Application to show who is at there desk

[KingPhoenix]

Ok,

Looking for an app that i can install on the network, that shows when a terminal has not been touched for X amount of time. It needs to have some sort of master display.


The scenario to be used is so that reception can see if someone hasnt used their computer for the last 15 minutes, then its unlikely they are at there desk etc... therefore they dont have to try ringing the extension all the time..

Anyone? Ive had a quick google, but it just finds rubbish

[driver_problems]

Originally Posted by KingPhoenix

Ok,

Looking for an app that i can install on the network, that shows when a terminal has not been touched for X amount of time. It needs to have some sort of master display.


The scenario to be used is so that reception can see if someone hasnt used their computer for the last 15 minutes, then its unlikely they are at there desk etc... therefore they dont have to try ringing the extension all the time..

Anyone? Ive had a quick google, but it just finds rubbish

how about instant messenger? with the idle time set for 15 minutes?

[Gareth]

I believe Cisco Security Agent has such an option to monitor this sort of thing... got a spare million quid?

---------- Post added at 22:41 ---------- Previous post was at 22:39 ----------

...or maybe you could put a little button implanted in their seats, and when they sit down the button is depressed, indicating they're at their desk

[TheBlueRaja]

Originally Posted by KingPhoenix

Ok,

Looking for an app that i can install on the network, that shows when a terminal has not been touched for X amount of time. It needs to have some sort of master display.


The scenario to be used is so that reception can see if someone hasnt used their computer for the last 15 minutes, then its unlikely they are at there desk etc... therefore they dont have to try ringing the extension all the time..

Anyone? Ive had a quick google, but it just finds rubbish

Get yourself a decent PABX which can divert or has presence management....

[KingPhoenix]

Originally Posted by driver_problems

how about instant messenger? with the idle time set for 15 minutes?

Not ideal, but possible

---------- Post added at 22:51 ---------- Previous post was at 22:49 ----------

Originally Posted by TheBlueRaja

Get yourself a decent PABX which can divert or has presence management....

The PABX we have does divert, but how would that resolve the issue of the receiptionist knowing if someone is at there desk or not?
Not sure how presence management would work or if the new PABX has this functionality or not...... Will google it

---------- Post added at 22:53 ---------- Previous post was at 22:51 ----------

Originally Posted by Gareth

I believe Cisco Security Agent has such an option to monitor this sort of thing... got a spare million quid?

Sod it, i'll take 2

---------- Post added at 22:41 ---------- Previous post was at 22:39 ----------

...or maybe you could put a little button implanted in their seats, and when they sit down the button is depressed, indicating they're at their desk

I suggested tagging them, MD didnt approve incase of injury caused by tags Will ask him about the button suggestion tomorrow.... just dont like the idea of replacing a faulty button after some of them have been sat on it for weeks

[TheBlueRaja]

Whats the PABX?

Although most do reqiure at least some intervention from the user when he leaves his desk. Perhaps you could consider DECT or Mobile extensions for your users.

Again, it depends on the PBX.

[Angua]

If you can see if someone is logged off then perhaps all you need is something on the screensaver system which logs people off if idle for 15 minutes.

[Anonymouse]

Hmm...on PCs, tricky. On a UNIX network, you could probably write a script to do it. On a VAX/VMS cluster or mainframe, the sysops can access a transaction log, as everything on a VAX is logged, even keypresses. For example, if you're creating a text file and your terminal crashes, the next time you log on you can type EDIT/RECOVER filename. The editor recovers a journal file; this includes every single keypress, i.e. deletions, backspaces, cut & paste operations, page scrolling, the lot. It's fascinating to watch the cursor zipping back and forth, up and down, text appearing and disappearing; every single operation on the file is repeated exactly until it's restored to the point where the terminal crashed. You then carry on editing until you're done; the journal file is automatically deleted unless you alter the editor's default settings. There are also a variety of system functions known (for some reason) as the lexical functions that can be used for monitoring purposes, provided you have the necessary, i.e. sysop-only, privileges.

Anyway. There probably is a way to do it on a PC network, but I doubt it'll be anything but a technical solution; you'd probably need some sort of bespoke app. Possibly you could infer the level of a user's activity by checking the CPU time used by whatever task(s) they're meant to be running - in other words, if the task hasn't used much CPU time it's been left idle for a while, whereas if it's used a lot then the user is there and working with the task - but I'm not sure how you'd do that. One place you might try asking the same question is Windows Annoyances - there are a number of very knowledgeable contributors on the various forums who'll help if they can. Just post on the relevant forum, though, not on all of them; I'm assuming the terminals in question are running XP or 2000.

[bopdude]

How about a cheap permanently on web-cam with suitable prog at each work station, no getting around it....big brother is watching you, answer the god-damn phone

[driver_problems]

how about a 'hands on' non-ntl style manager, whose only concern is who he is hobnobbing with on the golf course in between bouts of outsourceing everything to third world countries, walking around the place to see why the b*ggers are not at their desks

That could be a novel approach