Introduction to the software components

The software comes with 3 components:

• BioTime+
• CS Comms Service
• InTime Reports

BioTime+ is the primary software used for time and attendance management. It provides you with the ability to read clockings, view employee data, and configure workplace rules. This software is where you will spend the majority of your time when managing your time and attendance system.

CS Comms Service is a separate software that runs in the background to communicate with your clocking machine over the network. This software periodically checks the device's date and time to ensure accuracy and collects all clockings from the machine on your behalf. This makes it easy for you to manage and view employee clocking data within BioTime+.

InTime Reports is an application that allows you to run reports against your BioTime+ database. This software uses Crystal Reports and ODBC to connect to and query your database, providing you with valuable insights into your workforce. InTime Reports can show you how many hours your employees have worked, whether they were late or worked overtime, and other important metrics.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Introduction to the software components
• Downloading the software
• Installing the software
• Running CSComms
  • Configuring CSComms
• BioTime+ Is Now Installed

Downloading the software

The following instructions are intended for users who are using a Chrome-based web browser like Google Chrome, Edge, or Opera GX. The instructions may vary slightly for other web browsers.

To download the BioTime+ software, you can visit this link: https://clockingsystems.co.uk/biotimedownload/

Once you click on the link, the download process should start automatically. The download will be displayed either at the top or bottom of your web browser. In our case, the download appears at the bottom of the browser window.

Click the Arrow next to the file downloaded, and click the Show in folder button.

A file browser will open up with the BioTime installer highlighted as pictured below:

Double click the installer to get it open, it may ask if you're sure you want to run this, this is usual behaviour as you've just downloaded an Application from the internet, you can click yes to this. You may also see the picture below:

If you get a prompt similar to the above image, click the More Info button and then click Run Anyway.

Security Info for the technical people:
Virus Scan is available here: https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file-analysis/MzIwMDAyYzRlZTkwZjUwMmRhNDY0MmY4ZmZmMDc1MGE6MTY3OTQ0NTU5Mg==
MD5 File hash is: 320002c4ee90f502da4642f8fff0750a as of 22/03/2023 00:42.
If the File Hash is different please contact support at [email protected] 

Installing the software

If you followed the previous steps, you should now have an installer open.

The installer will have everything selected by default, simply click the "Next" button and then "Install" to proceed with the installation of BioTime+, InTimeReports, and CSComms. Please note that while the installer is built for CSComms so that can't be disabled from the installation process.

Please be aware that the installation process may take up to 5 minutes as you will be installing 3 different software packages. Once the installation is complete, you will receive a notification similar to the one shown in the image below:

Ensure 'Launch CSComms' is ticked and click Finish:

Running CSComms

Clocking Systems Comms Configuration Tool should now be open after installing it using the instructions above.
If it is not open, you can open it by clicking the icon on your desktop labelled 'CSComms. Alternatively click the Windows Start button at the bottom left of your PC Screen and by typing in 'CSComms' you should see a program labelled 'CSComms' Click this to open the configuration tool.

You should be able to see a screen like the one pictured below:

The highlighted Server IP should be your computer's internal network IP address, and the software will attempt to fill this in automatically. The Output Path box is used to specify where you want to store clockings. It's important to remember the location you choose here, as you'll need to configure BioTime+ to look for clockings in the same folder later.

Configuring CSComms

To configure CSComms, you need to click on the "Select Folder" button located next to the "Output Path" field. This will open a file browser window, which allows you to select the folder where you want to store the clockings. The file browser will look similar to the below image:

Click "This PC" to view all of the hard drives on your computer. In most cases, BioTime+ will be installed on the C drive. To access the BioTime+ folder, click on the C: drive and navigate to the BioTime+ folder. From there, click on "Data" as shown in the highlighted area below.

If the Data folder is not found inside the BioTimePlus folder, it may be necessary to repeat the process on other drives that are on your PC. Additional drives on your computer can be viewed by clicking on the corresponding drive letter on the file browser. For example, the image below shows additional drives labeled D and E.

After selecting and highlighting the Data folder, click on the 'Make New Folder' button. This will prompt you to name the new folder. Enter the name 'Terminal1' and press Enter. The new folder will be created and you can then click OK to close the file dialogue. Make sure that the Terminal1 folder is still selected before clicking OK as the highlighted folder will be used for the Output Path.

To finish off the installation click the Server Mode checkbox and then click 'Start Service':

The CSComms Server Log displays the last 50 logs generated by the server. Since you have started CSComms in service mode, it will continue to run in the background, and you don't need to keep it open. You can safely close CSComms without affecting its performance.

BioTime+ Is Now Installed

BioTime+ is now installed and you are ready to move onto the next section. If you need any assistance you can open a ticket at https://support.clockingsystems.co.uk, alternatively call 0113 258 7856 to book in a full install and training session.

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