Do you know where everyone on your team is right this second?
Does your receptionist have a hard time keeping up with all of the employees on your team? Do you even have someone who can check each person in and out on a whiteboard every day? If your business has employees who work from home, the coffee shop, or out in the field, you need the new app, Tassuru.
Developed by a team lead by Jordan Perrey, CEO, in Victoria, British Columbia, Tassuru is an app that connects your team to their location using their smartphone.
First, your office installs beacons at various locations around the building. For instance, you may want one in the conference room or in the warehouse. Each beacon has a range of about 30 feet, and it is personalized based on where your employees gather. T
hen, each employee downloads the app on their smartphone. When the app is set to be turned on, when the person walks into range of the beacon, it registers where the person is. Anyone on the system can go into their own app and see where each individual is.
Beyond beacons, check in from remote locations
In addition, you have the option to check in at home or a coffee shop. This has to be done manually, however, if you are working from home in the morning then come into the office at 2:00 in the afternoon, when you hit the range of a beacon your smartphone will automatically update.
Perrey states that they intend to include options for vacation or sick days in their next phase. It is not currently geo-synchronous with your GPS, but this is in the works.
Another interesting feature of Tassuru is that it provides pictures of the staff. You can also send communications through Tassuru, and it can be updated with the most current contact information in just a few clicks. Who has time to maintain a contact list and continually send it out?
Great features with tons of potential
Tassuru has some other great features in the works to connect people in this mobile age. The company has a passion for helping companies to be more effective and productive. Currently, Tassuru is privately funded and is not seeking investors. It is still in beta testing, but it shows a great deal of potential.
Tassuru would be great for any organization that wants to keep up with the location of their staff. One of the pitfalls I see is if you have a micromanager in place that hasn’t bought into the value of working from home or in different locations. However, as more working environments adapt to mobility and flexibility, Tassuru will help you maintain collaboration even when you’re a few (or even thousand) of miles apart.
Boost productivity, but stay safe – the app gives me pause
I see this app as a valuable addition to the productivity and connectivity of your organization. Having the ability to know if your manager is out sick or just working from home saves time when you need answers. I would love to see additional features, such as a way to identify that you are driving and cannot answer or projected end time to the meeting.
I have a big concern about the potential for abuse with this app. My first thought was how to handle stalkers, but I can also see a manager tracking an employee to micromanage their time. If businesses are going to use this type of program, they need to set strict boundaries on its use and access. Just recently, an employee was fired for not using a tracking app. In this case, the employee objected to the boss tracking her 24/7. While Tassuru does not track someone to this extent, as it adds features, these types of problems do need to be addressed.
