Clever Control — a Smart Solution for Employee Monitoring
Monitoring of staff work with the help of different software applications is becoming increasingly popular amongst managers of manufacturing enterprises and business companies. Employee control can help to maintain discipline in the workplace as well as optimize business processes, improve quality of work activities and help to avoid cases of fraud and data leakage.
There is a substantial choice of options for employee monitoring on the market nowadays. One of the well-proven applications in this area is Clever Control — a smart solution for staff control.
Clever Control is a multi-purpose product, easy to navigate and install with wide-ranging functionality available. The main functions of the program include tracking working hours, recording early departures and late comings within the workplace, as well as periods of activity and inactivity. Among other useful features is the monitoring of Internet resources to include personal online activity, online security, controlling the use of external hardware and storage devices, recording from screens of remote computers, taking screenshots, recording keystrokes on the keyboard, and much more.
It is important to note the possibility to remotely monitor company employees whilst away from the office. Managers can monitor the online activities of employees from anywhere in the world via an authorized account.
Now, let’s review some important functions of the program.
Work Time Tracking
Clever Control tracks the duration of computer activity, thereby marking the start and end time of an employee’s working day. Additionally, the program records all periods of activity and inactivity. It allows to detect latecomers and slackers, as well as identify employees who are overworking by staying late after normal working hours.
The collected data is generated into detailed reports; these reports are regularly forwarded to a manager with access to the online account.
Internet, Social Media and Applications Use Monitoring
Clever Control monitors all web pages and websites visited by employees during the day, recording the history of internet searches. These searches can identify how often employees use the internet for personal use. Besides, they highlight if an employee’s search queries are related to work activities. Such behaviour can indicate the lack of professional knowledge and the need for additional staff training. Finally, the application can maintain online security by blocking unwanted sites.
In addition to internet searches, Clever Control records which social network platforms employees visit during the working day and how often they do it. It also records communications from chats and instant messengers. Another useful option is the opportunity to see all programs and applications running on the computer, as well as the frequency and duration of their usage. This capability can assist companies in selecting which software products to purchase and which ones to decline, saving on license fees. Finally, managerial control over the applications installed on staff computers can help to prevent unwanted activity.
Keylogging
The application includes functions for recording keystrokes on the keyboard (keylogging). With the help of the keylogging function, managers can monitor all texts typed by an employee, including deleted ones. This function applies to any internet searches, chat, instant messaging and e-mail messages. This feature can help to identify less productive employees, as well as protect valuable information from being leaked and avoid internal threats.
Screenshots
The Clever Control application continually takes screenshots of the monitored computer screen activity. Snap views of the screen are taken when an employee changes active windows, URL addresses, or accesses the clipboard. Based on the screenshots, the program forms a visual summary detailing what the employee was doing throughout the working day.
Live Computer Screen Broadcast
Clever Control provides the opportunity to “live stream” the screens of employees’ computers and images from webcams in real-time. Either at the office place or remotely, a manager will be able to observe the employees’ daily activities — work ethic, chatting on social networks, or shopping online. Remote monitoring is carried out via a convenient online dashboard. Thus, a manager can view live broadcasts from all webcams connected to the employees’ computers (up to 16 screens simultaneously).
Image and Sound Recording
Whilst remote online monitoring of any computer screen requires a lot of time, viewing the recorded information can simplify this task greatly. Clever Control is capable of producing recordings of the screen, webcam and microphone audio of the remote computers. Subsequently, these recordings can be viewed 24/7 for any selected time period.
Monitoring of External Storage Devices
Clever Control helps to monitor hardware and external storage devices. This application helps to prevent leakage and theft of confidential corporate information as well as personal use of hardware devices such as printers by employees.
Clever Control provides a complete list of all devices connected to the computer, including USB, DVD / CD, SD, hard drives, indicating the name, duration and time of connection.
Installation and Use
Despite its rich functionality, the program is simple to install and does not require any specialist knowledge or IT skills. Installation and configuration are carried out in a few minutes, and you can change the settings remotely via your Internet account. It also provides the ability to uninstall the program remotely quickly.
Clever Control is compatible with Windows and OS X. Therefore, the application can be installed on any laptop or desktop computer running any version of Windows, including the latest Microsoft Windows 10, as well as any device running OS X version 10.13 High Sierra or higher.
Importantly, Clever Control works on monitored computers in a hidden mode, completely invisible to employees and any internal systems like the Task Manager. Employees are unaware they are being monitored, so they do not feel stress. Besides, the hidden mode eliminates the possibility of unauthorized manipulation with the application settings.
At the same time, the principle operation of Clever Control is uncomplicated. To install the program, you need to go through the registration process and create an account (free). This is done at https://dashboard.clevercontrol.com/#/login.
During the account registration process, you will need to enter your name, phone number, email address and create a password. After re-entering the password, click on the Register button.
After registering directly from your account, download the Clever Control program to employees’ computers. Before downloading, it is necessary to disable any antivirus program (if available). To download, enter the created account and click on the Download button, that can be found in the upper right corner of the screen. Here you need to select the version of the operating system of the computer (Windows or MAC).
The downloaded file must be run according to the installation instructions. At the end of the installation, the program will automatically connect to the registered internet account. From this point, all data from the monitored PCs will go to your remote account in the form of reports.
For convenience, all data entered into the account is divided into several categories, such as “Screenshots”, “Web Pages Visited”, “Keyboard Events” and so on.
Remote changes of program settings from an account are carried out using the “Remote Settings” button located in the upper right corner of the screen. For convenience, the settings are divided into six main groups (“Device Info”, “Monitoring Control”, “Social Network”, “Site Blocker”, “Media”, and “Log”).
You can remove the program remotely from your account.
The cost of using the program varies depending on the number of monitored computers and the duration of use. When installing the application on 20–100 devices, you receive a 20% discount, and it grows up to 30% discount if you buy a subscription for more than 100 PCs. When purchasing the software for 3 months, the price will be 11.00 USD per month for one computer, for a six months plan, the price will be 6.60 USD per PC per month, and for a twelve-month plan, the price will be 4.70 USD per PC per month. The program also provides the option to request a free trial period before purchasing.
Clever Control is trusted by 10,000 companies all over the world, and this number continues to grow. Using the program not only helps to keep track of staff time and attendance but also allows you to increase employee productivity and identify ineffective work patterns. Additionally, you can save on unused software, prevent fraud within the company and help to improve working conditions in general.
