ERP-Integrated Employee Time Tracking App for iOS and Android

Client

The Client is a Finnish company specializing in scientific and technological services and offering enterprise resource planning solutions, data processing applications, wireless communication systems and more. One of the company’s products is an ERP system that is constantly evolving to help end-users streamline their business processes.

Challenge

The Client wanted to create a corporate time-tracking app that would allow employees to use their mobile phones (running on iOS or Android) for logging the time spent on a task within a particular project. The app would be integrated with the ERP system – a web application, thus the end-user would receive both the mobile and web interfaces. ScienceSoft was commissioned to develop the back-end and front-end of the mobile app together with the Client’s development team.

Solution

ScienceSoft used Apache Cordova to develop a mobile app on the basis of the already-existing web application (the ERP system) built upon the AngularJS framework. As the Client wanted the tool to be cross-platform, Cordova development was considered the best choice. Regarding the back-end, ScienceSoft worked on the functionality and API methods.

The tool offers three options for employees to log their time:

• Users can start logging manually
• When a mobile phone detects the Wi-Fi network, the app starts logging automatically
• When the Wi-Fi network is detected, users get a notification that they can start logging

The native functions as well as the Google Maps API were used by ScienceSoft developers to enrich the application with a geo-tracking feature, so that managers could create location-bound tasks and track the locations where employees clock in. Managers can also arrange projects and tasks, view and approve time logs, and add user groups.

The application was designed to help employees watch their pay calculated according to the time logs. For better networking within the company, ScienceSoft team included the option of sending messages and emails to other users.

Results

The project was delivered by a team of one Cordova and one PHP Developer in the course of 9 months. The Client received a corporate mobile application in line with the requirements – a convenient time-tracking tool with added value for both managers and employees. The Client was satisfied with the product and now is pondering over the idea of enhancing the application with new features.

Technologies and Tools

Languages: PHP, JavaScript, HTML5, CSS3

Frameworks and libraries: Apache Cordova, AngularJS, Hammer.js, Underscore.js, Moment.js, jQuery, Symfony2, Doctrine

Other: Bower, GruntJS