ADP WorkForce Suite vs. Aladtec vs. Aspect Workforce

Functionality is lacking for anything beyond basic clock in/clock out features. Job costing, scheduling, etc. is clunky and requires high level configuration, and still does not always work as intended. The number of steps required to get data from one location to another is over complicated - should be more streamlined and simple

Incentivized

Aladtec works well in a large organization where employees need to access the schedule from all different locations/devices and being able to make adjustments on the go. Aladtec allows the adding of meetings, training, and work shifts all on the same calendar and details can be seen by clicking on the individual item. Aladtec allows the adding of many details and to customize looking at the calendar for each individual.

Incentivized

Easy workforce management tool and the dashboard is well designed with multiple accessible functionalities. This platform allows easy data collection across other project management systems and the analytics which the tool provides are excellent and very reliable project planning and easy scheduling with effective and excellent management functionalities and initial implementing is also an easy process.

• Scheduling can be made simple with pre-made templates
• Tracking time off balances accurately
• If a mistake is made, fixing timesheets is simple

Incentivized

• User training is easy with Aladtec. We provided the employees with a login, and they were pros within 20 minutes of logging in.
• Shift reminders help employees remember their next scheduled shift.
• Exception alarms alert you when someone is late to work.

• Long range forecasting as well as forecasting using multiple models.
• Schedule Testing - Being able to test your current or proposed schedules against various forecasts.
• Real-Time Tracking, a lot of insight is given around if an agent was available and when.

• EmpCenter's report features need improvement. While it is nice that the user has several options for the format to receive the report in and with a recent update reports can be scheduled to run and be printed or emailed to the user or someone else of their choosing on a regular basis, daily, weekly, monthly. The reports never seem to have all of the information you need on one report and need a lot of manipulating to get the results you actually need. For example we have reports with employees names that show total hours worked, but don't include rates of pay or the job title. When employees have more than one job or rate for the work they are preforming you don't get that breakdown of information with their total hours worked. Another report includes three ways of reporting the same total hours but don't all round the same so, for example the total clocked hours may show 34.3 hours and the work study hours on the same report that should match round to 34.2. We have asked for certain data to be added to certain reports such as a supervisor name and it seems to be such a task for that to be provided and a high cost we are not getting these request met.
• Management of time sheets when a supervisor has many employees is difficult. EmpCenter only allows for one manager to be named for each employee. In most settings this may make sense but in our environment in particular with student employees we often have more than one person who oversee different aspects of that employees work and both need access to their records. In our Housing and Dining department we have three managers who are together overseeing several hundred student employees. One manager may be primarily responsible for the employees pay rates and evaluations while another scheduling and they may not all be working at the same time. Because only one of them can have access to an employee’s time sheet if that person is not in and an employee needs assistance with something in EmpCenter the other managers can't help them. Also the display only shows up to 500 employees or assignments. We have some units who have up to eight different assignments for one employee. These areas will have several employees each with several different assignments which means several individual time sheets. This all will result in more than 500 and the supervisor has to use a search feature to get to the employees who do not display in their more user friendly list. Also this many assignments results in many time sheets and the clock times report separately for each and do not combine into one larger complete time sheet so each must be managed separately. It would be nice if there was a view that combined all hours into one time sheet view. Finally on this note when a supervisor is approving time they can only approve one time sheet per employee at a time so they have to do mass amounts of approvals and ultimately simply don't approve time sheets when they are dealing with so many.
• Probably our largest problem is that when we do have programming that is not working properly or aspects of the system that we would like improved it is difficult to get those corrections made and made in a timely manner. I do not work directly with the company, but it has taken a few payroll cycles to get programming fixed for some things causing a lot of manual work in my area to pay employees correctly. If anyone is looking at purchasing this product I advise that they be very clear and detailed upfront with what they are getting and what is included in the cost they are being quoted. Because this is a customizable program you buy an off the shelf basic and the company works with you to price what programming will be done from there. Things we thought were covered we are finding are not and it is very costly to add other programming to our contract. I often feel it is not a high priority for them to resolve problems we are experiencing however it is very important for us and the work we are trying to do.
• We also have problems with access to the system in different ways and needing more roles. EmpCenter has a role for a user who only has access to certain activity such as reporting their time and requesting time off, a role as a manager who can approve time off and time sheets and see their employees records, and a super user role who has more administrative access to override things and handle some of the errors and issue we may experience. in my role I am an administrator for several different areas of the campus and need to access the system at a higher level to assist employees and managers but can only have the manager role but with wider access granted. So by this I mean that I see the features a manager sees but am seen as a manager of all employees in several areas on campus where the other manager role is restricted to just that managers employees alone. In this sense I suppose this is a fourth role the system allows, but I can't do any more actions than a manager can i can just see more people. The super user role is not granted because it is at such a higher level that they can actually effect programming and this role is highly restricted so that users don't inadvertently corrupt the program. I feel there needs to be one more layer in between the super user level and the manager level. I would like to be able to delete time when employees have clocked in by mistake and simply want that removed or when there are more minor problems with a record that I can't correct. Also when a manager is out and has not delegated their employees to someone else to manage I would like to be able to make that delegation so that someone in the unit can review, correct and approve time in place of that supervisor who is gone.
• Overall we have had many problems with things not working right and trying to get the system to calculate properly, finding ways to get information we need from it, and managing and using it. I am sure these are general growing pains anyone would have when transitioning an entire university to a new electronic system, but it has been a difficult first year. If you are thinking of implementing this program have a good communication plan, someone who is the lead and will get things taken care of when they need to be, and clear roles and responsibilities lined out so that everyone knows who does what and who to go to when there is a problem.

