Posted at 3:43pm on Sep 1, 2010   |   Comments [0]

As a result of our ongoing commitment to customer satisfaction, ShiftPlanning has just unveiled a full suite of tools designed to make the setup process a breeze.

The tedious, time-consuming process of setting up any new scheduling software has been a major bone of contention for many busy managers. At ShiftPlanning, we heard your frustration and went to work, and the results speak for themselves.

In fact, getting your company’s scheduling system up and running with ShiftPlanning software has never been easier!

Our quick set-up guide solves these problems by providing instant software integration with your company’s existing information. Simply log onto the ShiftPlanning website and follow the hyperlinks through the process.

Initial Setup:
After setting up your time zone and information about your business and industry type (a simple step used to configure your calendar and messaging settings).

Schedule Setup:
The next step is to set up schedules or import your existing schedules in either .xls or .cvs format. Our new process is so streamlined, you’ll be amazed at how quickly and smoothly the transfer goes down.

Staff Setup:
Setting up staff is just as simple. You can also choose to import employee information from an E-mail address book, Google Apps, Facebook, or a csv format! ShiftPlanning Software allows employers to invite staff into the program, and once there it catalogs all their information including cell phone, home phone,
e-mail address and a photo of the employee for easy, instant identification.

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ShiftPlanning also displays the date the employee last logged into the system, and their current employment status (active, inactive, on vacation, etc.) All the information a manager needs at a glance!

The ShiftPlanning staff setup page allows ShiftPlanning software to upload an employee’s name and profile image from their Facebook account. Employers can even post invitations to an employee’s Facebook wall inviting them to join the staff scheduling program. It’s that simple!

Don’t forget, if you need help with the set up at any time during the process, live customer support is on hand 24/7.

Posted at 1:44am on Aug 27, 2010   |   Comments [0]

We just released two convenient new ways to import staff into the ShiftPlanning online employee scheduler:

Facebook
Simply sign-in with Facebook either from the initial login screen or at the new import import screen under 'Staff'->'Add Employee(s)'. Once you are signed in you will see a list of all your staff with the ability to import the ones you want. Imported employees from Facebook will already be setup with Facebook Sign-On, as well as their avatar image. Click here for full details.

E-mail Address Book
Simply login to your e-mail address book, and we'll show you a list of your contacts for you to choose which contacts (employees) you want to import. Currently we accept address books from the following online e-mail providers:

Don't worry; We will never:
- Store your e-mail address/password
- Contact your contacts without your permission.

Click here for full details

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These two new options work alongside the existing .csv import tool.

We're working hard right now to finish the Google Apps integration which includes Single Sign-On as well as User provisioning (auto-importing Google Apps users to ShiftPlanning) and Google Docs sharing. We'll update you as soon as this is ready!

Posted at 1:40am on Aug 25, 2010   |   Comments [0]

Today one of my developer's noticed that the Google Calendar Favicon had changed, and was stuck on '31'. He thought that was odd because it's the 24th:

(I wonder why Google chose '31'?)

We realize that it's just an icon and meant to represent the calendar, but we thought that we could do one better and have the ShiftPlanning favicon auto-update with the actual calendar date to provide you with an icon that still represents a calendar, but a calendar that is a little more relevant.

We did a quick look and as far as we know we're the only online scheduling application / Calendar application doing this. Let's wait and see who copies..

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Quick Note - This won't work in IE as IE doesn't support auto-updating Favicons. For everyone using a real modern web browser. Enjoy!

Posted at 9:45pm on Aug 24, 2010   |   Comments [0]

We're ready to release the next version of our application which includes a new setup process, new 3rd party integration among tons of other improvements/fixes. In order to make the complete transition we need to go offline for a brief period of time while we update all of our systems.

We've tried to pick a time that would affect as few users as possible. Here are a few of the most frequently asked questions:

How Long will you be down for?
We'll be offline between 12am-1am EST on Wednesday, August 25th

Will any of my data be affected?
Rest assured that all of your data is safe, and will be just the way you left it when we go back online.

What are you guys working on?
We've re-developed the setup process to make it both easier and faster to setup new accounts. This new process includes a ton of great 3rd party integration that will help get your data into ShiftPlanning without haven't to type it all in again. We'll post an official announcement on our blog going over the new features after the release tomorrow.

Who can I contact for more information?
Feel free to contact our team at info@shiftplanning.com at anytime if you have any questions.

Your patience and understanding is appreciated during this process!

Posted at 7:19pm on Aug 21, 2010   |   Comments [0]

You know about our 24/7 support, intuitive interface and p erformance-boosting technology. You know about the mobile access, file sharing and SSL security features...

ShiftPlanning is the ultimate in state-of-the-art employee scheduling technology, but if you’re too busy, or concerned with the time involved in making the switch, we get it. We’re here to help.

Let ShiftPlanning do the setup for you. It’s free. It’s completely confidential. Best of all, it’s painless! After you send us an outline of your employee scheduling system we will have your ShiftPlanning account setup and ready for you to access within 24 hours!

For full details please visit:

http://www.shiftplanning.com/free/

Posted at 4:12pm on Aug 9, 2010   |   Comments [0]

ShiftPlanning has fast become a leader in Internet employee scheduling software.

Did you know the same next-generation technology that makes ShiftPlanning a powerful scheduling tool also makes it ideal for coordinating, planning and scheduling your company’s internal information too?

Staff information can be imported from any E-mail account, online address book, a wide variety of spreadsheet formats (.xls, .cvs, etc.,) or Facebook and Google Apps. This includes name, cell phone, home phone, e-mail address and profile photograph, making for easy at-a-glance identification of each employee in the system.

Once the information is uploaded, it will automatically parse to the appropriate scheduling category. Essentially, one upload and your entire system can be set up.

