HotSchedules

Pros

I really enjoy the convenience of being able to view your work schedule remotely and anywhere for that matter! Set up an email or a Gmail account and it's delivered right to your inbox! Gone are the days of having to call your employer or having to drive to your place of employment to view it on paper. "Your" time is valuable and let's be honest, none of us want to go to work on our days off for any reason!

Cons

I really and truthfully speaking have nothing negative to include with Hot Schedules. It's been a great software addition to our store and team! If someone did tell me that I had to pick out one feature that I don't care for, I guess it'd be the "How was your shift?" feature that pops up when logging on. That said, it's such a minor dislike and isn't really worth mentioning.

Pros

The PC design and Cellular App function perfectly together with real time updates and changes made to one instantly reflects on the other. Understanding and navigating HotSchedules easy on the eyes layout and page designs couldn't be better, though I'm sure they will continue to improve even the smallest details to a more perfect version. Reviewing current, real time updated scheduling information may be the core of this program, but the ability to send and receive messages detailing important changes, requests, responses between workplace colleagues is fantastic.

Cons

In my personal and professional experience with HotSchedules I have little to report as negative. Being employed in the mountains at a ski resort the only drawbacks were not directly related to the HotSchedules program itself. From time to time our frail internet connection could be compromised or overloaded by guest's access and use resulting in lat notification of implementation of system updates. Once again, in my experience, this was a result more so of an overworked or disconnected internet, not the HotSchedules program itself.

Pros

It's scheduling capabilities meet the industry standards of required features.

Cons

Terribly overpriced (especially for Canadian customers) if you are using it unintegrated; lack of new features being added; an employee app that costs money; a cancellation policy that makes it hard to stop using service unless you time it smartly.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to HotSchedules

Pros

Very easy to use as well as navigating through reports

Cons

Not much to say here besides better alerts

Pros

Easier to share schedule, get new availability from my employees in real time, plan days off, approve or deny swaps, shift release. It's an amazing tool that facilitate the work.

Cons

It take some time to have a new user on, and sometimes my employees have problems that shows their account it's blocked (but works if they go on the browser incognito), or keep asking them to change password every day once they login.

Pros

I loved being able to easily pull up my schedule from anywhere possible via mobile access. Having my work schedule accessible from anywhere while I am on the go makes my life very convenient not only that but being able to easily reschedule or move my schedule around with others makes this product top tier.

Cons

There wasn't anything I disliked about HotSchedule, there is just one feature I didn't really use was time clock. Only reason being was my company used an alternative method of clocking in.

Pros

As far as the management side, HotSchedules is pretty slick. Easy to use and navigate.

Cons

The main issue I have with HotSchedules is requiring staff to pay to purchase the app on their individual phones. It makes it seem like the company is penny pinching.

Pros

I do not recall the scheduling system my previous emplyer used however Fourth is 10 times better.
I can easily see my schedule (although I alternate between two shift patterns anyway).

My favrouite part of Fourth, as an employee, is how easy it is to request holiday and check my allowance/ usage.

I personally would not, now, want to use any other shceduling system.

Cons

If you have booked holiday for the following allowance year (for example April 2024 however it is March 2024) you cannot see your remaining holiday allowance until that holiday year has begun.
You can simply work it out as you can see the dates you have booked/ requested off so it's not the end of the world.

Pros

It is very easy to navigate for both users and administrators, Not only you can access schedules but also you can swap, request time off and also sent personal messages between users.

Cons

none. Completely love app and nave nothing negative to say

Pros

Love that you can log in, pick up or release a shift from your phone. You can keep track your schedule, request to work, request off with ease!

Cons

If you want the mobile app, it costs $2.99 to download. It's not the end of the world, but if my employer is already paying for the system, I don't like that I had to pay for the app.

Pros

Ease of use. have used in previous roles and have always had a great experience. would recommend to anyone looking for a scheduling platform.

Cons

Integration with our payroll system. this would be a fantastic feature to consider for future. thank you!

Pros

We used this for scheduling for a 6-story, 24hr restaurant/bar concept 1 block off of the main tourist area of downtown Nashville. It worked well in pretty much all areas of concern.

Cons

We did not run into any issues of note with this software.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to HotSchedules

Pros

Hotschedules is simple, I simply log onto the app and view what I need to look at! For me this is all I need. A great majority of apps will make you jump through irritating loops just to see a schedule or request time off Hotschedules doesn't. Please, if you are a manager who does any type of scheduling for a small or big business. I recommend Hotschedules you will not be disappointed!

Cons

Sense I've been using Ho schedules my only complaint has is being signed out randomly. I think that is due too having an apple iPhone. I'm not sure if android or other devices have the same issues.

Pros

What I like most about this software is everything about the software is easy to use very user friendly everything's out there so you can find it easy.

