Kronos Launches New InTouch Time Clock

November 8, 2011 Alex Woodie

Kronos kicked off its KronosWorks conference in Orlando, Florida, yesterday with the launch of InTouch, a new time clock platform that features a color touch screen, Internet cloud connectivity, and the capability to run applications for employees outside of common punch-in and punch-out times.

The InTouch time clock is a relatively small device, with a seven-inch color LCD touch screen. Employees can clock-in and clock-out using any of the popular methods, including smartcards or biometric identification. The device prevents employees from punching outside of scheduled start and stop times, and also provides an attestation feature to allow employees to sign off on the accuracy of their timecard.

InTouch can connect to time and attendance software–such as Kronos iSeries Central suite–that resides onsite, or connect to a time and attendance system running in the cloud, thanks to a modern network stack that supports IPV6, DNS, DHCP, and SSL encryption.

Like the previous generation of Kronos time clocks, InTouch allows employees to accomplish basic tasks, such as checking accrual balances, requesting time off, and viewing schedules. Kronos has supported these features for years in its 4500 series of time clocks, which are about the size of an ATM.

But one of the most interesting aspects of the svelte InTouch device is the capability to run apps. When it’s not clocking employees in or out, the InTouch’s app capability allows it to play videos, display sales data, or perform employee surveys. There is even an embedded VoIP app that allows employees to call the help desk.

Kronos is providing an InTouch development kit to help customers write their own apps in the device’s Web browser interface, and is providing an InTouch App Exchange to allow Kronos customers to share their apps.