FAQ's
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
How easy is it to get started with Donseed?
From the time of order, you can be up and running with live reports within 3 working days. The Donseed hardware is “Plug and Play” which means all you need to do is attach it to a wall and plug it in. It can be powered off a generator or through the cigarette lighter in a van or commercial vehicle. There is no need for phone or network lines and you don’t have to wait for your internal IT to be available as they are not required.
Do I have to re-register employee’s fingers on each site’s biometric?
The finger templates of employees registered on one biometric unit can be transferred to many other remote units, avoiding the need to re-register on each unit.
What level of training is required?
Training can be broken down into two parts:
- Training on how to register new employees on the biometric unit - this is normally carried out on site and takes no longer than ½ an hour.
- System training - depending on your internal processes and responsibilities, this will normally be carried out on site and/or head office and initially covers the basics of time and attendance management. This can take between 1.5 to 3 hours. When you are comfortable that time and attendance is running smoothly, we will then take you through the health and safety and document management functionality. This can take anything from 1 to 3 hours, depending on how much of the Donseed system you wish to use. On-going, over the phone, training is also available.
Is there a limit to the number of biometric units I can use on one site or across my organisation?
There is no limit to the number of biometric units that can be installed on any one site or across the organisation as a whole.
Is there any limit to the number of operatives I can register on any one site or across my organisation?
There is no limit to the number of employees who can be registered on the web based application. Each biometric unit can take over 2,000 individual employees.
Why is a PIN number required with the finger on your biometric unit?
The Donseed biometric unit is set up to require a PIN number to be entered at the same time as the finger is being scanned. The pin enhances the verification process. Remember, unlike a bank card PIN, this one doesn’t need to be kept secret. My PIN and your finger won’t work together and vice-versa. Most customers therefore put the list of numbers on the wall beside the biometric for ease of use.
How easy is it to move the biometric unit from one site to the next job?
As our biometric units are “plug & play”, moving the unit from one site to another is as simple as unplugging it, taking it off the wall and moving it to the next site. The unit will then be reassigned to the new site within the Donseed system and times will immediately flow from that new site.
How do I take account of our company specific working patterns and can I modify them myself?
Configuration is easy and in the first instance is normally carried out with direct assistance from the Donseed support team. Over time, we urge customers to take control of the creation and modification of their shifts and working patterns themselves.
The Donseed system allows you to:
• Add as many different shift patterns as you require
• Set rules for paid / unpaid breaks
• Add travelling time to a shift
• Decide what time an employee will be paid from
• Stipulate standard hours and overtime hours
• Set roundings and periods of grace for each shift
• Create night shifts
• Assign working patterns at employee, site or organisation level
• Change shifts and working patterns
Can the times from Donseed feed into my payroll system?
Donseed has successfully proven the ability to integrate with many payroll and ERP systems, including Coins, Sage Micropay, Sage Construct and Thesaurus. Integration with payroll is generally as simple as an export into .csv format from Donseed, with subsequent import to the relevant payroll system.
How easy is it to get reports from the Donseed system?
Donseed reports are available on screen and can be printed. They are also available in excel format for further analysis and distribution; we find is the most common form of report usage.
How is the biometric unit powered? Do I need permanent power on site?
The Donseed mobile unit is normally powered by plugging it into a standard socket but it can be powered off a generator or through the cigarette lighter in a van or commercial vehicle. On sites where power is intermittent, a battery back-up unit can be provided, allowing users to clock in and out for up to 5 days without power.
What are the benefits of the Donseed biometric over swipe cards?
All of Donseed’s customers use our mobile biometric unit. This hardware was developed specifically for the construction industry and works perfectly for all types of construction personnel. See the attached comparison of biometrics with traditional swipe card solutions.
| SWIPE CARD | DONSEED SOLUTION |
| Single site solution only | Multiple site solution and view |
| PC required on each site | No PC required on site |
| Must fax info to centre, which means double handling, or email which requires broadband | Information available at centre in real time. |
| Is possible to buddy swipe | Not possible to buddy swipe |
| Physical card to be bought and maintained | No card required |
| Doesn’t normally integrate to payroll and if it does it will require multiple file exports and imports for each site. | Can be integrated to payroll at the organisation level. |
| Data stored on a local PC is insecure and could be permanently lost if the PC is damaged or stolen. | Data is stored centrally through a secure, web hosted service. |
| Traditionally a fixed site solution | Plug and play mobile solution. Can easily be moved from site to site |
| Historical data is not normally held at the end of a job | Historical data is stored and instantly available for all active and closed sites. |
| Comes with wireless internet facility which can be utilised by site personnel for email etc. | |
| Is integrated with H&S and HR modules to enable tracking of training, site inductions, and qualifications etc for all employees on all sites. |
What hardware support do you offer?