Of course, managers have the option to manually create files as well. Your call.

Set-up is as easy as following a few step-by-step links on our website. Additionally, ShiftPlanning offers 24/7 live customer support if you need any help.

Using ShiftPlanning as an Intranet resource is a great way to organize your company’s day to day internal demands. Among other things, ShiftPlanning software can be used for:

• File sharing

• Communications (private messaging, message wall, user ping)

• Events calendar coordination

• Scheduling meetings

• Announcements and/or company news

• Sharing birthdays

• Company culture; get to know staff, feature a staff gallery

• Vacation planning

• And much more…

Upon logging in, ShiftPlanning software provides at-a-glance updates of what has happened since you were last online and provides reminders of outstanding action items that need attention.

With ShiftPlanning’s secure application, you can share documents within your company conveniently and safely, and display a company events calendar and meetings schedule accessible only to staff members.

In fact, ShiftPlanning’s Infranet capabilities allow your company to share virtually any information you choose with customizable features that recognize staff members as individuals, particularly challenging in shift-based businesses.

Of course, ShiftPlanning’s program can also provide staff with a safe internal communication system for discussing business, asking questions or just to check in.

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We can even do the setup for you, for free, in less than 24 hours!

Posted at 9:51pm on Jul 27, 2010   |   Comments [1]

Often times within an organization it's handy for staff to have access to the current roster so they can also be aware of who should be working with them at the same time.

This is great not just for visibility but also for allowing employees to contact quickly missing staff members in absent of management.

Up until now the "Who's on Now" functionality has done this well for management, and with the implementation of the Employee Ping feature last week, quickly contacting staff members is easier then ever. At your request we have extended the ability to pass this same functionality down to employees. This is off by default but can easily be turned on by visiting:

'Admin' -> 'Settings'

The new settings looks like this:

This turns on the exact same "Who's on Now" that was before visible only to schedulers. Example:

Thanks for your feedback.

Posted at 3:57am on Jul 27, 2010   |   Comments [0]

We just finished rolling out a new version of the ShiftPlanning employee scheduler which includes a number of highly requested features:

Improved Notifications
Not long ago we released a new notifications system which included the ability to easily toggle different settings for different notification instances. Due to limitation's in the system we had very simple messages that were sent out without notification specific information included. For example: Action Links, Shift Details,etc.

For this reason in order to maintain some of the functionality we didn't switch everything over. This left a fragmented system where not all notifications could be control by users. That has changed!

Starting now, all communications run through the same notifications system which means that all settings can easily be set to your personal liking.

( We also re-added the individual shift information back into notifications that had been lost when we made the initial transition. eg: Upcoming Shift Reminders,etc. )

You'll also notice immediately tons of new options in your notifications settings:

Smart version checking
ShiftPlanning is a 110% web-based employee scheduling application which means that we can roll-out updates very quickly, and there are never any needs to download any software or anything at all! To deliver performance and a responsive experience we've chosen to use a web-technology called AJAX, that doesn't require the web browser page to be reloaded while the application is navigated. This provides faster performance and an increased usability; there is however one downside: When updates are made to core files, your web browser is still using the old versions - until your browser is either closed, or a manual refresh is done.

In order to maintain the ability to roll-out updates quickly, and keep communication open with you, we have implemented a smart version check that will auto-magically notify you with a small notice when a new version has been implemented since you last refreshed. This will allow you to finish what you are doing, and then grab the latest and greatest version by simply clicking on the link. It looks like this:

Employee List View
To streamline development and communication between both Schedulers and Employees we've made available the same list view for employees and have removed the 'Schedule' tab that used to be available on the top right. The biggest advantage here for employees is that they can now easily view in list mode shifts as far into the future as they have been scheduled (before we used to limit to 1 month)

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Thanks for your patience while we rolled out these features and to everyone who was actively involved in the development process!

Posted at 4:32pm on Jul 26, 2010   |   Comments [1]

When we first launched ShiftPlanning back in February we had very limited options for color-sets within our scheduling application. Users were quickly requesting more, so in March we did just that. Fast forward 4 months and users have again outgrown our options and have been once again requesting more colors!

Our designer went over tons of different options to not only bring more options but also to improve the visual display of the new sets with better contrasting colors. We decided to leave the existing options the same so that no-one would be confused if all of a sudden their schedule had changed on them. With that in mind we highly recommend you check out the new options. There are now 35 in total.

Here's how:
Under 'Schedule' on the left hand-side where all of your schedules are listed you'll see a small colored square. Click on that square brings up a color selection palette that looks like this:

Simply select the color that you want, and it will automatically update for you. That's it!

Preview them all:

Posted at 10:30pm on Jul 22, 2010   |   Comments [0]

Keeping communication open among staff members is now easier then ever using the new 'Message Wall'. The message wall is very customizable allowing each business to set it up and use in a way that best fits their organization. The default settings for the message wall allow only managers to submit messages, with employees having the ability to leave comments. This keeps the majority of the control in the hands of management to post announcements, important links, etc.

The message wall can also easily be opened up to allow for staff posting of messages, which will help to create a more social environment within ShiftPlanning to allow staff to post messages on company events, or personal announcements,etc.

We recommend opening the message wall up to staff members as well and using the wall in a hybrid format for both company announcements, which can be locked at the top, as well as open staff communication.

Let's take a look at what it looks like:

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Admin
By default the message wall is turned on and allows for staff commenting. Original posts can only be posted by management. This can be edited under 'Admin' -> 'Edit Settings':

Posting/Commenting
Posting on the wall itself, or leaving a comment is super easy. Just click on 'New Message', or 'Comment', and it will bring up a message window:

When posting a message for the first time, you also have the option to go into a more advanced view, which is a common title/message format:

What it looks like in action: