SocialSchedules

Avantages

In our successful experience with OpenSimSim, I manage to solve an internal problem in the company and to make an hourly schedule of our employees making its use easy, ease of configuration, the configurations are quite clear. The most practical is that they receive the schedules, they are published on their mobile devices in real time, helping to maintain a reciprocal communication, another very appropriate faculty, because it is free for managers and employees, which gives an additional bonus to this platform, that help
to companies that have workers for a certain time. OpenSimSim gives its users the power to create a program through proven programming templates where they see staff availability and the hours worked are displayed and are more accurate for our workflow, which seeks to achieve and optimize a Correct performance of our employees, which helps managers avoid inconvenience or confusion in relation to the extra overtime so far you have the virtue of visualizing the budget allocated and thus monitor labor costs in real time to keep track of the budget of The company, another useful and pragmatic virtue, is being able to have contact via chat being able to write messages with employees and management, in addition to being able to install a mobile application from smartphones wherever it is, this innovative application allows employees of our company who make purchases and sales of raw materials or product s finished, maintaining a schedule that can be modified by us

Inconvénients

to our experience with OpenSimSim, and the little that could be highlighted as negative or enhance improvements in the characteristics and capabilities of precarious synchronization, which as a constructive criticism can be enriched between the application of the computer and the Smartphone, for the better performance, contact lists must be optimized for use and all personnel, phone numbers and emails can be accessed to be able to exchange shifts with anyone on the contact list, even if they have a different schedule. Currently, the function of exchange and allocation of these hours since what we have seen is that it is available to those who have a clear availability of hours on the platform. Shift change is very important in all lines and departments, since what is sought is that employees are without worries about how to organize their time for better performance since one of the most valuable resources is time for both growth of the company like that of employees and their free time and how to manage it, in terms of organization when printing schedules, everything should be organized from the platform and thus avoid having to go to Excel and place the calendar information of work are better digestible to the understanding of the employees, also organizing by start date and an end date can illustrate how Anasa does it on her platform just to mention as an example and adapt it to the OpenSimSim platform, also look for ways to automate as well as edit the master lists and a

Avantages

It is very useful and easy to copy and paste schedules instead of having to individually do a schedule every week. And it reduces the amount of time it takes for me to have to do schedules for my team of 20 + employees

Inconvénients

The messaging portion of the app would be more useful if it could be sorted by message. As of right now it is a little cumbersome with the messaging and trying to revert back and look up previous messages to my teams.

Alternatives envisagées 

Pourquoi choisir SocialSchedules 

Logiciel antérieur 

Pourquoi passer à SocialSchedules

Avantages

I like the fact that you guys actually respond to negative reviews and take a proactive approach to fixing the bugs. Also like the fact that with this app I can take my pick of available shifts and get scheduled with one click instead of being on the phone for half an hour (Securitas at Universal Studios). That's half an hour of my life that I'm not going to get back and they're not paying me for that time, it's bad enough that they want to pay minimum wage to people with specialized skills (like operating X-ray machines) but then they expect me to waste half an hour of my life; every single day on the phone trying to get scheduled. Over a period of one week that adds up to three and a half hours of my life that they're not paying me for.

Inconvénients

I didn't like the fact that I still get notifications for shifts that aren't even available any more. I'll see a long list of invitations, go through one by one - and not a single one of them is still available. It seems like once a shift has been filled it should fall off of my notifications so that I don't have to click through every single one of them just to find the ONE (if any at all) that are still available.

I also don't like the fact that after I've already accepted a shift for tomorrow I still keep getting invitation notifications for shifts that are on the same day as the one I just accepted and these notifications will just keeping coming and keep coming and keep coming and there's no way to shut off the notifications - even JUST for the day that I'm already scheduled. And I shouldn't even have to disable notifications; even for specific days - when the app should already know that I'm already scheduled and don't need to be scheduled again. Our bosses even keep telling us "if you're already scheduled then DO NOT accept the newer shift notifications that come in" because apparently there have been people that accepted one shift - then another one came in that was their preferred shift; they accepted that one two and then it creates a scheduling conflict which is neither good for the employee OR the employer.

Avantages

I really like how we can make frequent updates/changes to the staff. We are a job training program with shifts going to Managers, temporary interns, and volunteers. I like how convenient it is for users to interface with it. It’s very accessible.

Inconvénients

I can’t really think of anything. I know sometimes the interface for messages for managers can get cluttered because they are inundated with staff individual and group messages. It might be nice if there was an easy way to sort or archive certain threads or easily click on a user and see all the messages associated with that person.

Avantages

Ease of use, ease of setup, setup is organized and clear, love that it notifies my staff when I publish a schedule and is integrated with phone platforms/has an app.

