Functions
time cockpit Functions | time cockpit is a software solution for time tracking especially built for knowledge workers. In this video we show how a person can use the graphical interface and the signal trackers of time cockpit to complete a record of how time was allocated much more quickly than would have previously been possible.
|  |
| | Screencast Using time cockpit
Screenshots |
Teamwork
time cockpit works for sole proprietors as well as for mid-sized teams of knowledge workers. However, you do not need complex IT infrastructure in any case, even if you work as a team or you use multiple devices for your daily work.
Auto Sync time cockpit uses the cloud computing platform Windows Azure. After registering to time cockpit we create your individual environment in a data center of Windows Azure. You can then add additional users to your team and share a single tenant with them. time cockpit will do all the necessary sync work. One User - Multiple Devices Today it is not unusual any more to use multiple devices during the course a working day: Desktop computer in the office, laptop on the road, PC at home for home office. With a single user license of time cockpit you can install the software on all your computers. time cockpit's sync cares for spreading your data across your devices. | Privacy time cockpit tracks ‘electronic footprints’ on devices like computers or mobile phones that are a good indication of how that day or week’s time was spent. The collected data belongs to you and you only, not to your team! time cockpit encrypts automatically tracked data with a password that you can choose yourself. With this no one else can view your signal data or analyze behavioral patterns across a team. In-Private Model Whenever you do something on your computer that must not be tracked (e.g. electronic banking over the web) you can pause time cockpit's signal tracker with two mouse clicks. You can activate it again when you return to your regular work. | Team Reports time sheet records are synchronized to all team members automatically and are therefore centrally available for billing, team reports, etc. Deploy Customizations You can tailor time cockpit to your specific needs. You have created an interesting list for project calculation and you want to share it with your team? No problem! time cockpit's sync mechanism will share not only your data but also your customizations. Automate time cockpit time cockpit offers a scripting language that you can use to automate recurring tasks (e.g. billing, send out Excel reports, etc.). |
Signal Tracker
Does this situation sound familiar: The end of the week is near and you have been so wrapped up in work that you have forgotten to make notes about what you did for how long. What did I do on Monday? I have a meeting in my calendar but how long did it really take? How long have I been in the office on Wednesday preparing this important presentation? Don't worry, time cockpit's signal trackers have made the notes for you. With the help of the collected signal data creating your timesheets is a breeze.
Computer Activity The signal tracker for computer activity monitors when the device it is installed on has been active. This information is especially useful for knowledge workers who primarly do their job using a computer. The time of turning the computer on or off is often the starting or end time of work. User Activity The signal tracker for user activity tracks when a user has been actively working on his computer. This information is especially useful for knowledge workers who primarly do their job using a computer. Durations often indicate specific tasks or breaks (e.g. meeting, lunch break, etc.). Active Applications The signal tracker for active applications monitors with which programs you work on your computer. The tracker does not only note the program but also the windows' title. Programs and window titles can be very helpful when trying to remember the customer or project you haved worked for. | Network Tracker If you create your time sheets at the end of the month and you are not perfectly sure whether you worked at home or in the office on a certain day the name of the network and/or available WLANs can give you the answer. The network signal tracker notes which LANs your are connected to and which WLANs have been available. File System Tracker The file system signal tracker monitors which files you write on your computer. Many people organize their files in folders with names reflecting the customers and projects they work for. time cockpit is able to help you reconstructing your work after days or even weeks. User Notes Sometimes you just have to note a short reminder about what has just happened (e.g. "Unplanned meeting with John"). The user note signal tracker offers a keyboard shortcut that you can use to create such a note. Notes are not fully-fledged time sheet records, they are just simple hints for yourself that will not pull you out of your thoughts.  | "You have been away" If you do not use your computer actively for a longer period time cockpit will remind you unintrusively that it could be important to enter a short note what you just did. In doing so you will be able to assign periods without computer activity to e.g. an unplanned meeting even after some days. Sent Emails time cockpit contains a signal tracker for sent emails (Microsoft Office Outlook). In many cases a sent email is the end of a certain task (e.g. you have created a concept for a customer and when you are done you send it to her via email). By showing when you sent emails you can easily find out for how long you worked on the emails' content and how long you have generally dealt with your emails during the day. 