Cons

There's no features I like least about this software.

Pros

Requests off, availability, blackout dates, staff communication sections. The app works great for everyone.

Cons

No ease of use when making the schedule - autocorrecting number entries constantly, schedule templates aren't what I need, schedule report is difficult to read.

Pros

HotSchedules allows employees to trade shifts, pick up shifts, and see their schedules very easily. It makes managing personnel and schedules so much easier for managers, and it's great for the team to have added flexibility. Without HotSchedules, trading shifts can be a nightmare for both employee and manager alike.

Cons

The only con we've seen is that HotSchedules has built-in rejections for some requests. In theory, this is a great tool - if you don't meet the criteria to make the request, then it's automatically rejected. However, there are some manual workarounds, which means employees still make requests to the manager rather than via HotSchedules since they know there can be adjustments made. This really isn't a complaint of HotSchedules since it works as it's supposed to, but just a head's up that there will still be manual adjustments.

Pros

Hotschedules makes schedule creation and updates ridiculously easy. Not only can you input the schedules you need covered to receive optimization suggestions, but once you post the schedules, you don't have to track down your staff to inform them of their schedules.

Cons

When I utilizied Hotschedules my employees were not able to input one-off requests or identify preferred shifts, limiting the efficacy of the schedule optimization features.

There was also not an option to send internal communication notes to management emails so there was no way to verify when management was reading the information.

Pros

As a user, I love how easy this product is. You can view your schedule, see who else is working, and swap and release shifts without an issue. It has an easy to use web browser, and mobile ap (although you do pay for it) so you can use hotschedules whichever way you prefer. It also has a great messaging system which allows you to message entire groups of people at once (management, kitchen, servers). It also tells you how many people are ahead of you on a wait list for a shift you picked up. The autopick up function is excellent as well for when you need to get a shift and non are available.

Cons

I am not a fan of the most recent update. Prior, you would be able to "see all schedule" and see the entire week, alphabetically, where everyone was working etc. Now however, you can't see the weekly schedule at once and you need to click day by day. This can be challenging when trying to swap shifts with other staff, or see others schedules.

Pros

RELIABILITY!!!It never goes down, support is always helpfulBest scheduler features in the gameTemplates for quick entry are great weekly startersColor coding makes my life so much easierTransparency, every stroke documented

Cons

Takes getting used to and learning as it is complex software but get hot keys down and you've got it! Make sure you have a fairly beastly computer...it's a lot of real time processing.

Pros

Ability to not only schedule/message in-house full time staff, but keep a running log of single event staffing as well. As a catering company you have many bodies you must manage, especially when an individual only works one event for you and that's it. With HotSchedules we're able to tabulate this into our weekly labor costs and it gives the functionality to forecast.

Cons

It's sometimes very complicated to use. You don't always know where to go for what you need and the customer service can be a little tricky to navigate- you don't always hear back from them or they're tough to reach. That being said when you do get a human- they're very knowledgeable and can help you out 100%.

Pros

Ease of use, accessibility -- the facebook of scheduling!

Cons

Honestly, would love to see them work on the ease of the scheduler. I feel like that whole page could be done differently. It just seems that something could be done to streamline it. The shortcuts are nice but not easily remembered. Additionally, I would love if there was a cost effective version for small independently owned restaurants.

Pros

It’s easy to use, built for high volume restaurants. I took a restaurant that was still relying on paper, emailed schedules, and converted them to Bot Schedules. This eliminated issues of shift coverage changes, where we expected one employee, but another showed up, and all the associated communication issues.

Cons

It was much more difficult to order and install that I previously remember. Customer service in the sales department was definitely lacking just a touch. Once we got the ball rolling it was fine, but the initial sale was a bit rocky to start.

Pros

I like the ability to have everything in one place for all employees. I have used this as a server and as a manager and as a manager, being able to see what everyone needs and organize the schedules all in one place is the highlight here. And it allows you to separate different schedules, like server and manager schedules, etc.

Cons

There are some glitches sometimes, it's slow and doesn't always load on my phone. And other people have complained about this as well. I suppose some of the functions could be easier and a little more user-friendly.

Pros

Hot schedules makes scheduling different departments and coordinating everybody extremely easy. The platforms are easy to understand and can be accessed by anyone given authority to use the system.

Cons

The system allows for people to request for time off and to make comments. One of the only downsides of this product was that employees talked last to management about scheduling and tried to do literally all of it through hot schedules which sometimes lead to some conflict Over all hot schedules is a solid platform that is definitely beneficial to a smooth running operation as far as scheduling and management communication goes

Pros

Communication with staff is easy. Schedule can be sent directly to staff phone via text. Staff can change shifts with ease.

Cons

Staff reporting tab could have some more detail. Training is needed to fully understand forecasting and accurate template schedule.