Stop using Excel for timesheets, use Outlook instead
Throw away the excel spreadsheets, Timewatch’s new calendar timesheet is a game-changer, and syncs with Outlook
Why this company threw away their weekly Excel timesheets…
… and now uses Outlook for their timesheets instead.
MyHealth Access Network links more than 4,000 providers and their patients to a state-wide health information system. Based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the idea is simple: if you’ve ever had to fill out the same form several times, or new forms with the same information, you’ve experienced the need for information sharing between doctors.
“We needed a way to track billable project hours…” The solution? Timewatch.
“We have a small staff – about 20 of us – but we have a lot of projects that we are working on and we needed a way to track billable project hours,” says Lance Butler, Project Manager at MyHealth Access Network.
“We started off keeping track of time in Excel spreadsheets. Each week people would track the amount of time on projects each day but we needed more detail.”
The team at MyHealth Access Network made something of an upgrade by using Outlook Calendar. Clients were billed according to calendar inputs that accounted for every hour of the day.
“If you spent 15 minutes on a project then you filled in a 15-minute appointment for that project,” Butler says.
“We set up a master list of billing categories and then extracted everybody’s data at the end of the month. This led us to realize we needed professional timekeeping software. The current system was taking too much time as it was a manual process.”
The Outlook Timesheet
“There was a lot of timekeeping software available, but Timewatch struck us immediately,” says Butler. “The key factor was that it plugged into the process we already had in place. We can use the appointments we already have scheduled on our calendar for timesheets while also entering time manually.”
“Users have to enter all data manually with most timekeeping software but Timewatch is different.”
“This is a merge of Outlook calendars and manual entry. It was simple and it was a natural fit for us.”
Perfect Integration
“Our Outlook timesheet was the perfect solution for My Health Access Network,” says Timewatch Product Specialist Anthony Vaccaro.
“OutlookTime® seamlessly integrates with Outlook to lets users turn appointments into timesheets, but also allows non-appointment time to be entered on the same screen. There’s no flipping between one screen and another or popping up a screen for Outlook items, it’s all there in one place. It makes timesheet entry incredibly easy for users as it uses data they are already familiar with, as they entered it in Outlook in the first place. Using data already in Outlook saves them from entering all that information again for their timesheet. Most customers tell us that it used to take them between 4-8 hours a month to enter time in their previous system, but OutlookTime® reduces it to minutes.”
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“There are other systems that have outlook links,” says Vaccaro, “but the big difference with OutlookTime® is that it is not an add-on to an existing timesheet system or an add-on for Outlook, it is a complete system designed from scratch specifically for Outlook with both manual and Outlook time visible and able to be entered on one screen. It’s why it is so slick and so fast.”
“Everyone who has seen this so far has said ‘Wow, it feels like Outlook, and looks like Outlook,’” Vaccaro explains, “You can see from the pictures that OutlookTime® was designed to look like Microsoft Office. We did this because we felt it would make for a smoother transition for new users, and this really works. Most people actually ask if it is a Microsoft product!”
As a cloud solution, OutlookTime® is available for PCs and Macs, and allow users to convert appointments from any version of Outlook, from PC, Mac, Phone or Tablet. Although not needed to turn Outlook appointments into timesheets, there is also a free plugin available for those that want to add OutlookTime® into Outlook itself†’.
† The plugin is not needed to turn appointments into timesheets, it is an option for those that want a plugin. Please note that all plugins run code within Outlook, and as a result slow Outlook down and can stop working when new releases of Outlook are released. This is a drawback of all Outlook plugins and is why Timewatch offer a full cloud solution that does not interfere with Outlook’s mission-critical operations and offer the plugin as an option, not a requirement for Outlook timesheet entry and time tracking.
Outlook timesheet functionality is available in the following products:
- OutlookTime® – Simple, easy Outlook Timesheet system.
- Time® – Advanced timesheet with advanced analysis and reporting.
- Time&Money® – Time and billing system,(includes features of OutlookTime® & Time®)
- Time&Space® – Professional Services Automation solution,(includes features of all products, including Whitespace® Resource Scheduling)
Contact us for full details, to request a personal demo or try it for free
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