Vantage - Full User Guide – GuardTek Help Center

Vantage Overview

The Vantage™ Telephone Check-In System is a Computer Telephony (CT) Interactive Voice Response
(IVR) application designed to manage field staff from a Communication Operations Center. Vantage
has three main functions:

1. Confirm employees’ Time and Attendance
2. Notify supervisors if employees are not at the job site
3. Send messages to one or all employees.

This comprehensive system provides total management of communications, employee call-ins/call-outs
and messaging. Vantage™ updates the Vision™ Labor Management System on a real-time basis with
color-coded scheduling and online notification providing ease of use for Dispatch. Features include:

• Tight integration with Vision™ Labor Management System
• Real-Time Interactive Confirmation
• Easy to use (minimal training necessary)
• Can be used anywhere there is a touch-tone telephone
• System e-mails or texts supervisors when an employee does not sign-in to work
• Fully featured messaging application (Broadcast and Employee messages)

For Customers using Valiant’s Application Service Provider (ASP) online, customers are
assigned a Toll-Free (“800”) Phone Number. Using Dialed Number Identification Service
(DNIS), we identify which Customer Database to interface. We use high-capacity T1 Digital
Phone lines to handle many simultaneous calls.

System configuration and maintenance is performed by Valiant’s implementation team based on the
customer’s requirements specified in the Vantage Setup Form at the end of this document. Customers
can change some Vantage™ settings using Vision™, described in this document, including:

• Vantage Time Zones
• Pre-Tour Sign-In Requirements
• Paging/E-mail Options for Unconfirmed Posts
• Supervisor Phone Numbers for Paging
• Phone Line Restrictions for Employee Check-In/Out
• Meal Time Tracking Function
• Mileage Expense Tracking and

Reimbursement

If Vantage and Vision are implemented at the same time: These settings should be done prior to any
schedule setup. The Vantage Division Settings set the default values that will be carried to the Tour level.
If Vantage is implemented after schedules have already been created in Vision, each Tour must be manually updated with the appropriate settings.

Employee Operation Overview

1. Employee dials Vantage™ Toll-Free Number.

2. The Vantage system determines from the incoming call the Dialed Number Identification Service (DNIS), which corresponds to the phone number that the employee called.

3. From the DNIS, access to the appropriate Vision™ Database is established.

4. If enabled, Employee has the option to hear the prompts in English or Spanish

5. Employee then is prompted to enter their Employee ID #. Once entered and confirmed, some or all
of these options are available: * These prompts are enabled only when the related flags/settings have
been set in the Vantage tab of the Division Settings.

Smart Prompting

To avoid confusion, and to reduce call-time, once an employee clocks in for a tour, Vantage keeps track
of what actions were already taken (such as Clock In) and plays only the appropriate prompts, as
illustrated below:

Exceptions:
• If the employee does not terminate the meal break and clocks out for the day, the system
includes this employee in the Daily transaction log with a new action indicating meal break not
terminated and notifies the employee via a voice-activated prompt at clock out time to “Contact
their supervisor”.
• If the employee does not take an expected meal break, the system includes this employee in the
Daily Transaction log with a new action indicating No Meal Break Taken and notifies the
employee via a voice-activated prompt at clock out time to “Contact their supervisor”.

NOTE: Only 1 meal break is allowed per tour (shift).

Vision/Vantage Setup

The main function of Vantage™ is to confirm employees’ Time and Attendance. Using the Vantage tab in
Vision’s Division Settings, users can set the option to have the system automatically place a call to the
location supervisor for any post where an employee has not checked in after a certain amount of time has
passed since their shift was scheduled to begin. Additional options such as requiring a pre-tour check-in
and establishing the Vantage Time Zone are also set at this level.

NOTE: If Vantage and Vision are being implemented at the same time, these settings should be done prior to any schedule setup. The Vision Division Settings set the default values carried to the Tour level and only apply to new Tours/Shifts. If Vantage is implemented after Vision has been implemented and all schedules have already been created, each Tour must be manually updated with the appropriate settings.

3.1 Vision Schedule
Vision schedule functionality is maintained with the Vantage system. Someone monitoring the Vision™ Schedule Screen will see the employee change color depending on their action. If an employee presses 5 (Create Shift) upon calling in, Vantage will prompt for a JobID (A unique Post ID for ALL Divisions) and if valid, will create a temporary schedule and assign the employee to that schedule.

