How to Monitor Employee Computer Activity (& Why You Should)
Want to learn how to monitor employee computer activity? Watch this video to learn more about monitoring employee computer usage with BrowseReporter.
BrowseReporter is a versatile employee computer activity monitoring software for monitoring internet and application usage. CurrentWare’s customers use BrowseReporter to gain advanced insights into employee productivity and technology usage across their organization.
- Track employee computer activity to see the websites they visit, how long they spend browsing each website, and the category of each site.
- Get employee activity alerts automatically sent straight to your inbox on a set schedule or when specific computer activities occur
- Use one of the dozens of employee computer activity reports to make data-informed management decisions, enforce acceptable use policies, and protect your company against unlawful or inappropriate computer usage.
FREE WHITE PAPER
Best Practices for Monitoring Employees
In today's privacy-conscious world employers need to monitor employees in a way that is transparent, minimally invasive, and respectful of employee privacy
Read this white paper to learn the best practices for monitoring employees in the workplace.
Why Monitor Employee Computers?
Note: The above video showcases a legacy user interface for BrowseReporter. To see the most up-to-date features and interface please visit the BrowseReporter product page
Why is employee monitoring software so popular? This video shows the key reasons why employers monitor employee computer activity.
Key reasons for tracking employee computer activity
- Employee Productivity management
- Addressing inappropriate technology usage, legal liability, and compliance
- Improving cybersecurity and data loss prevention
- Understanding how remote workers / out of office users are engaging with technology
- Understanding bandwidth usage and limiting exposure and costs
Try a Free Trial of CurrentWare’s Employee Computer Monitoring Software
- Sign up for the free trial to get the employee monitoring software installation files
- Following these installation instructions, install the CurrentWare Console on a manager’s computer and deploy the CurrentWare Clients on your employee’s computers
- You are now monitoring employee computer activity. From the CurrentWare Console, you can use BrowseReporter to run employee computer activity reports. These reports allow you to see how your employees are spending their time during the work day.
Sample Reports for Tracking Employee Computer Activity
What Is Employee Monitoring Software?
Employee monitoring software—also known as employee desktop monitoring software or computer monitoring software—is a software solution that business owners use to monitor employee computer activity. Employers use employee monitoring software for insider threat detection, to improve employee productivity, and to gain insights into how their employees work.
Employee monitoring software gives business owners, managers, and IT staff members insights into how employees use technology in the workplace. These insights can be used to evaluate employee performance, as a time tracking tool for remote employees, or to analyze employee activity for high-risk or anomalous behavior.
Learn more: What is Employee Monitoring Software?
What to Look for in the Best Employee Monitoring Software
With so many vendors to choose from, it can be difficult to pick the best employee monitoring software for your needs. During your evaluation, keep an eye out for these employee and computer monitoring features to make tracking employee computer activity effective for your company.
Productivity Tracking
Most employee monitoring solutions include features that assist with tracking your employees’ productivity. The best employee monitoring software will help you track employee performance by tracking employee activity on websites and applications.
These employee monitoring solutions will include the ability to define which applications and websites are considered productive, unproductive, and neutral in your organization.
Since an app or website that’s deemed productive for one job function may be considered unproductive for another, the best employee monitoring software will allow you to customize what is considered productive and distracting activities for each department.
For example, social media activity is a critical function of many marketing roles and should be considered productive, whereas it would not be work-related for most other roles.
Employee Internet Activity Monitoring
One of the most common uses of employee desktop monitoring software is website tracking. Monitoring employee internet use in a company can ensure that websites such as social media, pornography, and phishing sites are not being accessed on company devices.
Monitoring employee activity in this way improves employee productivity by providing business owners with evidence of excessive web browsing. Website tracking is also an important security feature as high-risk user behavior could help compromise the network.
This data can be shared with employees so they can use the insights to improve their work performance.
Application Usage Tracking
Using employee monitoring software to track the computer applications used by employees helps measure software license utilization rates, identify the excessive use of unproductive software, and detect unauthorized programs.
Without this visibility, a business could fall victim to shadow IT related security vulnerabilities. While not all unauthorized programs are malicious it’s critical that monitoring tools are in place to detect any software that needs to be managed by the IT department.
Active Time vs Total Time Tracking
Time tracking with employee monitoring software can provide incredibly valuable insights, but only if the reports are truly accurate.
Employee monitoring software that tracks active time will track how long applications and websites are actively used by the users, whereas employee monitoring software that only tracks total time report a list of applications and websites that were open on the computer without properly contextualizing whether the employee was actually using them or if they were simply opened and left running in the background.
