Capture your working time wherever you are with our mobile app.
Long gone are the days when working meant being tied to your desk all day, which is why Time by Ping (TBP) is also mobile, ready to capture your time via our app. TBP Mobile works on your cell as a supporting tool to our complete desktop experience and allows you to capture your working day wherever you are.
Don’t have TBP Mobile for your iPhone yet? Download it here
How does Time by Ping Mobile work?
Designed to work seamlessly with our full desktop experience, TBP Mobile imports your desktop Current Matter List (CML) to offer two features that satisfy core needs while you’re working away from your desk – the Mobile Timer and the ability to create Activities. This is why we always recommend keeping your CML up to date, so you can easily assign TBP Mobile Activity to the right Client / Matter.
Once you’ve captured time on TBP Mobile, you’ll need to send it to TBP desktop before you can release it to the Practice Management System (PMS). Once sent, you won’t be able to edit the captured time on your mobile but will be able to edit it on your desktop TBP instance.
On sending to the desktop it will immediately add to your Timeline at the relevant timestamp, either assigned or unassigned, and to your Timesheet if assigned. By doing this, TBP makes it easy to quickly contextualize the time captured on your mobile in your wider working day.
TBP Mobile features two tabbed views, Timers and Timeline.
The Timers view:
Launch TBP Mobile and you’ll immediately arrive in your Timers tab where you’ll see your Current Matter List (CML) imported directly from your desktop and displayed as timers. This way you can quickly start a new Mobile Timer for an existing Client / Matter.
The Timeline view:
Tap on your Timeline tab and you’ll see a chronological view of the Mobile Timers and any Activities you’ve created for that day along with the relevant information associated with each. This is also where you can send your mobile time to your TBP desktop to prepare it for release to the PMS.
You can sign out of TBP Mobile at any time by tapping the menu icon on the top-left of the application and then ‘Sign out’.
How do I start and edit a Mobile Timer?
For speed and convenience, you can start a Mobile Timer instantly:
- Tap on the Timers tab
- Either:
- Tap on a Client / Matter in your Timers tab to start a timer assigned to that Client / Matter
- Tap on
at the bottom of your screen to start an unassigned timer. When you have an unassigned timer running you can seamlessly assign it to any Client / Matter in your Timers tab by tapping plus icon next to the relevant Client / Matter
- Tap on a Client / Matter in your Timers tab to start a timer assigned to that Client / Matter
- Tap on
in the Timer Bar at the bottom of your screen to stop the timer and tap
to restart it
- Tap on
to edit the timer details (and any grouped timers) including start and stop times, duration and Narrative, and to assign or re-assign a Client / Matter when needed
- From here you can continue to use the timer for additional sessions, start another timer, or complete the timer session by tapping on
. See ‘How do Narratives work in TBP Mobile?’ below for more on what completing a timer means
Writing a Narrative? Try our handy mobile dictation feature. Just click in the Narrative box, hit the microphone button on your cell’s keyboard, start talking and TBP will record and save your Narrative. Great for multi-tasking on the go!
Timer groupings
We know you may want to start and stop several timers for the same work in any given day and group them under the same Narrative, so TBP Mobile lets you do just that automatically.
Start a timer and you’ll see a number displayed in parentheses next to the duration – this tells you how many times you’ve started and stopped that timer with that Narrative and so how many Activities are grouped with it.
These grouped timers display individually in your TBP Mobile Timeline view, but as they have the same Narrative will be grouped in your desktop Timeline.
How do Narratives work in TBP Mobile?
We know you’ll want to start and stop a timer throughout your day but keep the same Narrative throughout. We also know that there might be times when you’re finished with a Narrative and want to start afresh. TBP mobile allows you to do exactly that:
- Tap on a Client / Matter in your Timers tab to start an assigned timer or tap on
at the bottom of your screen to start an unassigned timer
- Tap on
to write the Narrative – don’t forget you can also use the dictation feature in TBP Mobile by hitting the microphone button on your cell’s keyboard
- Continue to start and stop the timer throughout your day as you need to. If you edit the Narrative as you go, it’ll update for all of the previously captured Activities too
- Once you’re finished with that Narrative, click
on the timer footer to complete the session and revert the Narrative to blank so you can start a new flow
This means you can have multiple timer sessions running for the same Client / Matter on the same day, which will be treated as such when you submit to your TBP desktop.
How do I delete a Timer?
You can remove a Timer in two easy steps any time you want:
- Go to your Timeline tab
- Slide left on any Activity where it says ‘Mobile Timer’ (not the Client / Matter area) and tap on
when it appears
How do I create and edit an Activity?
If you want to account for any time you may have missed, you can quickly create an Activity direct in your Mobile TBP. To do this:
- In either your Timers or Timeline tab, tap [plus icon] at the bottom of the screen
- In the ‘Create Activity’ screen, follow the instructions to select a Client / Matter, set a start and stop time, and, if necessary add a Narrative either by typing or dictation
- Tap ‘Save & Close’ and the Activity will add to your Mobile Timeline at the relevant timestamp
To edit an Activity, just tap on it in your Timeline where you’ll be able to edit the Client / Matter, start and stop times and Narrative. Remember though, once you send a Mobile Timer to your desktop you’ll no longer be able to edit it in the Mobile app.
How do I send my Mobile Timers and Activities to my desktop?
It’s important to send your Mobile Timers to your desktop so you can get a more complete picture of your day and add them to your Timesheet before releasing them. The Activities you send will integrate seamlessly and chronologically with the rest of your tracked time in your desktop Timeline. To do this:
- Go to the Timeline tab
- Scroll to the bottom of your Timeline and, as long as you have Activities ready to submit, you’ll see the ‘Send time to desktop’ button. Tap it to send all Activities in your Timeline for that day to your desktop
- Once sent, the Activities in your Timeline will update with a dark background, which means they’re no longer editable
If you have a timer running when it reaches midnight, TBP will automatically pause and add it to that day’s Mobile Timeline to stop it running across two days. We’ll then start a new timer at midnight so we don’t miss capturing any work you may still be doing. TBP will also automatically add your timers if you manually close the TBP Mobile app.
If you have several days’ worth of Mobile Timers to send to your desktop, you can send them all in one go by tapping menu icon and then ‘Send all time to Desktop’.
Please note that any changes you make on your desktop to Activities sent from your cell, such as grouping, deleting or editing details, will not be reflected in the same Activities on your cell.
How do I use my Time by Ping Mobile calendar?
TBP Mobile keeps a running history of your Mobile Activity in its calendar, just in case you ever need to reference or add to it in the future. It’s quick and easy to access and use.
There are several ways you can navigate to a day in the past and see any Activities associated with it:
- Tap on any date with a dot underneath it, as that indicates TBP Mobile has captured your time on that day
- Tap on the single ‘<’ and ‘>’ chevrons at the top of your screen to navigate back and forth one day at a time from your current day
- Tap
in the top right of your screen to see a monthly overview and then just select the day you want to see. You can swipe or use the single < and > chevrons to move month by month
No matter when you are in the calendar, tap on the double >> chevrons to navigate back to the present day. You can only start a Mobile Timer for the current day, so if you start one when looking at a day in the past you’ll automatically navigate back to the present day.