Importing Signals time cockpit is able to import signal data from external sources. An example is the support for time tracking terminals. If you want to integrate a customer signal source you just have to provide signal data as CSV files. |
Time Tracking
Probably you are used to calendar views for managing your appointments in applications like Microsoft Office Outlook. time cockpit offers a similar calendar view that you can use for creating your time sheets and enhances it with your personal signal data.
Timesheet Calendar Views Similarly to Microsoft Office Outlook time cockpit offers a graphical calendar for managing your time sheets. You can choose between a day-, week- and month-view. In the day- and week-view you can edit your timesheets. The month-view offers you a read-only overview of the whole month. 
Drag & Drop In the day- and week-view you can create, copy and change timesheet records using simple drag & drop operations. 
Integration of Microsoft Office Outlook Many users use Microsoft Office Outlook for planning their working time. Therefore time cockpit reads your appointments from Outlook and shows them in the calendar view. You can create a timesheet from an appointment by simply doubleclicking it. | Signal Data time cockpit processes the data collected by the signal trackers and visualizes the results in your calendar view. You can use the processed signal data to easily convert it into time sheet records. A simple doubleclick on a duration signal (e.g. period of computer activity) suffices to create a time sheet for the corresponding duration.  Color Codes Your goal is to maximize the number of billable hours? In time cockpit you can tailor the visual representation of time sheets (e.g. colors, descriptions, etc.) to your needs - for instance display all non-billable hours in red. With this, time cockpit gives you immediate feedback about your results and the ability to customize the day-, week- and month-view. | Analyze Your Work You cannot exactly remember what you did on a certain day? With time cockpit you can select any time range and see what you did on the various computers you use. If you select, for instance, a time sheet record, time cockpit shows which applications you worked with, what files you have worked on, etc. With this, you can exactly reconstruct when you have worked and what you have done within a few moments. 
Tag Cloud The time cockpit tag cloud is the heart of the signal data visualization. It integrates data from all signal trackers. Terms you spent more time on are larger than those that took less time. There will be many situations in which a glimpse of the tag cloud is enough to know what you did even after days. 
|
Customizing
time cockpit is customizable to a great extent. Based on different trade-specific data models you can add and/or change tables, columns, validation rules, lists, forms, etc. just as you like.
Customizable Data Model The data model of time cockpit is not fixed. You do not need to adopt time cockpit's way of doing time sheets; you can tailor it to your specific needs. Just add tables, columns, relations, validation rules, etc.; time cockpit's sync mechanism will deploy your customizations to all users sharing the same tenant. 
Screencast Customizing
Menu Structure Just like the data model you can also change time cockpit's menu structure without any knowledge about programming. You can add time cockpit lists and forms or even external websites to time cockpit's menu. | time cockpit Formula Language For time cockpit we have created a formula language that you can use in various places throughout the application. It is similar to Microsoft Office Excel and you can be sure that you do not need a PhD in computer science to use it. You could for instance define a validition rule for your time sheet records using time cockpit's formula language. Scripting Support
You can access time cockpit's data model as well as the saved data with the scripting language IronPython. Time cockpit contains its own development environment in which the scripts can be created, tested and executed. We offer a wide range of example scripts thus the implementation of e.g. an interface to time cockpit is simple. time cockpit Query Language (TCQL) time cockpit contains a query language that can be used to create lists and analyse data. In contrast to SQL or LINQ, TCQL contains domain-specific functions that makes typical time sheet-related queries much easier. time cockpit contains its own development environment in which theTCQL queries can be created, tested and executed. | Excel Interface The content of every list as well as results from custom TCQL queries can be exported to Microsoft Office Excel. You can also prepare template files for exporting data. In Microsoft Office Excel you can afterwards use various analysis functions like pivot tables or pivot charts. Of course you can also use the Excel export to create invoices or to move your time sheets to your personal billing system. 
Screencast Create Invoices (02:15)
Dynamic Data Model Changes to time cockpit's data model are applied to the relational database, too. If you add, for instance, an entity to time cockpit it will also be added to the underlying database as a table. Therefore you can also use reporting tools which are based on direct database access (i.e. SQL). |