Introduction
Business owners today are required to keep a check on the internet usage habits of their employees, either to increase productivity or just to ensure that company secrets are kept safe. Internet management software fulfil all these requirements and more to provide managers with the necessary tools to keep a check on their employees.
There are a lot of options out there among internet management software and it can become a little overwhelming when it comes to decide as to which software is best for your business. Of course it all comes down to your particular needs and requirements of your business. So here are a few tips to help you choose the best internet management software for your business.
Step 1
What features are available with the internet management software? Does it provide real time monitoring and take screen shots? Does it give alerts if any inappropriate activity is going on?
Many other features such as access from a remote computer, mobile access, free trials and the ability to download updates should be considered before choosing an internet management software.
Step 2
How is the data captured and where it is stored? It is important to know where the internet management software you chose is going to store the data. Find out if it counts the number of hours an employee spends on certain applications as that can help you calculate the overall productivity of your employees.
Step 3
What kind of reports are made and how often? Reports are the most important feature of any internet management software as they can be used in legal issues. Considering this will make you pay special attention as to what kind of reports the software provides and how often.
Step 4
What kind of support is provided with the software? Internet management software can sometimes require a little more than the basic networking knowledge to operate so you must find out what kind of support they provide for their customers. Good technical support over the telephone should be a must and is necessary.
Step 5
How much does it cost? This is an important factor to consider when it comes to choosing the best internet management software for your business. Find out whether you will get yearly subscription and whether there is a volume discount on bulk orders especially if you have a fairly large number of employees. After all you don't want to end up spending more than the software will help you make by increasing your productivity.
Tips and Comments
Here are a few of the top internet management software which are commonly used.
InterGuard 6.1 is one of the best internet management software out there as it gives you a lot of flexibility to manage the internet use on individual and networked space. The only problem being that it does not analyse data logged through a centralised system proxy server.
Pearl Echo 7.0 gives you the benefit of excellent functions to create detailed reports and analyse the data that is generated. However it does not provide a screen capture facility on monitored computers.
Sources and Citations
http://internet-management-software-review.toptenreviews.com/