Companies who invest in team behavior analytics software to fully understand how their team works best increase profits, produce a higher quality product and experience a higher employee retention rate. Collecting this data can be costly and very timely; however, it doesn’t have to be. This was the goal for Princeton graduate and software developer Herb Axilrod in 2012, when he decided to build a scalable business tool that could help businesses quickly and affordably implement a strategy for getting the most out of its employees. He brought Anton Seidler on board for his expertise in cloud-based business tools and SaaS. The two founded ActivTrak and set out to launch their flagship product—a cloud-based behavior analytics tool that observes users’ web and application activity in real time.
When Blocking Websites Becomes too Mainstream
At the time, employee monitoring focused mainly on black- and gray-hat practices like keylogging, which created conflict. Employees feel spied on when their privacy is invaded and are led to a relationship of mistrust with their employer. Instead of increased productivity like much of this spyware would promise, businesses that used this type of monitoring saw a rise in employee disengagement. Further, companies were charged considerable amounts of money for long and complicated installation and training on the software available. Herb and Anton knew they had an original and innovative approach to employee monitoring that not only incorporated the newest technology, was transparent and unbiased, but also was friendly to both employee and employer protecting privacy and sensitive data.
When ActivTrak launched, it was one of the very first cloud-based monitoring systems available. Herb and Anton noticed a need for a solution that was nearly effortless on the user’s part, didn’t require an extensive learning curve to understand, and where it was easy to add or remove a program. ActivTrak is purposefully built to install quickly. Within minutes of installing it, you will begin receiving real-time reports.
By taking screenshots, all web and application activity is recorded and classified as either productive, unproductive, or idle. Through an easy-to-use Dashboard, administrators can individualize their ActivTrak account exactly to suit their needs. The lay out of the Settings on the account Dashboard make it very easy to change when to monitor, who to monitor and what to monitor.
To make sure all data collected is relevant, you can create an unlimited number of custom reporting schedules. Though, ActivTrak is pre-set to monitor during regular office hours, administrators can set the Agent to monitor only when you need it to. Scheduled monitoring allows you to set different recording times for each user, so you can easily keep track of remote workers’ productivity.
One of the most popular benefits of ActivTrak’s 150,000+ users is the fully customizable Screenshots feature. Screenshots capture exactly what users are looking at on their screen, displayed on your account by the most recent user or chronologically. The Agent quickly captures and stores title bars, URLs, and screenshots and allows administrators to setup notifications via Alarms of flagged activities, shut down applications or redirect behavior via pop-up message.
ActivTrak comes with eight built-in Alarms, but they are also customizable to fit your needs. You can set Alarms to trigger a variety of responses to any pre-determined activity. Set the Alarms to take single or multiple screenshots, send an email to administrators, produce a pop-up message to users remind them to return to productive work and even terminate applications and web browsers.
The Agent can be installed remotely or deployed via Active Directory, so on-site and remote workers can both be monitored without issues.
Security is a top priority for ActivTrak’s founders, that is why ActivTrak incorporates HTTPS encryption, is HIPPA-compliant and utilizes offsite secured data storage in the Amazon Web Services cloud. For added security and to protect the privacy of employees, paid accounts can add on Data Leak Prevention. DLP redacts personal information such as credit card, bank account and driver’s license numbers from being displayed on screenshots.
Making the Industry a Better Place for Everyone
Though part of the list of features, blocking websites and shutting down certain applications, isn’t the primary focus of the ActivTrak software. It provides a full range of features that allow managers to get the best work out of their team by analyzing how and when employees are most productive.
Cultivating a Corporate Culture
ActivTrak helps other businesses to utilize its service like it has to increase revenue and productivity, and to cultivate a corporate culture where every team member contributes meaningfully to the overall success of the company.
One of the best parts of ActivTrak is the company’s customer-centric focus. The software automatically updates itself regularly. The whole team behind ActivTrak is dedicated to listening to its customers and following through with their desires and demands. ActivTrak will continue to grow based on this approach to business and keep providing brand new technologies and features to enhance your ActivTrak experience.
