock ‘09 release.

Check those backup logs!

Unlike a manual backup, scheduled backups are unattended so success or failure messages are not immediately visible. The backup logs will give you a written record of attempted and successful backups. Just choose Program Logs from the Window menu. When you access the backup log it will automatically scroll to the most recent entry, so checking the success of a scheduled backup is super easy. Get into the habit of checking those backup logs every day. Knowing your daily backup was successful is well worth the little bit of extra effort.

Here’s a quick Tip:
The backup log will also display the date and time of the next scheduled backup.

Stay enrolled in Maintenance and Support!

You’ll want the peace of mind this year that comes from knowing you’ve got free technical support whenever you need it, and free upgrades to the latest and best release of Virtual TimeClock. Let’s review your Maintenance & Support enrollment benefits:

  • All new software upgrades released for your licenses.
  • Periodic maintenance releases to keep your software compatible with system updates.
  • Priority technical support for software configuration, feature usage, and problem resolution.
  • Information filled monthly 'Tips & Tricks’ Newsletter.
  • Data file evaluation and repair services following catastrophic hardware and/or system failures.

You can contact a technical support specialist by using the online support form or give us a call at (888) 207-0005 Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Pacific Time.

Here’s a quick Tip:
The latest Virtual TimeClock software download is always available at our web site.


Until next month,

Jeff Morrow