If you’re a business with employees, you may need an employee call off line. But exactly what is one? An attendance platform is a call center service that documents employee absences and tardies. It’s that simple.

When an employee is going to miss work or be late, they dial your employee call off line, explain the situation, and the information is relayed to your company. This record includes a time and date stamp and a verification number, along with an electronic paper trail. It’s good for the company and good for the employees.

Employee call off lines eliminate most all conflicts and disagreements over when the employee called or even if he or she called. And if questions do arise, the documentation of the call quickly clarifies the situation for both parties.

Having this absentee information in an indisputable, unalterable form insures that compliant employees keep their jobs and provides documentation for the company about noncompliant workers. The distinction is huge. It can mean the difference between a wrongful termination lawsuit and a justifiable, defensible action.

Here are some of the features and possible options common with an employee call off line:

Your Own Number: Your employee call off line service provider will supply your company with a special phone number (local or toll free) for your absentee hotline. They will answer it using your company’s name, as you specify.

Date and Time Documentation: When the call comes in, the call record is automatically marked with a day and time stamp. This critical information confirms if the employee called in with the requested amount of advanced notice.

Employee Confirmation Number: If desired, the call center can generate a confirmation number to give to employees when they call. This provides them assurance that their absence has been appropriately recorded.

Multiple Reporting Options: There is complete flexibility in how the absentee information is provided to your company. One popular approach is to text the appropriate shift supervisor immediately and then email one comprehensive list of all absences to the personnel department each day. This way the shift supervisor knows right away and can make needed adjustments, while human resources can process all of the day’s absences at one time. Sometimes a scheduler will also receive notification in order to fill the open slot.

Voice Recorded Calls: Although seldom needed, a recording of each call is available to provide a backup information source of exactly what was said and how it was communicated. This protects everyone.

Employee call off lines benefit businesses by delivering solid documentation of absences and tardies. Employees appreciate employee call off lines, too, because they provide a clear process to follow and a confirmation of compliance. The only people to object are those who try to beat the system and take advantage of their employer. But with an employee call off line, their wiggle room is taken away.

(Note that employee call off lines go by many different names, such as absentee line, employee call in line, absence reporting line, absence call line, absentee reporting line, employee absence reporting line, and employee call off hotline, but they all mean and do the same thing.)