Tell HN: My "remote employee management" startup | Hacker News Reader

Tell HN: My "remote employee management" startup

11 pointscoryl10 comments

Hi HN,

I've been working on a startup for the past few weeks to get our MVP out the door. We're ready to let the world know about our product, called HiveDesk.

HiveDesk is a solution for managing outsource/remote workers. The idea actually came from a friend who manages 5 Filipino employees on monthly salary. He was concerned that they weren't being honest about their hours worked, and didn't want to keep paying 10% fees associated with outsource portals like oDesk (who offer time tracking/screenshot capturing software). What he needed was a 3rd party service that let him manage his workers at a cheaper price. Thats where we stepped in.

HiveDesk lets employers oversee and manage remote workers through our client software. The worker installs it and "checks in" to a project whenever they're ready to work. The timer is started and automatically tracks time worked, and screenshot data is submitted every 10 minutes. It helps keep bosses in the loop as to work progress, and keeps contractors honest (no lying about hours worked, or goofing off on your dime).

You can learn more about HiveDesk at http://www.hivedesk.com

What do you think guys? We still have yet to build a proper business model / price points. Opinions and suggestions appreciated. Thanks

I like it, and will probably end-up using it and wouldn't mind paying for it. I know you just got your MVP out the door, but a couple things that I would like to see before I start using it:

* Delete/Edit button for projects created; * SSL option (on/off in account settings); * Mac/Linux client; * Option to turn off the screen capture per project or per user.

heymatty, thanks for the suggestions. We are actually thinking of porting over to Java to support Mac and Linux. Delete/edit should be simple. We'll look into SSL.

May I ask why you need the option to turn off screenshots? We considered this initially, but logic was that screenshot updates was the point of our software and weren't sure why anyone would use our service to turn off screenshots. Thanks

The fundamental for me is to adequately track hours worked for my remote workers. The screenshot feature is a tool to verify that the hours logged were for actual work.

I want to be able to track time without relying on the user to submit it manually. I want a tool that submits automatically with me controlling the idle time and if I want screenshots or not.

After a while when you develop a trust relationship with your remote workers you don't necessarily want to take screenshots all the time and/or for all projects. Screenshots are not always necessary and can, if used all the time, wear down morale.

If you work with a new remote workers on a quick project, sure why not. But when these remote workers becomes part of your company and are working 40+ hours a week for several months, it's overkill.

Also for sensitive projects - I don't necessarily want screenshots published on a 3rd party site and/or be submitted over an unencrypted connection.

Clickable: http://www.hivedesk.com

At first I was really put off by auto-uploading screenshots, but I actually think it's a pretty solid idea.

I'm tempted to suggest a way for you to pop up a chat window to your employee, what do you think of that?

Hi there, thanks for the comment.

Auto-uploaded screenshots aren't for everyone, its something that definitely has to be negotiated with the employee of course.

Our competitor oDesk (an outsourcing portal) offers similar software. They offer a chat system within the client (we could too). Its not a priority at the moment because it would probably only add marginal value; employees already communicate with their bosses through skype, MSN, email, etc.

Interesting ... I am sometimes at my desk and working on the design of my app for quite a long time without using the computer...

HiveDesk would consider I am not working if I am 5 minutes idle, right? have you considered an additional periodic webcam screenshot ?

If you haven't moved your keyboard or mouse for a duration of 5 minutes, then you would start logging idle time. This is an issue of the job at hand, because jobs like your job (and writing/designing/thinking) don't require the worker to always be on the computer.

We considered periodic webcam screenshots, but we find that to be a bit creepy and overbearing. oDesk does that, but I'm not sure thats something we want to do.

What would be better if you let employers get real-time screenshot data as often as they want (maybe even video). Seems like this is where the value of your product lies.

I like it as well. Maybe integrate it with existing project management software out there (37signals.com).

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