Donseed provides full support during working hours, offering both telephone support and site visits where necessary. We continuously monitor the status of each biometric unit and are generally managing potential problems before you become aware of them. In the rare event of having to visit site, we offer next working day support.
I read that Donseed is a “Hosted Solution.” What does that mean?
Donseed is a fully hosted solution, taking care of all the infrastructure and technology required to provide the online services, leaving our customers free to manage their business. This means that we take care of all hardware, software, installation, support, security and back up of the service solution, with the following benefits:
Customer Driven - Our solution has been developed with the intention of being driven by the requirements of the customers.
Maintenance - As a user of the Donseed system, you do not have to worry about system maintenance. This makes for a strong business case and contributes to the ROI for Donseed participation.
Constant improvement - As well as the general technology maintenance and upgrades, business improvement and process improvement are part of the Donseed philosophy. Business benchmarking, new reports and user interface improvements are some examples.
Return on Investment - The business case for “renting technology” against buying in or building is well documented. Numerous articles can be referred to if required.
Hardware - No capital investment in I.T. hardware is required.
I.T. Staff - Reduced IT resources required to maintain, install or support IT delivery infrastructure.
Open Architecture - Donseed provides a single, open architecture that is scalable, non-invasive and operates across environments. Our scalable server architecture ensures that no matter how big the business gets, processing power can be added to scale.
Customer Interface - Interfaces to existing systems can be easily built as required
Security - Both the Donseed hardware and software ensure consistent high grade security.
Real Time - Donseed Workplace Management Services improves customer and business partner service via convenient 24 x 7, real time availability.
Ease of use - The Donseed system is easy to use and easy to learn. It supports the transparency of business processes, reducing the impact of staff turnover.
Data Input - Donseed software reduces costs by eliminating manual processing such as faxing and re-keying of information between parties.
External Entities - External clients/vendors can smoothly become part of your business process without the need to install internet gateways and secure/redundant facilities in your network for external access.
Can the biometric times be overridden and if so, how secure is that?
As a security measure, times from the biometric unit can never be deleted. However, manual times can be entered into the system. This can be done either through a manual clock in and clock out time being recorded if someone was on site but failed to clock in, or through the entering of a total number of hours, if for example someone was absent, but time was required to be recorded. ALL manual adjustments are recorded and displayed on a management audit report which shows who was amended, when, by whom, and the before and after times. The result is flexibility alongside a comprehensive audit trail.
Can I record absences in line with our internal policies?
Each customer has the ability to create and customise absence codes, to report times against a person with an absence code and to report on these absences.
How long can my site and employee history be stored for?
History can be stored for as long as the customer requires. Within Donseed, sites and employees can be made “inactive” when they are no longer in use. This tidies the day to day view of the system so that an inactive site or person will not appear in the normal dropdown options or reports. Inactive sites and employees can be made active again at any time. One of the benefits of the Donseed hosted solution is that we control terabytes of data storage and we will be happy to put in place long term data storage and archiving plans with our customers.
What overall customer support do you offer?
Donseed support is traditionally split into 3 main areas:
- End user support - Supports the user in the day to day application of the web based solution. This operates by phone and email during normal business hours, with the guarantee of same day response to all queries.
- Hardware support - Supports the user in the use of the mobile biometric unit. This operates by phone and email during normal business hours, with the guarantee of same day response to all queries. If there is a requirement for a site visit, we guarantee to be there by the next working day.
- System development and enhancement - Donseed operates a process of continuous product development, with new functionality released on a bi-monthly basis. All development is initiated through customer requirements and as most of these requirements are beneficial to our general customer base, we don’t charge for such development. If a customer requires customised development that will not be of benefit to our customer base, a fee can be agreed in advance and charged back to the customer.
Please email us if you have any more questions or call
UK +44 (0)20 7240 3007 or IRL +353 66 7190312.