The best employee monitoring software will have the ability to report what employees are truly doing. The reporting of active time allows IT administrators and managers to trust and understand the reports generated, giving them the opportunity to generate actionable outcomes from the employee activity data.
Custom Data Retention Settings
Organizations that have a legal requirement to use employee monitoring software need to ensure that the data is accessible for review.
Employee monitoring software with configurable data retention settings makes auditing, compliance, and storage less of a hassle for large-scale deployments. The ideal employee monitoring software will allow the organization to store the data indefinitely to ensure that records are maintained as long as needed.
Automated purging saves organizations considerable costs on storage and administration as they will not need to manually purge the data, purchase new storage hardware, or upgrade to a greater storage volume with their cloud storage provider.
This automated culling is especially important for any business that is subject to data privacy legislation. These regulations typically require that employee information is only kept for as long as it is relevant and necessary for the company.
Remote Workforce Management
The modern workforce is no longer exclusively in-house and 9-5 – they are a mix of traditional and non-traditional staff such as remote workers, transient workers, hybrid workers, contractors, and temporary workers.
The rising demand for flexible work options means that employee monitoring software solutions need to have the flexibility and features to support the unique needs of a blended workforce.
To monitor out-of-office employees, the software must support one of the following:
- Local caching to allow for the temporary local collection of user behavior data until they are re-connected to the company’s internal network
- Port forwarding to allow for live monitoring of out-of-office workers
- The ability to deploy the employee monitoring software to a cloud server
Tracking of Both Users & Devices
Device monitoring will track all activity on a specific device whereas user monitoring will track the individual user regardless of the device they use.
In a workplace setting where the employer wants to understand the browsing habits of individual employees, device-level insights may not provide sufficient details as their employees may not have a designated workstation (in the case of hot desking) or they may share devices with their coworkers.
When selecting an employee monitoring software vendor, organizations should ensure that both device-level and user-level monitoring is available to provide them with the best flexibility for their needs. Having access to both features is excellent for tailoring the insights reported based on the unique needs of managers, human resources, and IT administrators.
Administrative Permissions & Groupings
The best employee monitoring software will support user grouping features such as Organizational Units (OUs) within Active Directory. This allows administrators to efficiently implement and adjust bespoke settings based on department, location, user, the types of information handled, and other important considerations.
Bespoke settings ensure that the solution does not cause a bottleneck in productivity. Inflexible employee monitoring software will cause less at-risk users to have the same policy restrictions and monitoring policies as users that perform tasks with sensitive information such as personal health information (PHI).
For large enterprises and other expanding organizations, the ability to group users and devices based on location, department or role is crucial to limit the time investment required in managing the monitoring solution.
Best-in-class employee monitoring software solutions allow for granular control of the product’s features including who can run reports, who has access to a given group’s reports, and who will receive automated email reports based on the activity of the designated groups.
Real-Time Alerts & Notifications
Real-time alerts and other employee monitoring software notifications are a critical component of insider threat management as they can be configured to alert administrators to insider threats engaging in suspicious or risky behavior.
Real time alerts can include:
- File Operations Alerts: Alerts when an attempt is made to copy files to an unauthorized external storage, when sensitive file types are being accessed, or other suspicious file operations. This is especially useful for preventing breaches caused by malicious insider threats.
- Inappropriate Website Use: An employee attempts to access websites that are considered not safe for work (NSFW) in the organization.
- Browsing/Bandwidth Limit Reached: An alert can be sent to users when they have exceeded their allotted browsing time or bandwidth usage for the day.
CurrentWare’s Employee Productivity Tracking & Security Software
CurrentWare is a software suite that includes the best employee monitoring software, device control software, web filtering software, and remote PC power management software. Each solution operates from the same central CurrentWare console; they can be purchased separately for the most flexibility or as a full suite for the best value.
CurrentWare is hosted on-premises with deployment options that support the monitoring and managing of remote workers. It can be installed transparently or in stealth mode, with the monitored employee oblivious to the software’s activities. Due to the lack of a mobile app or cross-platform support it is best used in Windows-based environments.
With CurrentWare you can monitor employee web browsing and software usage, prevent the use of unauthorized USB devices, and block access to certain apps and websites that are against your company’s standards.
When monitoring internet use, CurrentWare’s employee monitoring software BrowseReporter differentiates between active time and idle time to indicate if the employee was actually using their computer and whether or not they were actively browsing a given website.
