Does the idea of getting your team organized in such a way that everyone clocks in and out exactly as they should, the schedule is perfectly suited for everyone, and new team members are trained and onboarded perfectly into your company give you a total brain meltdown?!
It should. Doing all of this manually is flat out crazy. Hence time tracking apps.
Time-tracking apps can help keep your team organized and efficient. However, the market is flooded with so many time clocks that it can be difficult to narrow down your choices.
Boom…here comes Connecteam.
Connecteam stands out among the competition as an all-in-one solution for your business needs. With this app, you can create schedules, onboard new team members, provide employee training, handle your HR needs, and much more…. without losing your mind of course.
Small businesses and larger corporations such as Volvo, Sodexo, Hilton, and Subway depend on Connecteam’s workforce management tools. So the big boys love it, but is this time tracker right for you?
In our Connecteam review, we’ll examine the benefits and shortcomings of this popular time-tracking app.
Key Takeaways
- Connecteam is a popular time tracking and employee management app that is easy to use and conserves time and resources by doing everything from track time, make schedules, and payroll, to train employees, and chat between teams all from one app.
- Connecteam works well for desk-less or work from home or distributed teams through its GPS tracking and Geofencing tools. But midsize to larger teams love it too.
- The scheduling app works well by distributing schedules made by admins to team members via the app and allowing for seamless adjustments and trades before publishing.
- Employees can be onboarded easily through the apps directory features, training section, and knowledge base features.
- If you have issues, the customer support team is pretty strong and available even in the free plan
- The pricing is competitive. You’re charged a flat rate per month. We like the free 10 persons plan too!
What is Connecteam?
Connecteam was founded in 2016 by Amir Nehemia, Daniel Nuriel, and Yonatan Nuriel. This time tracking app and workforce management solution now boasts over 1,000,000 active users across 80 countries.
Part of the secret to this app’s popularity is its focus on “deskless” employees. Managers can use Connecteam on a desktop. Or, they can carry this mobile operating system in their pocket to keep tabs on in-office employees and remote workers alike.
Connecteam flexibility is a huge perk–especially as more businesses move away from the standard 9-5 workdays and in-house employees. It offers some incredible features at competitive prices.
Currently, this multi-faceted app covers a range of genres including blue-collar work, food service, education, healthcare, logistics, real estate, franchises, and more.
Whether you are a small start-up, a mid-size workplace, or a large corporation, you can find a plan with Connecteam to suit your needs.
Let’s explore some of this time-tracker’s best features.
Connecteam’s Best Features and Benefits
The Connecteam app shoulders the burden of schedules and time sheets for managers, replacing time-consuming processes with simple and accurate time tracking. Some of its best features are GPS tracking and geofences, team communication tools, one-click payroll, compliance alerts, and much more.
1. Time Tracking and Employee Scheduling
Connecteam’s mobile time clock features can be found under the “assets” tab on mobile devices. Although all the features like auto-clockout and overtime and breaks management may be overwhelming the first few times you use this time clock, it will win you over in the end with its very user-friendly interface.
With just a few clicks, you can log in and out of your shifts and mark breaks appropriately as paid or unpaid creating a digital time sheet. At the end of the day, you can see at a glance your hours worked.
PTO
Employees can also submit time off requests directly through the app and managers can edit requests and approve or deny them appropriately. Any approved vacation time is marked on the master schedule.
Schedule management
Managers can send employees reminders about changes in their shift assignments. Or, they can leave individualized checklists to help employees better organize their days. Once employees have fulfilled their work hours, you can set the clock to log them out automatically to prevent missed time punches.
Kiosk app
If you wish to discourage the use of employees’ personal phones on the job, you can set up one central time clock using the kiosk app. This app ensures that all workers clock in on one device in your company’s account. The kiosk app works on Apple and Android smartphones and tablets but not on computers.
With Connecteam’s multifunctional time clock, there is less time spent creating tedious schedules and editing errors, which allows managers and employees to use their time productively.
2. GPS Tracking and Geofencing
Connecteam offers GPS tracking and geofences in its upper-tier plans. (However, you also have access under the free plan!)
