The Work Monitor in Synovia is designed to show dispatchers if every driver is ready to cover their route; it lists all the drivers for a selected department, displays who is clocked in and out, and if schedules are assigned in Time and Attendance (TAA), shows drivers who are late to work.


Note: The Work Monitor is available only if your organization has the TAA module, which enables you to track your employees' time, collecting data to help you manage clock-ins, work activities, time cards, absences, overtime, reports, and payroll integration.


To monitor which drivers are clocked in and out — and therefore make sure that all your routes are covered, follow these steps:


  1. In Synovia, click >> Work Monitor.
     

    Initially, the screen will be blank.
       
    By default, all the status types (Clocked In, Clocked Out, Absent, On Holiday, and Late) and employee types will be selected.
     
  2. If these default settings are what you want to see, skip down to step 5.
     
  3. If you want to change any of the displayed status types (and other options), follow these steps:
     
    1. Click the Options expansion arrow.
       
      The Options panel will appear.
        
      By default, the screen refreshes the data displayed every 60 seconds.
       
    2. To change that, click the Refresh Rate drop-down arrow and select a different frequency for the data to be reloaded: every 15 seconds, 30 seconds, 90 seconds, 5 minutes, or 10 minutes.
       
      The Minutes for "Late" Status to Schedule value is the number of minutes compared to an employee's scheduled start time that the Work Monitor will display them as late for work (and make their grid row red). A value of 0 means that if the employee hasn't clocked in by their exact start time, they will have a status of Late. A negative value will count time before the schedule start time as late (so a value of -10 and a schedule start of 7:00 will mark an employee late at 6:50). A positive value equates to time after the schedule start time (so 10 and a schedule start of 7:00 will count someone as late at 7:10).
      Caution: In order for any of your employees to be listed as Late in the Work Monitor, you'll need to create and assign TAA schedules first. (See The Process of Using Schedules, Creating a Master Schedule Template, and Assigning Schedules to Employees for details.)
    3. To change the time for an employee to be counted as late, click the Minutes for "Late" Status to Schedule drop-down arrow and select a different minutes value: -30, -20, -10, 0, 10, 20, or 30.
       
      The Status area lists what type of employee attendance you will see: employees who are currently clocked in, who are clocked out, with a recorded absence, who are on vacation or out for a company holiday (On Holiday), and who are late (according to the value set in step c).
       
      By default, all status types are selected.
       
    4. Deselect any status types you don't want to appear in the Work Monitor grid and select (or leave selected) those you do. ( means selected, and  deselected.)
      Note: The colors depicted in the Status area show how each row will appear in the Work Monitor grid: For example, the rows of employees who are clocked in will be green, late employees' rows will be red, and absent employees dark gray.
       
    5. Click Apply.
       
  4. If you want to change which employee types are included in the results, follow these steps:
     
    1. Click the Employee Types expansion arrow.
       
      The Employee Types panel will appear and list all the employee types you have set up in TAA.
        
      By default, all the employee types will be selected.
       
    2. To change that, click to deselect any types you don't want to be included in the Work Monitor results and select (or leave selected) those you do. ( means selected, and  deselected.)
       
    3. Click Apply.
       
  5. Click the Departments expansion arrow.
     
    The employee department structure you've created in TAA will appear.
     
     
    By default, it will be expanded to show all the subdepartments. You can click Collapse All at the top if you want to show just the main employee departments. (Expand All will expand them again.)
     
  6. Select the check boxes of the departments whose driver work data you want to see.
     
  7. Click Apply.
     
    The Work Monitor will display employees who are clocked in, clocked out, late, and so on (as you have specified).
     

     
    Here is an explanation of the grid column headers and the options at the top right of the screen:
    Note: By default, all the available headers are displayed, but you can remove (and add) columns according to your preferences. See Customizing the Work Monitor Layout for details.
    • Last Name: The driver's last name as it appears in TAA.
       
    • First Name: The driver's first name.
       
    • Schedule Name: The name of the schedule master template in TAA (if the driver is assigned to a schedule).
       
    • Schedule Start: The time the driver's shift is scheduled to begin (if the driver is assigned to a schedule in TAA).
       
    • Status: The state of the driver's current work activity — whether they are clocked in, clocked out, absent, on vacation or out for a company holiday (On Holiday), or late.
       
    • ID: The driver's TAA employee ID number.
       
    • Actual Vehicle: If the employee clocked in on the vehicle, the bus name/number they are driving; if they clocked in using the TAA Portal, the value "Portal"; and if they were clocked in by someone in the office, the value "TAA."
       
    • Driver Plan: If the driver has a TAA schedule including an assigned vehicle, the vehicle name/number.
       
    • Bus Plan Tier: If the driver is running a route, the name of the tier they currently are on. If the driver has a TAA schedule (but isn't running their route yet), the tier they should be running right now.
       