Inconvénients

I really really dislike that I have to manually edit “availability” for each new staff member, in order to force them to submit timeoff requests. I also don’t like that you can’t have an algorithm for time off requests- for example I require two weeks notice for time off requests, and I wish the app would allow me to enforce that, but it doesn’t...so instead I have employees submitting time off requests 5 days before which then makes me look like the mean guy when I have to decline a request. I wish open simsim would just allow me to have a setting that removes the ability to request time off if it’s less than 14 days from the requested time off date.

Alternatives envisagées 

Pourquoi passer à SocialSchedules

Avantages

It was easy to set up. The staff had no issues getting used to using it. It has reduced hour scheduling hours significantly as we no longer need to contact staff or go through individual text messages, everything is all in one place where we can see who is available and at what times. Makes booking in shifts very easy. I also love that you only have to post once and everyone will have their shifts allocated, no more individual messages to each staff member.

Inconvénients

When posting the shifts it goes to every staff member listed on the system even if you did not get a shift this week. I would prefer it only goes to those who have been rostered on. It would also be more beneficial for us if the availability times show when the staff is available not the opposite way around.

Avantages

OpenSimSim has an easy-to-use, simple, and aesthetically pleasing interface that works well on both desktop and mobile apps. Our employees picked it up easily to drop shifts, swap shifts, and message one another and supervisors whether at work or on the go. It's also been very easy for administrators to create schedule templates to quickly and effortlessly publish week after week.

Inconvénients

There is still room for improvement in regards to tutorials for employees. A few of the functions in the tutorials are only covered from the employer's perspective and not the employee's perspective, which makes it more difficult to explain how to use the software to new employees in some regards.

Alternatives envisagées 

Pourquoi passer à SocialSchedules

Avantages

I found open sim sim very user friendly in comparison to it's competitors such a deputy. The navigation around the website is simplistic but effective. The support team are always on hand and eager to help with any issues.

Inconvénients

As the product is still relatively new in comparison to it's competitors some features are only just becoming available, such as accounts integration. However these features are definitely on the way and the product is constantly developing.

Alternatives envisagées 

Pourquoi passer à SocialSchedules

Avantages

It´s very visual, eye.friendly and simple. You figuer it out in two minutes and gives you good reliable information.

Inconvénients

Maybe some drag and pull features; or that I can´t fully customize the viewing screen (you can see it dialy or weekly) but I cant suggest a third way. But nothing too serious

Avantages

Being able to easily set and send schedules

Inconvénients

Glitches in the software when scheduling or swapping or dropping shifts

Avantages

I use this app twice a year when our big children’s consignment sale happens and I need to sign up for volunteer shifts and track my volunteer hours. It is very user friendly with easily navigable features.

Inconvénients

No complaints, truly! It is a very user friendly platform and system to navigate and use. I have no cons.

Avantages

It's free! We had been using only paper scheduling, and had a lot of no-shows, especially when a TA was supposed to sub for someone else. TAs are now more in control (and aware of) the process of finding a sub.

Inconvénients

Printing the schedules doesn't work for us. When we print our paper schedule, we have the days of the week across the top, and the time of day down the side, and then the name of the person in each room on the chart. This is the only way our director can read it, and OpenSimSim isn't able to sort the information in this way. So we still make a paper schedule in Excell and print that, and then enter all the info in the app.

Also, it would be excellent if people could enter their availability with a start date and end date. We only hire college students, and their schedules change each semester. It is really hard to enter the new semester's schedule, because they have to leave the old semester's availability in for subbing.

The only other complaint has more to do with college kids than the program itself. A lot of our TAs think that they can drop a shift and then ignore it. Then when no one shows up, they're surprised that we're upset. So it still takes a certain amount of checking up on them on my part.

Avantages

Love the interface. Communication process is great and customer service is amazing.

Inconvénients

-want to be able to easily black out dates for time off requests.
-a way to force staff to look at messages even or notes and “agree” that they have read them would be awesome.
-would love to have an interface to build “standard shifts” that you can then just mine from and add a little easier.
-also on the time off requests it would be helpful to have a limit on requests. So for example, if 3 people are already requested the 10th of the month off and we had set the limit at 3 requests, no one else could request off or make them u available.
-admins should representative the only ones to be able to edit workers availability

The blackout dates would for sure be the most helpful though. And ensuring that an alert is sent to employees when blackout dates are entered by managers.

Avantages

Makes it super easy to create weekly employee schedules and to create templates that make future scheduling easy. I love that it can be set to allow employees to swap and drop shifts, and to easily submit timeoff requests. The ability to limit certain periods for timeoff requests is also very helpful. Overall, a lot of great functionality with an interface that is very intuitive to use.

Inconvénients

Employees can't see timeoff already requested and approved for other employees. They might be able to adjust their timeoff requests if they could see periods when multiple timeoff requests had already been submitted by other employees (and thus would know their request won't get approved). Would also be nice if the entire schedule view could be seen on the desktop interface (rather than just on the phone).