With Connecteam, you can set up a GPS time stamp for when employees clock in and clock out. Or, use “breadcrumbs” to keep track of their current location with real-time visibility.
No worries–the GPS breadcrumbs automatically use a battery-saving mode so it doesn’t affect the employee’s phone charge. GPS functions can be invaluable when clocked-in employees are working at remote locations or out on delivery.
Geofences ensure that employees are at an official work site before punching the time clock. This is useful when employees work in staggered shifts at a physical location.
If no tracking is needed, simply turn the geofences and GPS tracking off altogether.
GPS and geofences can be useful for making sure employees are “on the job” while clocked in. However, if employees’ mobile data fails while geofences are engaged, they won’t be able to access the time clock until they regain internet.
3. One-Click Payroll
Connecteam’s clock registers time spent working and taking breaks, which makes payroll simple to run. Simply select the appropriate time period and accept the automatically generated timesheets.
However, to ensure accuracy, you can remind employees and managers to review their timesheets before submitting them. If any changes need to be made, employees can send edit requests. Managers and admins can then message employees directly to resolve any issues before finalizing payroll.
4. Team Communication Tools
The communication tools in Connecteam aid in employee management, group collaboration, and team building. The in-app chat feature provides seamless communication with managers and secure file transfers.
Something I really love is instead of messy emails and spreadsheets, there is an employee directory that keeps up with phone numbers, emails, birthdays, and employee start dates. You can even celebrate new employees, birthdays, and special occasions by sending updates to your team. Or, send more serious announcements about changes in projects or protocols.
Connecteam keeps track of who views and engages with messages in a stats chart for admins to view.
5. Employee Onboarding
The employee onboarding process is simple with Connecteam. You can use pre-loaded templates to create job applications, quizzes, and surveys and send them to new hires. This means each new hire gets a standardized high level introduction to your company and expectations are set so they can be successful.
Managers can see at a glance who has taken the quiz and whether they passed or failed.
6. Integrations with Other Software Systems
You can seamlessly integrate calendars, business software, and payroll tools such as Gusto, Paychex Flex, Quickbooks Online, Xero into Connecteam. Instead of running multiple apps, you can use Connecteam as your main information hub.
Less apps to get the job done? Sign me up please!
7. Knowledge Base Feature
Managers and workers get easy access to onboarding documents, training videos, folders, and files in Connecteam’s Knowledge Base Feature. Instead of storing important files in different apps around your computer, this feature keeps everything work-related in one easy-to-find place.
Admins can upload documents into Knowledge Base, organize them into a customized library, and share them with specific groups or an entire team. Once again, this means a more informed and empowered work base which means better outcomes for your business.
8. Labor Laws and Compliance
With a time-tracking app like Connecteam, you can easily create timesheets. Checks are in place to avoid errors and careless mistakes–such as automatic employee clock-outs at the end of shifts and clock-in reminders.
You can set up your system to adhere to local laws for shift breaks and overtime. Connecteam earmarks expired certificates so you can alert employees to update them. Also, it can send you compliance alerts about double bookings and excess overtime.
9. Customer support team
Conncteam offers customer support in the form of pre-recorded videos, email, and live chats. If you have a simple how-to question, a Connecteam video can be useful.
However, if you experience a technical problem you have the option to get in touch with a human who can walk you through your issues. Most customers seem pleased with the level of customer service Connecteam has to offer.
Case Studies and Customer Connecteam Reviews
No doubt about it, Connecteam has some amazing features to offer, and on the whole Connecteam reviews are positive–even glowing. However, every app comes with drawbacks. Are they dealbreakers? Or do the pluses outweigh the minuses?
Have a look and decide for yourself.
Pros
- Easy to use even for those who are not tech savvy
- Encourages employee engagement
- More features than many other similar time clock apps
- Chat tools make it easy to manage employees
- Frequent updates and improvements based on customer feedback
- Allows geofencing in multiple locations
- Perfect for remote workers and flexible hours
- Painless shift scheduling
- GPS tracking options
- Exceptional customer service and tech support
- Scaled price plans so you only pay for what you need
Cons
- You must be online at all times for the app to work properly–no offline tracking or syncing
- No mileage tracking for reimbursements
Overall, Connecteam has high ratings on sites like GetApp, Trustpilot, and G2 and offers a variety of plans and features to help your business grow. Most customers report that they were able to conserve time and resources by using this app and were satisfied overall with their experience.
