Simple IN/OUT system for work?

July 30, 2008 11:09 AM

I want to set up a SIMPLE in/out system for about 75 employees using available technology if possible (outlook, skype?) so that our operators can see where folks are at easily. any recommendations? Rather not buy new software unless it is cheap and easy easy easy
posted by dougiedd to computers & internet (11 comments total)

Provided everyone has a cellphone, the first thing coming to mind is Twitter, having people text in their location plus direct messaging (one-on-one) available. Also, it has a web interface and several apps for both mac/win. You'd have to register an account for every employee and authenticate their cellphone# and "follow" everyone / have everyone following you.
posted by _dario at 11:29 AM on July 30

Shared Google calendar, provided everyone has wired access everywhere
posted by porpoise at 12:07 PM on July 30

Outlook allows you to share your calendar with others. If everyone is consistent about putting their appointments, travel, and other occasions on the calendar, then anyone who is curious can easily view their calendar in Outlook and see what they're up to.

(This doesn't allow you to see the current status of 75 people at once -- but how useful is that anyway? Usually you're looking for the whereabouts of a person or two.)
posted by Tubes at 12:14 PM on July 30

(Though if you really need to see the current status of 75 people at once, Out'n About! for Outlook looks like a simple solution for $349.)
posted by Tubes at 12:19 PM on July 30

Get everybody on AIM or Skype and their status indicates In/Out?
posted by COD at 12:36 PM on July 30

i shared google spreadsheet might be easier than a calendar.
posted by maulik at 12:54 PM on July 30

This is a web-based inout board.
posted by damn dirty ape at 2:30 PM on July 30

The shared outlook calender might work esp for out of house appointments that we tend to book in outlook, but for quick trips elsewhere in the organization not as good perhaps.
I do not understand the idea of google spreadsheet. Can you elaborate?
Twitter i would have to look into but most of my staff are pretty naive about texting actually
posted by dougiedd at 4:50 PM on July 30

It depends on how everything is organized in your place. I would actually just use voice mail. Have the people update their voicemails to say things like this normally:

"You've reached Bob, I'm normally available to take calls from 9 until 4. Please leave a message. If this is urgent, press 0 to speak to the operator and they will be able to assist you."

And if they aren't in the office, the greeting can be changed to:

"You've reached Mary. I'm out of the office this week and will return Monday the 3rd. Please leave a message and I will get back to you next week. If this is urgent, press 0 for the operator."

If someone's voice mail doesn't say they are gone, have the operator overhead page the person. (Or heck, text message them via a web-to-cell website.)

When people are in do not disturb situations, email the operator(s) that persons x y and z are in the conference room and cannot be disturbed.

It shouldn't be an operator's problem to locate people- people need to be responsible for their own availability.

(And if you're in a call center situation where someone needs to be available for "I need to speak to a manager" moments, I'd make up a schedule. Joe is on call from 8-11, Mary is on call from 11-2, Phil is on call from 2-5. Etc.)
posted by gjc at 5:05 PM on July 30

I do not understand the idea of google spreadsheet. Can you elaborate?
A Google Spreadsheet with 2 columns ( Employee Name | Status ) and 75 rows, 1 per employee. Share the worksheet and turn on editing so everyone can go to their row and manually set their status to IN or OUT. Of course, this requires everyone to be diligent about changing their status.
posted by junesix at 7:11 PM on July 30

If you are busy enough to require a status board, then you are too busy to keep your status up to date. At mega-corp we have Office Communicator integrated with Exchange. You get free/busy status like you have in any IM client, which allows you to see which of 75 people are at their desks at any given moment. It's integrated with the outlook calendar, so if somebody is in a meeting then you can right click them to find out what time they will be free again. This is a super handy (and super expensive) way to solve your problem.
posted by crazycanuck at 8:49 PM on July 30