genius business services ltd time continuum. taking the time out of time management 04/02/2004...

Genius Business Services Ltd

Time Continuum

Taking the Time out of Time Management

04/02/2004

Mission

• Taking the Time out of Time Management.• Achieved by

• Providing a customised solution to suit various customer needs.• Providing a personalised and cost effective solution.


04/02/2004

GBS Background

• Incorporated in July 2003, GBS’s main business in that of software vendor. We also undertake any associated consultancy and service contracts that may arise from any sales.

• We have all worked closely with the FCO in developing the products and supported them during the years of usage. This has enabled us to see how a medium sized organisation would operate with both software packages enabling us to gain an insight into the types of issues that arise and problems that a customer may encounter.

• We currently have two products in our portfolio; a time and project management system (Time Continuum) and a property database PYRAMID.

• Both products were initially developed for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Estate Group. We are now able to sell, market and further develop both products subject to certain restrictions.

• One unique element of ours, is having the FCO behind us as our biggest user and partner.


04/02/2004

Why Use Time Continuum.

•Ease of use.The most notable feature of Time continuum is it’s ease of use.The system can be taught to end users in a matter of minutes.

•No keyboard entry required.It is possible to enter time in many different ways, without once touching the keyboard.No need to spend countless minutes searching through lists of project and task codes.Simply highlight the time, click on your task and drag it over the time period.

•Eliminate human error.No use of the keyboard, means human error is eliminated from the system.

•Centralised system\data store.This ensures data consistency and allows for accurate billing of time.You will never again have to re-issue an invoice due to late timesheets.


04/02/2004

Why Use Time Continuum. contd.

•With training, reports are easy to design and run.The reports module is a very useful tool.It can be used to quickly extract data from the database.This can be displayed and exported to a number of formats.

•Automated reminders.If users fail to fill in their timesheets, they will get a reminder by e-mail.Line managers will also get a reminder if they haven’t authorised time for their employees.

•Easily assign tasks to employees.Managers can assign tasks to employees by simply dragging the task onto their task list.

•Track project status.You can monitor which projects are running to schedule and budget.


04/02/2004

Why Use Time Continuum. contd.

•Access control.All elements of the system have security built-in.Employees, will only have access to what you allow.

•Central documentation control.Documents can be associated with projects using the document tracker tool.

•Document version control.Version control is made simple. Each time a document is edited and re-added to the

system, the version number can be updated and a time stamp is given to the document.This will allow you to easily roll back to a previous version if required.


04/02/2004

Case Study FCO• The FCO has noticed major time and financial savings as a direct result of implementing

Time Continuum.

• Two input clerks could immediately be utilised in other positions as central input was no longer required.

• This de-centralisation of input, but centralisation of collection has made it easier to monitor timesheets.

• All existing project and task details were input at installation, this has eliminated the need to look-up project codes when completing timesheets. Saving a substantial amount of time when completing each days timesheet. Allowing users to concentrate on their duties.

• With large projects running all over the world, the FCO had a logistical obstacle on it’s hands when it came to managing projects. With all employees now logging into and operating from one central system, this problem has been overcome.

• The system has also greatly helped organisational awareness in the company.

• “It (Time Continuum) is used to store and analyse details of how we all spend our time in terms of the service areas defined in our commission and within those, time spent on specific projects. It is vital for monitoring our utilisation and our time commitments against project budgets.” John Elgie, Head of Estate Group, Foreign & Commonwealth Office.


04/02/2004

Support – Additional Services

• For a nominal fee, subscribers can access our technical website/forum, free product updates and free next day onsite technical assistance. If subscription is declined an agreed daily fee (minimum half a day) will be charged for on-site visits/remote assistance.

• Telephone support is to be charged per call\incident.

• We offer a customised report-sharing scheme. For a nominal fee subscribers can access shared reports on the premise that they in turn will allow their own customised reports to be shared. Sharing will centre around a web-based report repository with access based on subscription.

• We can also offer to host the solution for you. This is implemented over a link to our Citrix farm.


04/02/2004

Implementation

•Time Continuum runs on Firebird Server (an open source version of InterBase ®).

•The client installation will run on Windows 98/NT/2000/XP.

•As Time Continuum uses an ini file, write access is required to the hard disk.

•One NT and one MAPI account, eg exchange, are required to log onto the

database. This is needed in order to e-mail users who haven’t filled in their timesheets

and managers who haven’t authorised timesheets.

•Client installs will need a stand alone flash player to run the help system.

•The Firebird and BDE clients are also needed on the client machines.


04/02/2004

Genius Business Services Ltd

Room 201

Colourworks

2 Abbot Street

London

E8 3DP