Communication

Existing communication systems are ineffective work tools in that they fail to provide an effective mechanism to ensure receipt of the communication by the intended recipient and compliance with the communication's directives. Effective communication requires a follow-up mechanism to ensure timely completion of assigned targets without wasting an executive's time and energy.

TimeMaker's communication system differs from old fashioned emailing and other outdated communication systems by giving the originator of a communication the ability to control the communication and obtain the desired result for each communication he or she originates. For example, when communicating by email, the originator has no way of knowing or ensuring that his or her requested task is being performed. The originator's control of the assigned task is thus limited while his or her responsibility is not - the originator must still answer for incomplete tasks and missed deadlines. With TimeMaker's novel concept in tracking electronic communication, each communication sent is automatically followed through to it's reported completion, freeing the originator's attention from the task while ensuring timely production.

Another novel concept introduced by TimeMaker is the Multiple Viewpoints™ inbox, which provides a comprehensive view of all items and targeted completion dates for which the user is responsible. The Multiple Viewpoints inbox provides user-defined views of some or all of the user's open cycles. These views can be set to include all open cycles, or any combination of emails, assigned or self generated production items, items from the user's daily or weekly task list, scheduled meetings, items due on a certain day, past due targets, and more. With a snapshot view of all outstanding production items, the TimeMaker software user can more easily identify, plan and schedule production.

The Multiple View inbox is equipped with sophisticated filters for each screen enabling the user to define his or her own desired view.