Automated email alerts can be configured to notify managers, HR, and security personnel when unwanted activities occur such as visiting inappropriate websites or transferring files to USB storage devices.
Overview of Each Module
BrowseReporter Employee Monitoring Software
BrowseReporter is the best employee monitoring software for tracking the websites and applications your employees use. It is the ideal tool to monitor employees for enforcing acceptable use policies, improving employee productivity and efficiency, and protecting your network against unwanted computer activities.
With BrowseReporter employee monitoring software installed on your employees computer it will capture the websites they visit and the applications they use. It includes a reporting utility for generating tabular and graphical user activity reports.
BrowseReporter employee monitoring software includes an employee productivity report that compares the time that employees spend on websites and applications that are productive vs those that are not. These classifications are pre-determined to start and can be customized to better fit what is considered productive for your organization.
AccessPatrol Device Control Software
AccessPatrol is a device control software that provides a proactive solution for protecting company data against data theft.
AccessPatrol includes device control features for a variety of peripheral devices including USBs, CD/DVDs, BlueTooth, WiFi, FireWire, iPods, and MP3s. Granular device control policies can be customized for each user, department, or organizational unit.
Company-authorized peripheral devices can be added to an allow list and temporary access codes can be generated by administrators to bypass restrictions in special circumstances. This provides companies with the means to monitor and restrict USB device use without affecting productivity and collaboration.
AccessPatrol also functions as an employee monitoring software for tracking USB activity. It includes USB activity dashboards as well as file operations alerts that can be configured to notify IT administrators of suspicious USB activities, making it a valuable data loss prevention and security compliance tool.
BrowseControl Web Filtering Software
BrowseControl web filtering software blocks websites based on URLs and content categories. Granular internet restriction policies can be customized for each user, department, or organizational unit. It includes other device restriction features such as an app blocker, port filter, and internet restriction scheduler.
enPowerManager Remote PC Power Manager
enPowerManager is an effective solution for remotely managing PC power policies. The central console allows businesses to configure advanced power policies and establish automatic startup and shutdown times to conserve energy and reduce costs.
enPowerManager includes reports on computer power states such as logon/logoff times and reports with timestamped startup/shutdown/sleep events. These reports help technicians identify the uptime of remote endpoints and allows managers to verify that offsite employees are logging in and out during expected timeframes.
You can use enPowerManager’s logon auditing reports in tandem with BrowseReporter’s employee monitoring software data to get a complete picture of employee productivity.
CurrentWare Employee Monitoring Software Pricing
The full CurrentWare Suite starts at $8.99 USD per license per month for companies that purchase less than 100 licenses.
When purchased individually, BrowseReporter, AccessPatrol, and BrowseControl start at $3.99 USD per license per month for companies that purchase less than 100 licenses. enPowerManger starts at $1.99 USD per license per month.
There are discounts available for large volumes of licenses, educational organizations, non-profits, managed services providers, and businesses that pre-purchase multiple year plans.
CurrentWare offers a 14 day free trial for up to 10 team members.
CurrentWare Employee Monitoring Software Reviews
”As a ‘novice’ I was able to set up with help from support in about an hour. Previous software took forever and didn’t work as advertised; this software worked right out of the box. It allows my workers to use the internet and make money for the practice without distraction/temptation to use personal websites/email/shopping.”
– Gerard B., Office Manager
”The team and product have been nothing but a great experience. I’m glad I found this product because I was able to fill a hole in our security footprint quite easily. The team at Currentware reaches out quite frequently to check-in and even have me demo future deployments for feedback.”
– Nicholas S., IT Service Desk Supervisor
”We are able to make sure employees are not spending work time on the internet, and if there is an issue we have the documentation to prove it.”
– Ken W., IT Manager
”I have found the Real-time monitoring in conjunction with the Active vs Total Browsing time reports to be extremely helpful in getting the full picture of how efficient our workforce really is.”
– Scott S., Sr Systems Engineer
Tips for Managing Employee Privacy When Using Employee Monitoring Software
When implementing employee monitoring software an employer has the responsibility of maintaining employee privacy expectations. While employers generally have the right to monitor employee activity on company-owned computers they must balance their legitimate business interests with data collection and privacy laws such as the California Consumer Privacy Act.
Tips for protecting employee privacy when using employee monitoring software
- Expectation of Privacy: Employers must set clear workplace privacy expectations by notifying their employees about the employee data they intend to collect. You can inform employees about the use of employee monitoring software with a company policy such as an electronic monitoring policy.
