The Houses of the Oireachtas - The Irish Parliament
The VisionTime system by FlexTime is in now in use in the Houses of the Oireachtas in Dublin.
The Houses are:
An Dail (The Irish Parliament)
An Seanad (The Senate)
Those using the system include 236 Members and also the 600 Staff at both Houses. The focus on the system for the Members of Parliament and Senate, is to allow them to clock in at Time Terminals in order to record their attendance on the days when the Houses sit.
This recording is then used as the basis for payment of expenses for attendance.
Meanwhile staff can record their attendance and working time and can request time off through
the system.
Each members is provided with a fob which they can keep on their key ring. The Houses sit on 150 days each year and on 120 of those days the Member is obliged to clock in.
To do this he/she holds the key fob up to one of the Time Terminals of which there are 20
located throughout the Houses. A count of the days attended is displayed on each recording for the Member, with a confirmation when a total 120 days has been reached.
Meanwhile, over 600 employees clock in and out at the Time Terminals,
except they use I.D. Cards to record their time. They also have the option to clock at P.C.s
using our VisionTime software, which additionally allows staff to electronically request time off
from their supervisors. The method of how the system collects information from the Time Terminals depends on whether the user is a Member of Parliament or an Employee.
Members of Parliament use a fob and the system collects only an “in” clocking to record attendance. No Clock “out” action is required. Employees uses an ID card several times throughout the day, at the same Time Terminals.
Corrections to records :-
Members of Parliament : If a member is say absent on days when the Parliament is sitting,
then, using VisionTime, an administrator inputs the necessary correction to his/her attendance record.
Employees : Corrections to time and absence records or requests for time off are input by
the employees themselves, using a corrections form in the VisionTime software.
This is then signed off electronically by the supervisor.
In common with how we work with a lot of our customers, the version of the VisionTime software
at the Houses, is compiled and programmed for this specific application. This means the use of
the “base VisionTime “system, to which we design and add particular requirements. Oftens customers like to have such additions implemented as the requests arise, and sometimes at quite short notice. This can mean providing features that might be completely unique for the customer, in conjunction with conventional features. Increasingly our customers, therefore, end up with a system that suits the “personality” of their own organisations.
This approach is now setting us apart in several markets i.e. Ireland, the UK, Holland and
soon Germany.
Ciaran Rowsome, Managing Director, FlexTime, recently spoke on national radio in Ireland, about how the T.D.S (M.P.s) and Senators will use the system.