But for businesses, those with computerized timekeeping systems, executives with Blackberrys and everyone who pushed their electronic time keepers ahead without installing a software patch, April 7 will be a big surprise. Their manually advanced time clocks will automatically advance another hour on April 7 if they don't watch out.

Datamatics Management Services, Inc. in Fords, New Jersey is warning all its time and attendance system clients and everyone else who did not install software patches to do so now and prevent chaos overnight at 2:00 a.m. on April 7.

"Managers, executives, and everyone else who took the easy way out by manually advancing their electronic clocks on March 11 will be very surprised on April 7," warns Kevin Heinle, technology manager for Datamatics. He recommends the following steps be taken by anyone who manually advanced their electronic time keeping instruments, whether they are desktop or notebook computers, PDAs, Blackberrys, or work floor time clocks:
1.   Make a list of all timekeeping instruments that were manually advanced.
2.   Check to see which of these instruments are connected to software or are using the Microsoft operating system
3.   Establish a system for changing these clocks back one hour on April 7, or
4.   Warn all your people to ignore the automatic time change by reversing the automatic advancement when the Microsoft warning appears on their screen.
5.   To avoid the above, install the patch that has been provided by Datamatics for all their systems and the patches that are available from Microsoft, Blackberry, and other timekeeping vendors.

Datamatics, experts in time and labor management systems since 1966, specializes in providing innovative and cost effective solutions to the challenges of workforce management and workforce productivity. Datamatics has a free TC-1 solution upgrade available to all its clients. They are offering additional assistance to any individuals who need it on their website: http://www.datamaticsinc.com or by calling one of their customer service staff at 800-673-0366.