December 15, 2004
Jeff Krueger, Redcort Software

Networking. The mere mention of the word often implicates thoughts of confusion, frustration, and perplexity. In a business world where information is king and connectivity essential, why is computer connectivity and data sharing so fraught with 'issues'?

Redcort Software decided to apply technology to this thorny technical problem in Virtual TimeClock 5. It started with a question: If the computer is so smart, why can't the computer figure out where the other TimeClock computers are and how to share data with them? Built on an all new client-server, auto-discovery architecture, Virtual TimeClock Pro 5 does just this. In addition to the improved performance, security and usability benefits this design brings, networking couldn't be easier.

 
Zero-Configuration Explained
In Virtual TimeClock 5, all you have to do is make a menu selection to tell Virtual TimeClock you want it to become a server. Install Virtual TimeClock on any other computer on your network and select 'Connect to Server' from the File menu. Virtual TimeClock will nearly instantly show you all of the Virtual TimeClock servers running on your network and ask which one you'd like to connect with. Every time you restart the Virtual TimeClock client, it automatically reconnects to your chosen server.

That's it! Really, there's nothing else to configure or figure out -- that's why we call it 'zero configuration' networking. Need another timeclock? Install the software on another computer, select 'Connect to Server' and you're off and running.

  
Convenience & Security
Think with me for a moment what this means in terms of ease of administration. Virtual TimeClock worries all about the messy communications, IP address, and protocol issues. When a connection is dropped, Virtual TimeClock 5 notices the problem and attempts to reconnect to the server all by itself. If the connection is down for an extended period, Virtual TimeClock will still automatically reconnect when you start up after the connection is restored. In addition, there are no file shares on the client so there are no passwords and no mounted volumes to worry about and no way for the client to access or delete the TimeClock data file.

  
Tangible Take-Away
Virtual TimeClock Version 5 makes network setup something that can be done by 'the rest of us'. The dramatic new technical advances in version 5 mean increased performance and security while providing measurable savings in time, hassles, and IT expenses.