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.
If your employees require access to the internet, you probably have already tried some different tools and methods to decrease the personal usage of the internet by employees. Unfortunately, many filtering programs are ineffective or are just a waste of money. Even if a filtering program works, oftentimes it not only blocks bad websites, but blocks websites that your employees need access to as well. And cutting internet services altogether is probably not an option either.
For these reasons, you may be considering a desktop remote monitoring service. These services provide professional internet monitoring and keep tabs on how much time your employees devote to productivity and how much time they spend playing at your expensive. Furthermore, these services can also be used to ensure that your employees are not accessing websites that can be harmful to your network or that they are not leaking confidential data, either unintentionally or not.
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.
Next, you will need to determine the level of monitoring that you need. Basic programs simply keep lists of the websites that your employees accessed without providing much amplifying data. Advanced programs provide greater detail and usually include in-depth activity logs. Some programs even offer keystroke loggers and can capture emails for additional security.
There are two primary ways that data is remotely monitored. The most secure method is to have computer personnel monitor the information directly from the network. This prevents the data they monitor from being leaked to the internet. However, this would require that you hire employees who are skilled and may be too costly. On the other hand, outsourcing to an online monitoring service is much more economical, but all of the data is at risk to being intercepted by potential adversaries to your company.
No matter what software package of service that you ultimately choose, you have a legal obligation to inform your employees that you are monitoring their activities. Otherwise, you could be breaking the law and be punished with lawsuits, fines, or imprisonment. The most effective way to make them aware of the monitoring is to have your employees sign documentation that they acknowledge and consent to the monitoring.
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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