3.1.1 Unconfirmed Tab

Vantage users have an Unconfirmed tab located in the bottom of the main schedule screen. This tab displays all scheduled employees who have not yet called in for their shifts.
3.1.2 Confirmed Tab Vantage users also have a Confirmed tab located in the bottom of the main schedule screen. This tab displays all scheduled employees who have called in for their shifts.

3.2 Post Master (Vantage Tab)
Vantage uses Dialed Number Identification Service (DNIS) to identify which Customer Database to
interface with when a call is received.

Enter one or more phone numbers that identify the Post. The Phone Number can be a complete phone number, e.g., (516) 555- 5678 or part of a Trunk Group, e.g., (516) 555-11 which is valid for (516) 555-1100 to (516) 555-1199.

Click to add a number to the list. Click to remove a number from the list.

Page Supervisor For Unconfirmed Posts

This option causes the employee’s supervisor to be paged whenever an employee’s clock-in does not occur within a specified range of minutes after the tour’s scheduled start time. When enabled, the system
constantly scans the Vision™ schedule looking for posts where an employee has not “confirmed in”
beyond a pre-determined time after the scheduled Job/Tour/Shift start time. If this happens, the system
will send an email or text message to the Location Supervisor notifying them of the missed clock-in.

4.1 Enable Paging

In the Vantage tab of the Division Settings, select Page Supervisor For Unconfirmed Posts. Enter the number of minutes after tour begins in the Page field highlighted below.

Change Default Paging For A Specific Tour

If the settings for a particular Tour differ from the Division Settings, or if the Tour was created prior to the
setup of the Division Settings, then the values in the Vantage tab of the Tour Master can be edited.

E-mail Supervisor For Unconfirmed Posts

This option allows the work location’s supervisor to be e-mailed whenever an employee’s clock-in does
not occur within a specified range of minutes after the tour’s scheduled start time. When enabled, the
system constantly scans the Vision™ schedule looking for posts where an employee has not “confirmed
in” beyond a pre-determined time after the scheduled Job/Tour/Shift start time. If this happens, the
system will send an e-mail notification (see sample message below) to the e-mail address(es) specified
on the Supervisor Master for the specified Location.

Supervisor E-mail Address(es)

The e-mail address(es) used to notify a supervisor that there are unconfirmed posts is set at the Location level. The Location supervisor (not necessarily the Employee’s supervisor) will be notified of any unconfirmed posts that are associated with their location.
1. Select the Supervisor who will receive the e-mail from the Supervisor drop-down box in the Location Master.
NOTE: This field cannot be left blank

2. Enter the Supervisor’s e-mail address in E-Mail 1. If you enter an address in E-Mail 2, an e-mail is sent (cc:) to that address also.

Tour Master Settings

3. Select Post from the Location Master dropdown to display the Post Master.

4. Select Tour from the Post Master drop-down to display the Tour Master.

NOTE: E-mail notification capability is an interim solution utilizing the existing user interface. Field names on the Vantage tab of the Tour Master are scheduled for updating in the near future.

5. Select Page Supervisor for Unconfirmed Posts.

6. Enter the number of Minutes After Tour Begins (must be greater than zero).

7. Select “Send Mail” from the Notification drop-down.

Messaging

Vantage™ gives Managers, Supervisors and Dispatchers the ability to leave introductory and broadcast
messages for the company or individual employees. For Hosted Vantage™ installations, a Supervisory ID
Number and Password are assigned from the Setup form when Vantage™ is installed.

To use Vantage™ Messaging:

1. Dial the Vantage™ “800” number

2. When prompted for Employee (or Social Security No.), enter the Supervisor User No

3. When prompted, enter your Password

4. An audio recording will list the available options. Select the desired option as follows:

Introductory Message

This message is played instead of the default, “Thank you for calling Vantage”. Ex. “Welcome to XXX
Call-In System”.
To either record or delete an introductory message, dial into the Vantage™ Messaging System and press

to record a new message or press to delete the current message. If you want to record a new message over the current one, you do not have to delete the current introductory message; the system will record over it.

Broadcast Message

This message is played to every employee once the employee call-in or call-out has been confirmed.
Ex. “Please contact your manager if you are available to work on Thanksgiving Day”.

To either record or delete a broadcast message, dial into the Vantage™ Messaging System and press to record a new message or press to delete the current broadcast message. If you want to record a new message over the current one, you do not have to delete the current broadcast message; the system will record over it.