• Any specific improvements I have already mentioned to Aladtec and (I'm thrilled to report) several have already been implemented. They even made system accommodations for colorblind users - an industry first!
• I am excited to see further development of the custom forms so we can merge to a completely paperless schedule & payroll system.
• Although there is no specific fleet management tool, we have worked with Aladtec's Customer Support pros to develop a ways to accurately record all of our vehicles for scheduling maintenance, in-service and down time.

• Due to the level of detail offered via statistics this program can become overwhelming for new users and especially upper management who just needs to see the highlights.

After spending close to 5 years to decide on which payroll product to acquire for our University, I cannot image we would switch now that we have it in use.

I do not currently use the product. My clients do and it is a good tool if you use it the right way.

Once the initial set up of the software is complete and/or you are familiar with the software, it is easy to use and runs like a dream. However, if you are unfamiliar with the software or have used a competitor's product, some features can seem difficult to learn or get used to.

Extremely knowledgeable staff that truly care about our business processes

Aladtec has given the support needed, especially in learning the new system and bringing it up to speed for the entire workforce. There is a need to reach out to them when everything freezes, which is rare. This system has been fairly smooth after it had been in use for at least 6 months.

Incentivized

I was impressed with the support I received. There were never any long delays when I had issues and the representatives that I worked with were always patient and eager to fully understand not only my problem but our business processes surrounding the problem.

Implementation of the software was not difficult but it was tedious for us due to the fact that our processes had not kept up with the times and we had to make a large number of process changes along with setting up the software.

I did not make the decision to select EmpCenter and only know our university also considered Kronos although I assume there were other products considered. My use of Kronos was only at an employee level and I am not sure how it all stacks up for sure. What I do think is that EmpCenter is more customizable than other products and was seen to be able to adapt to fit all of our needs so it was a system that could be used by everyone. I think it is good we have one time keeping system and don't have some employees using paper or a different system because the one could not meet our needs, but as I said this also makes it more difficult to network with other users and to get improvements made quickly.

The features, functionality, user-friendliness and cost were all factors. Aladtec surpassed all 4 of the other systems we evaluated, most especially with their customer support. We have not had major problems but the few minor glitches we had (all our fault, admittedly) were resolved quickly. The staff not only responded immediately but they made sure we fully understood what happened, helping us prevent future frustrations.

BambooHR is also easy to use and the user interface is friendly, but from my experience, it is better for smaller companies or companies that don't have a lot of clientele that they need to work around. The user interface of PARiM is more confusing as well and not as streamlined as Aspect's.

Incentivized

• Employees can now better track their hours and ensure they are paid accurately by payroll.
• Timekeeping is faster and smoother for most administrators.
• The system does need to be slightly more compatible in translating its data from the home software to another software.

• Less time spent on scheduling. More time on staff management and operations.
• Affordable solution to scheduling and staff notifications. Very cheap compared to other similar vendors.
• Streamlined operations for our department by using this software and database. Staff can access what they need anytime they want by computer or cell phone.

• Improved service level: By utilizing the forecasting features and scheduling optimizers in the software, service level objections can be increased greatly- especially in a multi-skill environment.
• Reduced workload for back-office employees: Being able to quickly schedule in bulk, quickly create forecasts, automate reports, and have agents' schedule requests automatically approved or denied can save massive amounts of time.
• Agent efficency: By providing multiple tools to gauge agents' adherence, you can see massive improvements in the way your call center agents adhere to their schedule; which in turn, improves service level.