- Transparency: Ensure that employees understand how data is being collected, what data is being collected, and how that data will be used.
- Limit Invasiveness: A privacy-first employee monitoring strategy tracks the minimum inputs needed to meet its stated purpose. For example, if the stated purpose is to enforce documented acceptable use policies this goal can be readily met through monitoring employee internet activity. Capturing webcam feeds and tracking individual keystrokes would be far more invasive than necessary.
- Clear Purpose: Employers must understand why they are collecting employee data so they can use it appropriately and only collect what is necessary. Employee monitoring tools can be used to track employee productivity, improve the visibility of remote workers, protect company devices against misuse, time tracking/employee attendance tracking, and detecting insider threats, among other uses.
FREE WHITE PAPER
Best Practices for Monitoring Employees
In today's privacy-conscious world employers need to monitor employees in a way that is transparent, minimally invasive, and respectful of employee privacy
Read this white paper to learn the best practices for monitoring employees in the workplace.
Employee Monitoring Software Case Studies
Shady Maple Follows Best Practices
Shady Maple is a farm market and fresh produce distributor based in Eastern Pennsylvania, USA. They use employee monitoring software and web filtering software to manage employee productivity and enforce the acceptable use of technology in the workplace.
Problem
During a period of rapid expansion Shady Maple realized that they needed to adapt their productivity management methods to scale with them. Excessive unproductive web browsing and file downloads were hogging the available bandwidth and distracting their employees. Without centralized access to web activity data they had no way to address this misuse of company resources.
Solution
Employee monitoring software reports from BrowseReporter gave Shady Maple the exact insights they needed to address the misuse of technology in the workplace. They could readily identify the websites that were responsible for excessive bandwidth consumption, address inappropriate web activity in the workplace, and provide employees with an opportunity to self-manage their non-work web browsing.
BrowseControl’s category web filtering feature provided Shady Maple with a quick and convenient solution for proactively blocking websites that were known to contain pornography and other unsuitable content for their workplace.
Results
- Improved bandwidth availability. Bandwidth usage reports provided an opportunity to coach employees on Shady Maple’s internet use policies and block frequently abused websites that were unproductive and bandwidth-intensive. Employees were delighted by the increased productivity caused by improved network speeds.
- A safer workplace. Shady Maple protected their network and their employees from unsafe and inappropriate websites. Continuous monitoring and web filtering became an integral part of their operations, allowing them to detect and block high-risk web activity.
- Greater employee engagement. Direct access to their own web activity reports empowered Shady Maple’s employees to self-manage their productivity. With a scalable way to manage internet abuse without sacrificing autonomy Shady Maple noticed immediate improvements in the productivity of their employees.
- Data-informed management. Employee monitoring reports gave Shady Maple’s Human Resources department the ability to present tangible evidence of disinclination to employees who had been underperforming.
Barclays’ Lack of Transparency Backfires
“The stress this is causing is beyond belief. It shows an utter disregard for employee wellbeing. Employees are worried to step away from their desks, have full lunch breaks, take bathroom breaks or even get up for water as we are not aware of the repercussions this might have on our statistics”
Barclays whistleblower via City A.M.
Barclays is a bank based in the UK. As they process data of European citizens they are expected to be compliant with GDPR’s data processing requirements. A lack of transparency surrounding their employee monitoring practices prompted an investigation in August of 2020 by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the United Kingdom’s privacy watchdog.
Problem
Barclays installed employee productivity monitoring software on their employee’s workstations without their knowledge, consultation, or informed consent. Employees unexpectedly began receiving automated warnings once they fell below a certain activity threshold. The time that employees normally spent away from their computers became a source of inactivity that the program used to determine who would receive the warnings.
Because Barclays did not communicate their intentions before implementing the employee monitoring software solution, their employees were uncertain as to how their activity data would be used. They became increasingly concerned that time spent stepping away from their desks, having full lunch breaks, or taking bathroom breaks would be used against them in performance evaluations.
Results
Barclays wasn’t wrong for wanting to use employee monitoring software to improve employee productivity. Unfortunately their implementation lacked the transparency necessary to communicate the goals and intentions of their solution adequately. The combination of ambiguity and automated warnings caused their workforce analytics project to be perceived as an oppressive top-down disciplinary tool.
Improve Employee Productivity With BrowseReporter
Ready to get advanced insights into how your employees spend their time? Reach out to the CurrentWare team for a demo of BrowseReporter, CurrentWare’s employee and computer monitoring software.
