Frontline HCM (Aesop Online)

Score7.8 out of 10

22 Reviews and Ratings

Community insights

TrustRadius Insights for Frontline HCM (Aesop Online) are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, third party data sources.

Business Problems Solved

Frontline Absence Management is a versatile software that has proven to be a valuable tool for organizations in managing employee absences and substitute assignments. Users appreciate its user-friendly nature, allowing them to easily input, edit, or delete absences while checking their absence balances and history. The software eliminates the need for one individual to be solely responsible for finding substitute teachers, as it offers multiple avenues to find qualified substitutes, including internet job shopping, jobulator push notifications, and phone calls. The software also streamlines the absence submission process and keeps track of absence balances, minimizing the need for paper submissions and speeding up the absence request process. Frontline Absence Management can be accessed from anywhere through its website or app, providing convenience for users who can manage their absences on their phones or computers. Additionally, the software integrates with HRIS/Business office software, further streamlining data management for organizations. Overall, Frontline Absence Management proves to be an efficient solution for managing and tracking staff absences while facilitating substitute assignments in various industries.

Reviews

16 Reviews

Frontline experience from a veteran teacher.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Incentivized

January 20, 2023

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Frontline is a very basic and easy-to-use software from the employee side. It is very user-friendly, with almost no learning curve compared to other software. We use Frontline (Aesop) as our absence management system in the school district I work in for personal leave/absences. It is easy to input, edit or delete an absence and also to check other items such as absence balances or history of absences.

Pros

Ease of use
Layout is not too complicated
Small learning curve for use
Works well on desktop or mobile

Cons

The layout could be "outdated" for some
Make a mobile app to use with it
A dashboard that has user options more readily available

Likelihood to Recommend

Frontline is well suited for an organization such as a school district where teachers sometimes need to put in for a substitute at the last minute or especially early in the morning. The system also helps with substitutes in picking up the jobs when a teacher puts in an absence.

Verified User

Employee (1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

7 years of experience

Frontline: Straightforward and Reliable.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

April 28, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use Frontline to help track upcoming absences and scheduling changes. Frontline helps manage when employees have days off by serving as a cohesive calendar from Human Resources to all employees at the organization. I also use Frontline to mark when I will be using vacation time, sick time, or other types of absences. This is then viewable to Human Resources and other administrators.

Pros

Absence management for administrators to view.
Scheduling for staff.
Viewable calendars for future planning.

Cons

No recurring schedules that can be added.
No integration with Google Calendar.

Likelihood to Recommend

Frontline is great for making sure that absences are reported to management and Human Resources. It is helpful for scheduling subs to fill in, as well as seeing upcoming dates where employees do not have to come to work. Frontline is well-suited for an easy-to-use scheduling system. As it isn't a complex program, there isn't a lot that can go wrong with it. However, if you're looking for something more robust and with better integration with other platforms, you might want to look elsewhere.

Sam Carleton

Communications in Social Media at Azusa USD (501-1000 employees)

Vetted Review

3 years of experience

Frontline Aesop - Does What You Need It To Do, But at a High Cost

Rating: 7 out of 10

Incentivized

November 29, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We utilize Aesop for our employee attendance and substitute teacher tracking. Employees had their absences into the system and substitutes are contacted to fulfill those assignments. We also utilize the system to send out mass communications to our substitute teaching pool. We then integrate the data from Aesop into our HRIS/Business office software.

Pros

Employee absence tracking
Substitute teacher calling
Easy-to-use web interface

Cons

Reporting - WAY TOO cumbersome. I went through certification training on using the system and still have difficulty running reports.
Weird way of reporting when a substitute declines an assignment (Phone log shows call as "aborted")
No option to roll calendar over year to year

Likelihood to Recommend

The system does what it is designed to do: track employee absences and set up a system to call substitutes. For the price that we pay, I would think that we would get a lot more out of the system, but that's not the case. The report writer feature is way too cumbersome. You have to know exactly what type of report you want to run and then insert the specific fields you want. There are not reports that are pre-done that you can just click on with the information you are looking for. You have to create those yourself, which takes a lot of trial and error to get what you're looking for.

Eric Melnyczenko

Director of Human Resources in Human Resources at Flossmoor School District 161 (201-500 employees)

Vetted Review

2 years of experience

View profile

Easy to use platform, great for schools!

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

November 24, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We are a K-12 charter school and we use Frontline HCM for our substitute teacher management. This is an efficient and easy way for our employees to submit a request for a sub. Frontline also helps us track and monitor our sub usage. We use Frontline almost daily and it has been extremely beneficial to our organization.

Pros

Tracking.
User-Friendly.
Flexible.

Cons

Integrate with other systems.
Easier setup.

Likelihood to Recommend

Each morning, I run a report out of our absence management system to see who is absent each day. I am able to log into Frontline and quickly see who has their absence filled with a sub and who hasn't. I can also run a report that is easy for me to paste onto my other reports. We use another system for absence management and so it is tough to have our employees need to use two different systems when entering time off. This is why it would be helpful for Frontline to be integrated with other systems.

Verified User

Administrator in Human Resources (201-500 employees)

Vetted Review

1 year of experience

Frontline - Still one of the industry's best

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

June 29, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Frontline Absence Management is used to manage employee absences and substitute assignments. It allows managers to view the vacations and hours and approve accordingly.

Pros

Easy to use
Interfaces with our business system
Understandable interface

Cons

Nothing comes to mind

Likelihood to Recommend

Many school districts use/have used Frontline (Aesop). It is easy to manage and employees like it. We have many substitutes and because other districts also use it, there is a consistency with the different districts that is helpful to subs.