    • Bus Plan Route: If the driver is running a route, the name of the route they currently are driving. If the driver has a TAA schedule (but isn't running their route yet), the route they should be running right now.
       
    • Bus Plan Itinerary: If the driver is running a route, the name of the itinerary. If the driver has a TAA schedule (but isn't running their route yet), the itinerary they should be running right now.
       
    • Score: The driver's performance score for today, based on Synovia's Event Points system. (See Navigating the Event Points Screen for details.)
       
    • Department: The TAA department the driver belongs to.
       
    • Emp Type: The driver's TAA employee type.
       
    • Sub Driver: If the route has a substitute driver, the name of the new driver, as entered in TAA or the Work Monitor (when entering an absence — see Marking an Employee As Absent and Entering a Substitute Driver).
       
    • Sub Vehicle: If the driver has a TAA schedule with an assigned bus, and that bus has had a substitution entered on the Comparative Analysis >> Substitutions screen for it, the name/number of the replacement vehicle.
       
    • Trip ID: If a trip ID was entered for the current job type the driver is performing (such as for a field trip), the ID number.
      Note: Drivers will be prompted to enter a trip ID on the MDT only if Allow Trip ID is selected for the job type on the TAA System Administration >> Job Types screen.
    • Manual: The check box will be selected if the shift the driver is running was entered manually in TAA.
       
    • : Reloads the data on the screen.
       
    • : Saves a customized layout view (such as if you have reordered the columns according to your preferences) of the screen. (See Customizing the Work Monitor Layout for details.)
       
    • : Restores the default view for the columns on the screen.
       
    • : Opens a dialog box that enables you to add or remove columns of data. (See Customizing the Work Monitor Layout for details.)
       
  8. To begin the process of clocking an employee in or out, right-click their row and select Check Driver In / Enter Absence or Check Driver Out, respectively. (See Clocking an Employee In or Out for details.)
     
  9. You can enter an employee absence using the Work Monitor; for the steps to do so, go to Marking an Employee As Absent and Entering a Substitute Driver.
     
  10. While entering an absence, you can also provide the name of a substitute driver; this data will appear in the Sub Driver column. (See Marking an Employee As Absent and Entering a Substitute Driver.)
     
  11. You can monitor other employee functions as well using the right-click menu, as follows:
     
    Right-Click Menu for a Clocked-In Employee (If the Vehicle Data Is Available)Right-Click Menu for a Clocked-Out Employee
     
    • View Time Card: Opens the employee's time card in TAA on a new browser tab. (See Checking an Employee's Time Card.)
       
    • Watch Live: Begins watching the vehicle the employee is driving live on the Fleet Tracking screen on a new tab and follows it in real time. (See Watching Vehicles Live.)
       
    • Map History: Launches the Vehicle History screen on a new tab with the associated vehicle preselected; you can then specify any options you need and click Plot History. (See Mapping a Vehicle's History.)
       
    • Manage: Pulls up the Edit Vehicle X screen for the vehicle on a new browser tab, enabling you to update its properties. (See Managing a Vehicle's Properties.)
       
    • Send Message: Initiates a new message for the driver on a new tab that you can compose and send to the vehicle's mobile data terminal (MDT), which will already be selected. (See Sending a Message to a Driver.)
       
  12. If you find that you would like another visual aid to give you advanced warning of when an employee will be late, you can add the option to mark At Risk rows as yellow, although you might find it simpler to just change your Late option to an earlier time frame (such as -20). Then you would have a red row warn you sooner. To add and use the At Risk yellow status, follow these steps:
     
    1. Request that your organization's Synovia administrator change the Preferences >> Settings Show 'At Risk' Status on Work Monitor setting's value to Y.
          
      In the Work Monitor, the Options panel will now have a new drop-down list.
       
       
      The Minutes for "At Risk" Status to Schedule value is the number of minutes compared to an employee's scheduled start time that the Work Monitor will display them as at risk of being late for work (and make their grid row yellow). A value of -10 means that if the employee hasn't clocked in by 10 minutes prior to their start time, they will have a status of At Risk.
      Caution: Like Late, in order for any of your employees to be listed as At Risk in the Work Monitor, you'll need to create and assign TAA schedules first. (Again, see The Process of Using Schedules, Creating a Master Schedule Template, and Assigning Schedules to Employees.)
    2. To change the time for an employee to be counted as at risk, first enable the option by clicking its selector to the right of the drop-down list. ( means selected, and  deselected.)
      Note: If it's not enabled, At Risk as a status will not be applied to the Work Monitor at all.
    3. Click the Minutes for "At Risk" Status to Schedule drop-down arrow and select the minutes value you want to use: -30, -20, -10, or 0.
       
    4. Click Apply.