Individual Messages (Message to Employee)

Once an employee dials in and the call-in or call-out is confirmed, Vantage™ will let the employee know
that he or she has a message after the broadcast message is played.
The employee has the option to press to listen to the message or press to skip the message.
Once employees listen to the message, they have the ability to save or delete the message.

To record an individual message, dial into the Vantage™ Messaging System and press to record the
message; the system will prompt you to enter the employee’s ID #.

Clock Rules

Various settings in Vantage and Vision determine the methods used for tracking and rounding time.

Time Zone

Enter the hour(s) differential from Eastern Standard Time (EST) in the Vantage Time Zone text box on the Vantage tab of the Division Settings. For example, a division in California would contain a “-3” to indicate three hours back from Eastern time.

Schedule Range

This is the number of minutes considered acceptable to check in or out. Outside this range you will
receive an early or late message. (Valiant Setup.)

Allowable Range

This is the number of minutes before or after the schedule considered acceptable to check in or out.
Outside this range you will receive a “…Too Early” or “…Too Late” Message. (Valiant Setup.)

Rounding

Vantage rounds to the nearest 15 minutes by default within the acceptable ranges. (Valiant Setup.)
Other rounding rules are available, as well as no rounding rules. Rounding rules are recommended to
avoid payment for fractional hours.

No Sign-In Early

If set, then all times earlier than the check in are set to the scheduled “in time” automatically. (Valiant
Setup.)

No Sign-Out Late

If set, then all times later than the check out are set to the scheduled “out time” automatically. (Valiant
Setup.)

Pre-Tour Sign-In Required
In the Vantage tab of the Division Settings, select this option if the employee is required to check in before the tour or shift starts. Enter the range (From and To) of Minutes Before sign-in that are required.

During Tour Check-in Required

In the Vantage tab of the Tour Master, select this option if the employee is required to check in
during a tour.

Important Note: The Tour Check-In Range in minutes (on the Vantage tab of the Division Settings) must be greater than zero to enable the During Tour Check-In Required option.

Selecting this option displays the days of the week, where the number of check-ins required for a Tour
may be specified for each day of the week, starting with the first day of the tour. (In this example, the
schedule starts on a Wednesday.)

Entering a “7” on any day, for example, would require an employee to check in every hour during the tour.
The employee’s initial check-in (Shift Start) for a tour would not count towards this number, but a Meal
break and Shift End would. Depending on the number of required check-ins and the length of the tour,
Vantage divides the length of the tour evenly by the required number of check-ins to calculate the actual time of day when these check-ins must occur. Vantage advises the employee of these times when the employee first calls in to start the shift. The employee must call the supervisor to check-in at the specified times, plus or minus the Tour Check-In Range (in minutes) specified in the Vantage tab of the Division Settings.

Meal Time Tracking

Meal Time Tracking is enabled from the Vantage tab of the Division Settings when the Capture Meal Time With Vantage option is set .

There are three options for tracking employee meal times, selected from the drop-down box:

Preserve Meal Duration

With this option, the system records the clock Start time of the meal and adds the default meal Duration to derive the End time of the meal.

The default meal time (duration) can be set at many levels, where the lowest level (shift) takes
precedence:

You may also specify the default (expected) meal time for an individual employee from the schedule:

Right-click on the desired scheduled employee name at the desired day and shift to display a list of the available options.

Select Confirm.

Select Meal/Stops to display the Meal Hours window.

You may enter the meal’s Total Hours for the shift even when the “Capture Meal Time Via Vantage” option is not set.
NOTE: When an employee starts a meal break, the default schedule color for that shift will change to orange. Once Meal End is set, the schedule returns to Confirmed-In color (light green).

Actual Vantage Clock Time is Applied

With this option, the system subtracts the clock Start time of the meal from the clock End time of the meal to derive the meal’s Duration.

Apply Rounding Rule

With this option, the system applies the specified Vantage rounding Rule to the clock Start and End times for the meal, then subtracts the rounded Start time from the rounded End time to derive the meal’s Duration.

Mileage Expense Tracking and Reimbursement

Vision supports mileage tracking and reimbursement from the Schedule (via the Adjustments tab of the Schedule Confirm Master as well as the Insert Payroll Adjustment function), the Payroll Adjustment
function from the Masters menu, or the Others drop-down in the Employee Master and Post Master.
Vision customers using the Vantage telephone check-in system can generate these adjustments
automatically. When the Vantage Mileage Expense option is enabled, you are able to record employee
mileage expenses when they clock out from their tours and reimburse them through a payroll adjustment.