Avantages

I like that I can have this on my phone and check it whenever I want to, and that I can edit shifts from my manager account from my phone. It's really easy to add availability and to teach new employees on how to use it as well. I really like that I can color code position titles as well.

Inconvénients

I don't like that it shows all employees for our team members at one location, because it confuses them on who they can contact about getting a shift covered. I recommend adding their location or main location underneath their name in the messages part of it, or only be able to send a message to others at the location they have access to.

Avantages

1.I love that there is an app! Doggonit, that thing is awesome!! When staff can get on there and swap and not have to call or message me to make that change, that's AWESOME!!
2. The help desk people (bless their hearts) are very patient, knowledgeable and are available to help every time I have messaged them.
3. I really like that I can stay home when someone calls in. I just open my app and send out a message as well as ask individually if needed.

Inconvénients

1. I would like to be able to see/print a month view at a time
2. I would somehow REALLY REALLY like to be able to see what changes were made to each shift ie..who traded with who, who was originally scheduled on a shift, etc...
3. I would also like the ability to shrink the page (on the screen) so that I'm not constantly scrolling and up and down the page through a long list of staff

Avantages

I like how easy it is to add new employees to the system. I like how the everyone can know what they need to through the app. I also like the budgeting feature to help keep our production costs down. I also like the messaging feature, I don't use email anymore.

Inconvénients

One thing I don't like is how I can't assign more tasks or positions to one person per shift, or maybe I just don't know how. Another thing is, sometimes I would like to see all of my employees schedules at once instead of scrolling up and down.

Avantages

The best part about this product is the ease of use and functionality from a team member perspective. This a very easy to use software for team members to understand, learn and utilize on a daily basis.

Inconvénients

There are several limitations concerning this software from a management/admin perspective. Specifically to my unit, the use of sections is limited too much, including being able to view things by section. This software seems ideal for a place that has 1 location (a restaurant) and is able to split people into several sections. However, my account has upwards of 15 locations (which doesn't even take into consideration that there are several accounts within my company), which make it hard for me to view and manage my team's schedule in that regard.

Avantages

Not much.

Inconvénients

There are many glitches. Some employees squares are red or unavail ALL THE TIME. To where I end up having to memorize everyone's availability due to opensimsim shading (grey stripes) on the wrong days, blocking off random days, etc. When the employee is 100% open and able to work in the system. It causes a lot of confusion. Especially for managers that are new that dont know each and everyone's availability. It also is just VERY slow in general. Its not a quick task. I click on a shift and it takes up to 10 seconds to open the shift to edit.

Avantages

Firstly I use the standard version so it's free, one of the only free rostering software packages I could find

Inconvénients

Lack of auditing tools. I would have liked to be able to track back who has authorised annual leave and also have the ability to input sickness etc

Avantages

Cost. For the features it offered, it seemed to be a good value and they didn't insist I use their credit card processor. My staff hasn't had really any difficulty using the program. It seems very straightforward.

Inconvénients

Not that I have a lot of experience with this type of software but setting up some of the till-order details seemed like it could be more stream-lined. I know it is not specifically designed for restaurants but it would be great if it included more sub category options instead of having lots of multiple choice product group. Also, being able to have a negative charge option would be helpful when somebody want to remove an item from the meal.

Avantages

There is nothing about this software that I do not like and I cannot thing of one thing I like most above about it.

Inconvénients

The only complaint I have, and it's more like a wish list item, is that as the manager, I cannot modify and/or enter a time-off request for employees or modify an employee's availability who as agreed to accept a shift outside their availability.

Avantages

My favorite thing about OpenSimSim is the mobile app. It is very accessible at home and on the go, so if I need to ask off really quickly, this application lets me do so efficiently. another aspect of this application that I really like is that it is easy to maneuver through the app and I am able to understand where I need to go to do something.

Inconvénients

I don't think that there is anything I do not like. However, it would be neat to be able to see what reason you put down for asking off (on a computer) after you submit it. I am able to see that on my phone, but not the computer.

Avantages

Making a Schedule is very easy, especially on the following week as you just have to 'tweak' it.
The employees like how easy it is to request time off.
The timeclock works on Kindles, so a Timeclock kiosk is very inexpensive and even works during a power outage.

Inconvénients

You need to play by their rules, and their is very little personalization possible (for example we prefer to schedule in 2 week sets, but you are forced into a single week at a time)

It should be able to export directly into Quickbooks, but we have to manually enter the times

There should be a section for entering each employee's availability so you don't schedule them outside of their available hours. This is a HUGE oversight.

Alternatives envisagées 

Avantages

I love the ability to message my entire staff or individual staff members. I love the ease of the app. I love adding shift opportunities and staff being able to request time off, drop shifts and pick up shifts as they wish.

Inconvénients

I have no negative opinions of this software. It did take me a while to realize that I could turn my device sideways to view the entire schedule but that's just on me for not taking the time to learn its features.