Electronic Employee Monitoring

There are various types of electronic monitoring which can be used at a company. Increasingly common is the use of computerbased monitoring in the workplace. The most comprehensive of this type of monitoring tracks each and every keystroke and mouse click that a user inputs from their personal computer or workstation. Most keystroke monitoring systems permit employers to review how employees are using workplace computers and the various software programs available to them. Critics point out, however, that keystroke monitoring can also help employers to "listen in" on an employees' word processing program, and determine whether the employee is writing a personal letter or a business proposal (Buss 45).

Employers can also monitor the Web sites that employees are visiting. Increasingly, Internet sites are making this easier to do since they often install "cookies" on the computers which access individual sites, or maintain a history file. Since most employees who access the Internet do so across a network, the electronic "footprint" that they leave behind can be substantial and enough for an MIS professional to determine if employees are visiting sites which are inappropriate, or if they are spending "too much" time surfing the Internet.

Some companies have taken pre-emptive steps with regard to Web surfing and simply blo

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yee's phone conversations despite the good intention of the employer. Telephone monitoring is also becoming increasingly common. Telemarketers and customer support personnel are often well aware that their phone calls may be monitored, and those who call these individuals are used to the warning that their conversation may be monitored in order to ensure better customer service. However, such monitoring can also be used to track whether personal phone calls are being made, and whether the employee is offering defamatory or even simple negative information about the company or its products (Deck 6). Companies have long tracked long distance phone calls made by employees on company phones in order to recover the costs from employees. For many companies, this is a simple way to let employees know that while personal phone calls are permitted--even long distance ones--the employee is expected to exercise reasonable judgment and to pay the company for the call after it is completed. Although long distance rates have declined significantly in recent years, the ability to use an employer's commercial discount on long distance calls--even though the employee would have to reimburse the company later--was long considered one of the p
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Approximate Word count = 1485
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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