Enable Mileage Tracking

1. Click the edit button .

2. Set the Mileage Expense flag in the Mileage tab of the Post Master

3. Enter the company’s mileage rate in the Payroll field .

4. Set the Tax flag if applicable.

5. Select the G/L Account from the drop-down if you are tracking this expense via a general ledger account.

Entering Employee Mileage

1. Employee calls the 800 Vantage Line and selects the option to Clock Out by pressing 4.

2. Vantage then prompts the employee to “Enter Mileage”.

3. Employee enters Mileage amounts by pressing the applicable numbers on the telephone’s keypad.

4. Vantage confirms the mileage amount and then offers the option to “End Call”.

Reimbursing Employee Mileage Expense

When the Mileage Expense option is enabled, Vision automatically generates a Payroll Adjustment. All fields are automatically populated based on the mileage entered by the employee when clocking out and your selections in the Mileage tab of the Post Master.

The miles entered by the employee appear in the Regular Hours field.

The Description field includes the word “MILEAGE” and the date/time of the entry.

The authorized user should verify all entries and may modify the fields as needed. For example, you may wish to select an Earning Type (e.g., mileage) that is set up to avoid the Federal, State and local taxes normally associated with regular hours, if applicable.

Payroll adjustments are described in Section 4 of the Vision Manual.

NOTE: Tracking of employee mileage expenses is enabled for Payroll adjustments only – adjustments to Billing are not currently supported through Vantage’s Mileage tab.

Vantage Reports

Reports specific to Vantage are located under the Vantage/Handlink category in the Vision Reports menu.

To access these reports, the “Report Vantage” permission must be assigned by the superuser.

Call Log

The Call Log displays a list of all Vantage transactions in date, time and User ID sequence for each Division.

Column Descriptions

Report Filters

Account Manager
The sales representative assigned to the customer.

Active Status
You may select Active or Inactive employees (default=All).

Database Year

This filter reports transactions by the year in which the transactions occurred (default=Current).

To report on a different year, double click Database Year to display the related pop-up window and select the desired year.

To view the 2005 archived data, for example, select 2005 and enter a Date Range within the 2005 year.
This will display the archived data for that year.

Department

You may select one or more departments (default=All).

Pay Status

You may select Hourly, Salary or All employees.

Show Invalid Employees

Sort Details By

Sort Details Order

Sort Headers

Sort Headers Order

Source Type Filter

This filter reports transactions by the source of the transaction (default=All).

Daily Transaction Log

The Daily Transaction Log report displays a list of all completed Vantage transactions; incomplete calls
(such as hang-ups) are not included.

Column Descriptions

Report Filters

Account Manager

The sales representative assigned to the customer

Active Status

You may select Active or Inactive employees (default=All).

Department

You may select one or more departments (default=All).

Employee Name

To filter report results by Employee Name (default=All), double-click Employee Name to display the
related pop-up window and select one or more employees.

Paystatus

You may select Hourly, Salary or All employees

Sort Headers

Sort Headers Order

Meal Status Report

The Meal Status report indicates whether employees are on lunch break or back to work, based on the
clock in/clock out timestamp that verifies the confirmed and unconfirmed status of the employee at a
designated post and shift. The report includes:

• A list of employees who clocked out for a Meal but never clocked back in after the Meal break.
• A list of employees who clocked both in/out for the Meal break.
• A list of employees who did not clock in/out for the Meal break at all.

Column Descriptions

Report Filters

Active Status

You may select Active or Inactive employees (default=All).

Department

You may select one or more departments (default=All).

Employee Name

To filter report results by Employee Name (default=All), double-click Employee Name to display the
related pop-up window and select one or more employees.

Group A, B or C Filter Level

To filter report results by Customer (default), Location or Post, doubleclick to display the related pop-up
window and select the desired level.

Meal Time Status

To filter report results by meal status (default=All), select one or more
statuses, where:

Confirmed indicates that the Employee has used Vantage to report both the Meal Start Time and Meal End Time.

No transaction indicates that the Employee has not used Vantage to report any Meal Times.

Unconfirmed indicates that the Employee has used vantage to report the Meal Start Time but never
reported the Meal End Time

Pay Status

You may select Hourly or Salary employees (default=All).

