Top 5 Reasons To Monitor Usage Of Office Internet Access

Small business and even large companies need to take a closer look at how employees make use of their online privileges. Why should you monitor usage and internet access of your employees? Let’s consider the top 5 reasons on why you should monitor usage of your office internet:

  1. Personal internet usage of employees diminishes their rate of productivity in a day. Instead of doing the tasks they are assigned to do for that day, they may not able to complete some tasks because of they’re slacking off in some hours. According to surveys, most employee use up about two or even more hours a day in using the internet for personal purposes or activities that is entirely irrelevant to their jobs. Imagine how much your company looses in a day if each of your employees spends more than two hours on the internet instead of getting important tasks done.
  2. Abusive usage of office internet puts the company’s computer network at risk from viruses, spy ware and other forms of malicious programs from the internet. Because employees can visit unsecured websites or download programs without permission, there is a greater a chance that your system will be infected with viruses or other programs which can damage the system. Your important files stored in your computer memory can be damaged or even permanently lost if your system gets infected with fatal viruses.
  3. Some employees can abuse their privilege of online access by getting confidential information from the company and using it on their personal advantage. Through monitoring software, you can identify employees who are illegally using confidential information for their own benefit.
  4. By using monitoring software or a web-blocking software, you can have control over which websites are allowed to be accessed and which sites are prohibited. You can prevent employees from using the office internet abusively. Furthermore, accessing pornographic or offensive websites are avoided.
  5. With a monitoring system, you can track details of each of your employees’ activities. You can exactly see where they go, what they do, and who they talk to online. By analyzing the details of their internet usage, you will also know if they are performing their tasks dutifully.

There are two types of monitoring software that you can use to keep a closer look at office internet usage. One is by using filtering software and the other is through web-blocking. Filtering software is also known as Internet access management software. With filtering software you can watch over which websites your employees are visiting, and how much bandwidth are they actually using. Some filtering software application are capable of taking screenshots of the websites that your employees access. Filtering software also work in chat messengers so you will be able to know what your employees are talking about during working hours.

However, if you’re going to use this monitoring software, it is crucial to let your employees know that you will be implementing new rules and actions with regards to their internet usage. Send an e-mail or a written memo that states the new company’s policy about the proper and acceptable use of internet in the office. Don’t forget to include in this letter the punishment or penalty that the company will inflict for those who will deliberately violate the new internet policy.

Internet Usage