When left unsupervised, many employees who have desktop access to the internet spend hours each day surfing the web. They waste countless hours that could be devoted to working do everything but work. Because of this, your business may be loosing considerable amounts of profits due to lost productivity. But there is an effective way to get that productivity back up, and that is through a desktop remote monitoring service.
Chances are that you have already tried various tools and methods to encourage your employees to not use the internet for personal reasons. However, they did not help and you just ended up wasting your money. You might run a business where internet access is vital and cutting service is not an option. Furthermore, blocking websites with filtering software can have negative results when your employees are also blocked from sites they need to be able to access.
Your next choice may be a desktop remote monitoring service. With this type of service, professionals are able to monitor how much time your employees are devoting to being productive and how much time they are spending doing non-work related activities on the internet. Additionally, these services also monitor when your employees access websites that can be harmful to your network or if they are potentially leaking confidential data.
There are a wide variety of remote monitoring tools and software packages available. You will need to determine how much you want to spend on monitoring software, what you want it to monitor, and how you want the data to be monitored. Furthermore, monitoring internet usage is time consuming, so you may also need to consider hiring specialists or subscribing to a monitoring service.
Cost is an important factor in the quality and services offered by monitoring programs. Nevertheless, do not let this deter you because as technology has become cheaper, these programs are a lot more affordable. In fact, basic monitoring programs can be found free of charge online. Other, more advanced programs can be fairly costly. Choosing an online remote monitoring service gives you the flexibility to have top of the line software support without having to pay for costly licenses 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.
Desktop remote monitoring services work in two different ways. The more secure, costly method is to have the monitoring serviced connected directly to your network. This requires that you have specialists employed for the task, but it keeps all of the data on your local network where it cannot access the internet. Outsourcing to an online remote monitoring service, on the other hand, is much cheaper. However, there is a risk that the data could be intercepted by competitors to your business.
If you choose to utilize a remote monitoring service, you have a legal obligation to ensure that your employees are aware that their activities are being monitored. One of the easiest methods for this is to have them sign a document giving you their consent. Failing to inform your employees may be illegal and can result in lawsuits, fines, and even imprisonment.
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.