Connecteam Pricing Tiers
The Connecteam app offers five different plans to match the size and needs of your growing business. The tiers range from the 100% free Small Business tier to the customized Enterprise tier.
Each of the five plans focuses on three main “hubs”–the Operations Hub, Communications Hub, and HR & Skills Hub.
Connecteam is competitive in its pricing. You’re charged a flat rate per month and then a small upcharge per employee if you have more team members than your plan includes.
Let’s review Connecteam’s top features and costs for each plan.
Small Business Plan
The Small business plan includes some amazing features and the best part is it’s free for life! You can access the same hubs and features included in top-tier plans such as geofencing, HR skills, GPS tracking, team chats, permissions management, and much more.
This plan is limited to 10 users and includes a single time clock. However, for small teams and businesses just starting out, Connecteam’s free plan is one of the most attractive on the market.
Basic Plan
Connecteam’s Basic Plan costs $35 per month for up to 30 users, and each additional user costs 60 cents. The Basic Plan comes with a single time clock and offers benefits such as mobile admin capabilities, timesheet access, payroll integrations, team chat, and GPS geolocation stamps as employees clock in and out.
However, with the Basic plan, you lose many features offered in the free plan. GPS and management functions are limited and you won’t have access to many of Connecteam’s shortcuts or quick tasks.
Advanced Plan
The Advanced Plan Connecteam’s most popular paid plan. This tier costs $59 a month for up to 30 users and $1.80 per additional user. You get three time clocks and geofencing for up to 10 work sites. Some of the highlights of this tier are Smart Groups, admin permissions, and other management tools. The Advanced Plan includes over twice as many features as the Basic Plan offering the best value for your money.
Expert Plan
The Expert Plan includes everything in the Basic and Advanced Plan and tacks on many extra features. Here are a few of the highlights of this plan:
- In-app links and shortcuts
- Automatically assign shifts
- Multi-branch management tools
- Live GPS tracking during work hours
- An activity Analytics Dashboard
This plan starts at a flat rate of $119 a month for the first 30 users and $3.60 for each additional user.
Enterprise Plan
At the top of Connecteam’s tiers is the Enterprise Plan. This plan is an all-in-one solution to your business needs and the price is set accordingly. The highlights of this plan include a personal account manager, API access, unlimited time clocks, SSO, 2FA, a biometric lock, and more.
Discounts
If you are looking to cut down business costs, you can pay for a year’s subscription for a discount. Basically, Connecteam knocks a few cents off the price per user and you get two of the 12 months thrown in for free!
How to Use Connecteam: Quick Start Guide
Step 1: Create an account
Click on the Get Started for Free button on the home page. This will take you to a simple form where you enter your business email, name and password to create an account.
Once you’re in, you will be asked to answer a few questions to customize your account including:
- Name of your business, and role
- Number of employees and your industry
- Which features you want from time clock operations, communication tools, to HR resources.
- Your logo
- Business phone
Step 2: Add team members
Something cool we like about Connecteam is how nicely organized the walkthrough is to help you get everything you need to manage your team setup fairly easy without the overwhelm.
There are videos for pretty much every product in the Connecteam app. You will be taken through a Getting Started walkthrough that makes it all seem easy.
First thing you can do is add your team members. Click on “Users” on the left hand menu, then click on “Add Users”. Fill in your teams name, email address, and phone. You can also import a list if you have a bigger team.
Step 3: Setup time clock
Next up is to setup your time clock. Click on “Time Clock” in the left hand menu under Operations. Click on “Add New” to add a new time clock for your location. If you have the upgraded version, you can add multiple clocks for different locations or team which is pretty nifty!
Now you can adjust a few things, including:
- Jobs: Click on the “Jobs” button to create all the work associated with the time clock for your team.
- Under “Settings” you can setup which day your work week starts, your payroll period, integrate your payroll software, and location tracking.
- After you get this done the first time, you will then be able to go back to settings to adjust how your team clocks in and out, breaks, overtime, and timesheet management.
