Some implementations of TimeControl are more complex than others. HMS provides the TimeControl Advanced Tools for those clients who need to use TimeControl to overcome very particular challenges. The Advanced Tools CD includes the following:

Component Installation
For most clients, the TimeControl Administration Transaction Server (ATS (the TimeControl middleware) and the TimeControl web components will install on a single server. We’ve designed the TimeControl Installation routine to install everything you need with a single click. Some clients however have more complex requirements. If a deployment must be done where each component is installed on a different server, the Advanced Tools CD provides a separate installation of each component. This allows the Web Server component, the ATS, and the TimeControl menu elements to be installed separately on different machines if required. The component installation also includes some elements that are not in the default installation such as being able to install the web components on a non-Windows Web Service such as Apache.

Multi-TimeControl-Server Installation
For the largest deployments the ability to load-share the TimeControl web traffic can be of interest. The Advanced Tools CD allows the ATS to be installed on multiple servers with each server connected to the same database. With different web pages defined for each ATS instance, this allows the traffic to the same system to be spread across multiple connections. This can be important in a multi-national implementation where putting an ATS closer to the users is more efficient. Such deployments are typically considered only for deployments of over 10,000 users.

The TimeControl Consolidator
Some organizations have multiple TimeControl sites which each operate independently but where the organization also wants to bring their TimeControl data together for reporting, analysis or linking to other corporate systems. Clients with the Advanced Tools CD gain access to the TimeControl Consolidator which allows satellite installations of TimeControl to be linked to a central TimeControl system. Packages are created from the satellite systems and then sent either automatically or via email or even physically delivered to the central system where TimeControl processes them for use in a central database. This is ideal when the satellite systems do not have reliable access to the Internet or a network for connecting. Offshore rigs, ships, remote construction sites, high risk areas are some examples. In these cases the remote staff can update their timesheets locally to the satellite TimeControl database and the Consolidator will bring the data together remotely at the central management location.