Lisa Gonzales

Chief Business Officer in Information Technology at Mt Diablo Unified (1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

10 years of experience

Frontline is clearly at the front of the class

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

June 9, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Frontline Absence Management (formerly Aesop) is used by all of our teacher staff, classroom instructional assistants, nurses, and some contractual employees that are partnered one-on-one with special education students. Frontline Absence Management (formerly Aesop) is excellent in finding qualified substitutes via multiple avenues where substitutes can job shop (internet), jobulator (push notifications to subs phone), and make phone calls.

Pros

Intuitive/easy-to-use screens
Reporting capabilities
Customer service is excellent

Cons

Reporting--reports created by Frontline Absence Management (formerly Aesop) cannot be modified by our system admins

Likelihood to Recommend

Frontline Absence Management (formerly Aesop) is only one module of the Frontline suite of products we use. Integration between them is good but could be better. Frontline Absence Management (formerly Aesop) is very robust and has handled 95% of the things we throw at it, even though we are K-12, we have an obscure setup at times. We've had to use an API to replace a limitation of the reporting process on one of our exports. Their documentation of the system (including APIs) is excellent.

Aaron Ward

Programmer Analyst in Information Technology at Wicomico County Public Schools (1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

8 years of experience

Frontline: Change in Name, Not Reliability

Rating: 8 out of 10

Incentivized

December 2, 2020

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Our business uses this product to assist with managing employee absences. It also alleviates the need for any one individual to be in charge of finding substitute teachers for those who are not able to be at school. With this, our district can make sure absences are covered as well as manage who will fill absences within the district.

Pros

Provides coverage for employee absences.
Notifies teachers and administrators in changes in coverage.
Manages absence banks.
Tracks absences with or without needed substitutes.
Easy to use interface.

Cons

User support mainly through organization, not Aesop/Frontline.
Change in interface occurs without walk-through of new features to follow.
Account recovery can be challenging.

Likelihood to Recommend

Within our school district, getting in contact with administrators around the clock can be challenging and unrealistic. Through the use of Frontline, employees can submit absences at any time of the day or night. This also allows substitutes to accept jobs as soon as absences are submitted. This may not be as well suited for employee absences that do not require someone to fill the position immediately.

Carly McPartland

1st Grade Teacher in Human Resources at Greater Latrobe School District (201-500 employees)

Vetted Review

6 years of experience

View profile

Frontline Absence Management - Not Worth the Time nor Investment

Rating: 7 out of 10

Incentivized

November 4, 2020

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

It is currently used by Washtenaw County to manage Teacher assignments for the school week which runs from Monday thru Friday with the odd weekend day. In theory it is supposed to allow the user to look at available assignments based on their calendar which tracks open days versus reserved days. It also allows for a Global View looking at all Districts that you have permission to teach at.

Pros

Updates calendar immediately with open days
Sends a confirmation email based on activity
Allows the end user to contact the school / district with any questions
Will remove canceled assignments immediately so that you can be considered for new assignments

Cons

Not very intuitive
The Portal is cumbersome
You have to remember to save everything
It times out immediately if it does not detect any activity

Likelihood to Recommend

Frontline handles basic activity very well, but it cannot handle more difficult scenarios such as swapping out assignments. For example, if a Teacher has an assignment and then that assignment gets canceled by the school due to snow, ice, or a facility issue such as loss of power, the end-user loses that day of pay. Frontline does not offer a global view so that assignments can be swapped.

Verified User

Employee in Professional Services (1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

2 years of experience

Frontline Absence Management is a keeper!

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

March 31, 2020

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

As a teacher, we have personal days, sick days, professional days, field trips, compassionate care, bereavement day, etc. Frontline Absence Management allows me to enter my days from anywhere (my phone in an emergency or my work laptop) and keeps track of the type of absence that I have taken along with the days I have remaining. Because educators and support staff have so many different options, Frontline streams the process and keeps track of my bank for me. Also, because a teacher must submit an absence prior to the day, Frontline allows me to do it from anywhere at any time. In the old days, we had to call substitute service during their business hours.

Pros

Anywhere, anytime access
Keeps track of days taken
Allows notes to my administrator and/or substitute

Cons

Would like to choose or request a specific substitute
Honestly, the system works great!

Likelihood to Recommend

Frontline Absence Management is easily accessible and efficient to use. I like that I can log in from anywhere at any time and create an absence. In an emergency situation, that is key as a teacher must always generate an absence no matter what is the reason. I also think it is beneficial that Frontline keeps track of my bank of absences in each of the categories so I no longer have to do that for myself. Overall, this system beats the old days of calling the substitute service!

Melissa Ferro

Library Media Specialist at Ramapo High School (201-500 employees)

Vetted Review

5 years of experience

Easy to use on mobile and desktop to post absences!

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

January 23, 2020

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use it across the whole Floyd County School System for teachers to post absences and assign substitutes. I love that I can do it from my phone or on the computer. My coworkers and I like that it shows our absence balances as well as favorite substitutes whom we can assign. It makes it easy to report an absence either the morning of or months in advance!

Pros

It’s easy to use on your mobile phone or computer.
It allows you to leave feedback on subs and see how others rated them.

Cons

I would like to see an app.
Some of my co-workers have had issues assigning a sub when using the website on their phone.

Likelihood to Recommend

It is well suited whether you are planning to be absent months in advance and need to contact a sub ahead of time or if you wake up sick the morning of work and need to post an absence immediately. Subs can use it to look for openings they can fill.

Meg Inscoe

Physical education teacher at Floyd County School System (501-1000 employees)

Vetted Review

3 years of experience

View profile