Step 4: Build your schedule
Under Operations, click on “Job Scheduling”. Then click on the plus sign in a calendar block to add a new shift. Fill in the start times, shift title, shift job, and users who qualify to work this shift.
The scheduler is nice because it allows employees to share which days they are not available. The system takes this into account as it creates your schedule for you using the automated auto-assign function.
Once the schedule is done you can send it to your team quickly through the phone app. The cool thing is your team can dispute the schedule right from the phone app! Team members can even search for trades right from the app too. I’m sure you realize the headaches this feature alone saves!
Step 5: Start Tracking
Once your schedule is created for your team, they can clock in on their mobile apps at the time their shift begins. For our example, if you are using the desktop app, first click on the name of your account in the upper right hand corner, then select “Switch user view”.
This will allow you to use the desktop app as your team would and clock in from your computer. Then click on the big button that says “Clock In”, select a job for your shift, and you are now tracking your time!
When you’re ready to review timesheets for yourself or your team, simple click on the “Timesheets” tab (under admin). There you can:
- Review each team member and their time cards
- Add team members and time cards if needed
- Print timesheets
- Review each pay period
How Does Connecteam Compare to the Competition?
There are many other time-tracking apps besides Connecteam on the market. But can they do the job just as well?
Connecteam alternatives include Homebase, Deputy, and Time Doctor. Similar to Connecteam, these software include some combination of time clock, employee scheduling software, and total workforce management. Let’s compare a few of their strengths and shortcomings side-by-side.
Homebase
- Homebase offers geofencing in one location whereas Connecteam offers unlimited geofencing in some plans.
- Homebase has a more limited free plan than Connecteam.
- Homebase works best when all employees are at one central location, whereas Connecteam is more flexible for remote workers and non-desk employees.
- Homebase charges by location, while Connecteam has a flat rate for up to 30 users.
- Homebase can track time offline and sync to your schedule, however Connecteam must be connected to the internet to work properly.
Deputy
- Unlike Deputy, Connecteam offers a free plan.
- Deputy charges $6 per user, while Connecteam charges a flat rate for up to 30 users.
- Connecteam offers over three times as many features as Deputy.
- Connecteam has more positive reviews on its customer support team.
Time Doctor
- Time Doctor charges $8 per user a month while Connecteam charges a flat rate for up to 30 users.
- Connecteam offers many more features to promote team communication and collaboration than Time Doctor.
- Time Doctor does not offer a free plan, while Connecteam’s free plan includes all the extra benefits.
Connecteam Review: Our Final Verdict
After reviewing Connecteam’s time clock and employee management system, I was very impressed with what it had to offer.
The time clock app is user-friendly and allows you to handle everything from scheduling and payroll to onboarding and personal development. Unlike many other apps, Connecteam also offers live GPS tracking–even in the free plan.
I also liked how efficiently it integrated with other apps and systems. The fact that a time clock’s calendar can sync with my Google Calendar is seemingly so minor. However, it can make a huge difference when coordinating work and personal life.
Connecteam is a popular time-tracking system plus employee scheduling software, and after studying it closely I can see why!
If you are not sold on it yet, see if Connecteam is right for you by starting with the free Small Business Plan or a two-week free trial.
FAQs
Is Connecteam trustworthy?
Connecteam is serious about keeping your business’s data and personal employee information safe. This time tracker actively audits and tests its security system at regular intervals to ensure that it remains trustworthy for its wide base of users.
Is Connecteam actually free?
Yes, Connecteam’s Small Business Plan designed for up to 10 employees is free forever! This amazing solution includes access to all the main hubs and features offered in top-tier plans.
If you have more than 10 members or desire more advanced workplace management options, you can register for one of Connecteam’s paid plans. You can also try out extra plan features during a 14-day free trial.
Does Connecteam take screenshots for employees?
No, Connecteam doesn’t take screenshots of employees. However, this time tracker does register the location of employees when they clock in and clock out. You can also set up a geo-fence to ensure your employees are at a specific location. Or, administrators can track employee movements live throughout the workday.
Does Connecteam work without the Internet?
The Connecteam app currently does not track offline hours or locations. You must be connected to the internet for the features to work properly.
