Workforce management as a service: New ASP solution for time and attendance from Kaba 

When a new system for time attendance is required because, for instance, the system that has been used up to that point has become out of date, usually a substantial amount of money needs to be invested in the hardware and software for this. This is not the case with the service-oriented business model which will be presented by Kaba's Belgian partner Protime. The new solution consists on the one hand of the ASP solution of the Belgian Kaba Software Partners Protime in the range of time and attendance and personnel planning and on the other hand of the time and attendance terminals from Kaba. The rental costs for the system are invoiced on a monthly basis and are based on the number of people who actually participate in the time and attendance system, as well as the number of terminals installed. The time and attendance software is located in the data center of Protime. The end customer does not therefore require a separate server, which saves purchase and maintenance costs. Protime guarantees the operational reliabililty of the system around the clock. Automatic updates to the time and attendance software happen regularly so that the end customer benefits from the latest software version at all times. 

For the new ASP solution, Kaba has developed a new web-based online communication system for their time attendance terminals. The use of standard technologies (HTTP/XML) permits collaboration with external service providers and thus a time and attendance solution as a service. When an employee clocks in or out at the time and attendance terminal, the data are transmitted via the Internet to the Protime software. The software generates personalized XML-based content and sends this back to the terminal with subsequent visualization (e.g. thank you, good morning, flexitime balance). For the user, the operation of the terminal is identical to that of a local system. 

Kaba and Protime thus offer companies the possibility of opting for a completely outsourced workforce management service package, including hardware and software. With 4,500 customers in Europe, Protime is one of the market leaders in the area of time & attendance, absence management and workforce planning in Europe. Protime put its faith in the outsourcing trend some years ago and developed an innovative ASP solution that has already been installed at the premises of numerous customers.