Idle Detection Best Practice

Overview

Idle detection is a time tracking feature that monitors keyboard and mouse inactivity to identify when employees are away from their workstations. When properly configured, it significantly improves time tracking accuracy.

Key Principles

• Set idle threshold between 10-15 minutes
• Monitor keyboard and mouse activity only
• Never monitor screen content or websites
• Prompt users to confirm or adjust time when idle period detected
• Respect privacy while improving accuracy
• Make idle detection transparent to employees

Benefits

• Prevents accidental time overcharges to clients
• Improves billable hour accuracy
• Eliminates forgotten running timers
• Provides more accurate productivity data
• Reduces manual timesheet corrections
• Increases employee awareness of actual work time
• Builds trust when implemented transparently

Implementation

Successful idle detection requires clear communication, appropriate threshold settings, user control over adjustments, and privacy-respecting monitoring that focuses only on activity, not content.