Sort Details By

The report may be sorted by Employee Name (default), Employee No or Post Date.

Sort Details Order

The sort order may be either Ascending (default) or Descending.

Meal Variance Report

The Meal Variance report will show any variance between actual meal times and the expected (default)
meal times for each employee. Since this is a variance report, employees who have not taken a meal
break are not included.

Column Descriptions

Report Filters

Report filtering is as described previously for the Meal Status Report, except that the Meal Time Status
filter has been replaced by the Variance Condition in Minutes filter.

Variance Condition in Minutes

If the difference between an employee’s actual meal time and the expected meal time exceeds the specified variance, the employee will appear on the report.

If no specific variance is specified, the report will list all clock Start and End times for each meal, calculate
the duration, compare the duration with the expected Meal Time, and display the difference in minutes.

Sign In Variance Report

The purpose of this report is to indicate any variances between scheduled Shift Start times and actual
employee sign in times.

Column Descriptions

Report Filters

Account Manager

The sales representative assigned to the customer.

Active Status

You may select Active or Inactive employees (default=All).

Database Year

This filter reports transactions by the year in which the transactions
occurred (default=Current).

To report on a different year, doubleclick Database Year to display the related pop-up window and select the desired year.

To view the 2005 archived data, for example, select 2005 and enter a Date Range within the 2005 year.
This will display the archived data for that year.

Department

You may select one or more departments (default=All).

Employee Name

To filter report results by Employee Name (default=All), double-click Employee Name to display the
related pop-up window and select one or more employees.

Pay Status

You may select Hourly, Salary or All employees.

Sort Details By

Sort Details Order

Sort Headers

Sort Headers Order

Sign Out Variance Report

The purpose of this report is to indicate any variances between scheduled Shift End times and actual
employee sign out times.

Column Descriptions

Report Filters

Report filtering is as described previously for the Sign In Variance Report.

Unconfirmed Post Report

This report lists all scheduled employees that remain unconfirmed (have not clocked in) at their related
post and tour

Column Descriptions

Report Filters

Account Manager

The sales representative assigned to the customer.

Active Status

You may select Active or Inactive employees (default=All).

Department

You may select one or more departments (default=All).

Employee Name

To filter report results by Employee Name (default=All), double-click Employee Name to display the related pop-up window and select one or more employees.

Group A, B or C Filter Level

To filter report results by Customer (default), Location or Post, doubleclick to display the related pop-up window and select the desired level.

Group A

The Location tab of the Location Master provides for three userdefinable lookup fields: GroupA,
GroupB and GroupC. The labels for these fields are specified in the Division Settings.

Group B

The Location tab of the Location Master provides for three user definable lookup fields: Group A, Group B and Group C. The labels for these fields are specified in the Division Settings.

Group C

The Location tab of the Location Master provides for three userdefinable lookup fields: GroupA, GroupB and GroupC. The labels for these fields are specified in the Division Settings.

Pay Status

You may select Hourly or Salary employees (default=All).

Sort Headers

Sort Headers Order

Vision Reports

Tour Transaction Detail

The Vision Tour Transaction Detail lists “Meal In” and “Meal Out” times for each employee included in the
report. It also provides a summary of scheduled and total hours by post, location and customer.

Column Descriptions

Report Filters

Account Manager

The sales representative assigned to the customer.

Active Status

You may select Active or Inactive employees (default=All).

Customer Status

You may select one or more customer statuses (default=All).

Department

You may select one or more departments (default=All).

Group A

The Location tab of the Location Master provides for three user-definable lookup fields: GroupA, GroupB and GroupC. The labels for these fields are specified in the Division Settings.

Group B

The Location tab of the Location Master provides for three user-definable lookup fields: GroupA,
GroupB and GroupC. The labels for these fields are specified in the Division Settings.

Group C

The Location tab of the Location
Master provides for three user-definable lookup fields: GroupA, GroupB and GroupC. The labels for these fields are specified in the Division Settings.

Sort Headers

Sort Headers Order

Tour Transaction Hours Paid and Billed Report

This report is of particular interest to clients utilizing telephone or biometric devices to collect employee
time in and time out, namely the Vantage™ telephone check-in system and/or biometric clock users.

Although similar to the schedule-related Tour Transaction Detail Report, the Tour Transaction Hours Paid
and Billed Report is concerned with employee hours as they relate to payroll and billing.