Activity Monitoring software on PC and their benefits

2022-12-01

What it is

User activity monitoring software is a digital tool used in tracking and monitoring a person's activity on a targeted computer. It provides an acute view of all the activities carried out on the target computer. You can employ user activity monitoring software to track or monitor an employee or any member of your staff with a real-time monitoring feature. This is its best feature, as you can immediately address an issue or a breach in security or office principles. Long gone are the days when you had to worry about having to go through a tough time to find who breached security at the office, stole confidential data or used the company's resources for something illegal or outside the set principles. With the aid of user activity monitoring software, you can now easily know all that happens in the company and everything your employees are up to when they are at work.

How it works

The aim of utilizing user activity monitoring software is to ensure the protection of sensitive company data. Also, it is a great instrument to carry out all sorts of surveillance/ monitoring of user activity in a bid to enforce some company policies and be able to know if and when users are accessing sensitive or unauthorized files. There are several ways to manage or monitor user activity. Some of them are:

• Keystroke logging

• Log collection and analysis

• Kernel monitoring

• Network packet inspection

• Screenshot/file capturing

• Video recordings of sessions

• Monitoring of social media activities like chats, pictures, etc.

• Audio recordings

There are several other ways to use the user monitoring software on a PC aside from those mentioned here. It can be used to monitor virtually every activity carried out on the PC (without the person's knowledge). There are different types of user activity monitoring systems all with different unique features of their own.

The advantages of using user activity monitoring software (tools)

There are arguably a lot of benefits to using user activity monitoring (UAM) software. Some of the benefits include:

• It tracks attendance and effort efficiently: it can be used to ensure that employees are not committing time fraud. This way, you get to know for sure if your employees are indeed coming to work and not just coming but also working efficiently. You can also use it to monitor the employee's efficiency.

• It guarantees an increase in security and safety: this should be its obvious benefit. Activity monitoring software generally boosts the security and safety of company resources, as well as the safety and security of sensitive data and the safety of employees.

• Increased efficiency and productivity in working from home: there will be times when employees might have to work from home for one reason or another. The best way to ensure that they remain intentionally productive even while they are at home and not in the office is to install user activity monitoring software on the PC they will use in working from home. A good case study is the coronavirus pandemic which necessitated social distancing and self-isolation. The pandemic made it impossible for people to go to work, forcing them to either work from home or not work at all. So employing activity monitoring software can ensure your employees are still efficient, even while they are working from home.

• It is used to identify internal issues and track employee productivity: Since it can gather and store a magnitude of data, the user activity monitoring software can help identify possible internal struggles in the company through filtering and combing the collected data. Some of its features can also be used to track employee productivity, for example, the real-time monitoring function, keystroke logging or video recordings.

Is it ethical to monitor user activity?

Well, this is perhaps the most frequently asked question as long as user activity monitoring is concerned. The answer you will get almost always depends on who you ask. So, is it ethical or not? Well, it is not unethical. A lot of employees will consider it a sign of distrust on the part of their employers to want to monitor all their activities on the computer or in the office. On the contrary, the employer doesn't see it as unethical but as a way to ensure the protection of the company's sensitive data, compliance in the employees in the execution of their job and adherence to company policies.

I do not think there is anything wrong with using user activity monitoring software to monitor employees. It is perhaps the only effective and efficient way to completely ensure that a lot of things do not go wrong in the office (company).

This way, an employer can be sure that employees are not carrying out illegal activities with the aid of company property and are not abusing company resources.

Usage of activity monitoring software (is it legal?)

This is perhaps the question that always follows the question above(is it ethical to monitor employees' activity?). The answer to this question is yes. Employers are given the right by the law to monitor all their employees' activities in the office provided they back it up with tangible business reasons.

The Electronics Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) covers the legality of its usage.

Final thoughts

It is easy to understand why an employer would want to install user activity monitoring software in the company. It is not just understandable - it is also advisable. This way, employers do not have to worry about irregularities, inefficiency, and illegal activities some employees might be up to. The monitoring system will make it very easy to pick out employees who are either up to no good or who simply do not put in their best at work. So if you are an employer and have always worried about keeping an eye on your employees and ensuring they are doing exactly what you hired them to do, you should get acquainted with the user activity monitoring software.