American Time Blog

If you’re trying to bake a cake, but can’t find the whisk or spatula, and your favorite pan is dirty, baking a cake is going to be pretty difficult. That’s because you don’t have the resources you need when you need them. Trying to check the time without a clock puts you in the same conundrum. No clock, no time. No pan, no cake.

So, where do you hang a wall clock so everyone can see it? Is there a certain height you should aim for? Do you hang it 7ft off the floor? Right below the sprinklers? Three feet left of the armoire? Unfortunately, there’s no one answer on how high you should hang your wall clock, but there are tips to consider for choosing an ideal place.

Older technologies may not get people as excited as the new iPhone, but in many cases, they prove their enduring usefulness time and time again.

Election officials still depend on paper ballots because it's hard to trust the inner workings of a computer system for a task as important as counting votes. People who conduct a lot of business over the phone prefer a landline because it provides more audio clarity and they know it won't drop their calls. Audiophiles still prefer vinyl records to their digital counterparts because there's just something about that warm, analog sound.

While the bugs get worked out in the new devices that dominate our lives, trusty standbys remain at your service. You might think that one casualty of the march of technology would be the humble wall clock, which now competes with the smartphone in everyone's pocket.

Those phones do a lot, including display the time, but they don't accomplish that task as well as a wall clock connected to a synchronized time system. Despite almost everyone having a clock in their pocket, there are many everyday scenarios that necessitate a wall clock, whether for safety, security or convenience.

Distractions are everywhere, whether it's your social media feed, your dog pawing at you for a scratch behind the ear, or a cloud in the sky that looks like ice cream.

All these things are wonderful on their own, but when you're trying to get some work done, it's best if you can minimize disruptions.

The same is true when your job is to keep your facility on schedule. Critical to this mission is your synchronized time system, which, in very rare cases, can encounter its own kind of distraction — signal interference.

It's a phenomenon you'll want to be aware of if your timekeeping system uses wireless clocks, which stay in sync by receiving a radio signal from a master controller. Here, we'll look at the causes of signal interference and the steps you can take to prevent it or mitigate disruptions.

It's back! American Time is excited to announce the 2nd annual Maintenance Hero Contest. This contest is open to any organization - private, public, nonprofit, educational or others - that wishes to nominate their invaluable maintenance professional.

At American Time, we take recognition seriously. And recognizing Maintenance Heroes is a passion of ours because they keep businesses humming in just about every industry imaginable. You know who they are, our ghostbusters, our supermen and superwomen, there to save the day when something is (quite literally) falling apart. Unfortunately, often times their heroism is behind the scenes and goes unnoticed. Maintenance professionals and are an integral part of any successful business and juggle a wide variety of skills to make sure everyone can keep moving.

George Wilkes, president of American Time says, "We're happy to to continue the contest and spotlight more Maintenance Heroes who are making a difference in their workplace." Take this chance to nominate your maintenance superhero and give them the recognition they deserve!

Technology is like sand on the beach. It has a way of getting everywhere.

There was a time when a phone was just a phone and a TV was just a TV, but technological advances have ways of seeping into the everyday objects around us. We have smartphones, smart TVs, even smart toasters. This also extends to clocks.

Advances in timekeeping have made it easier for people to manage and tell time, but some digital clocks are now portals to the outside world.

Here are some functions beyond the basics of timekeeping that can be integrated into a synchronized digital clock system:

For anyone who takes direction from someone else — so, virtually all of us — it can be comforting to realize that your boss has a boss.

You might be told what to do every day and work under intense scrutiny, but the person scrutinizing you is also under pressure. See? Your boss is human, too.

But not all authority figures are human. Take, for instance, the clock on the wall. In a time-sensitive scenario, the clock is your boss, and if it's part of a synchronized system, the time it displays supersedes all other competing sources, such as phones or computers.

When you think of choreography, you probably picture your favorite music video or your kid's dance recital, or anything with a lot of synchronized twists, steps, and spins.

But there are a lot of things that have to be choreographed, such as a typical day on a college campus. It can be a beautiful thing to watch the teeming masses scurry across a stately campus in the pursuit of knowledge, and like any graceful production, it requires an eye for detail.

When you think about the clock system that ties your campus schedule together, one detail you must consider is which type of clock you should install. Also, it's important to know that in the world of synchronized clocks, Wi-Fi and wireless mean two different things. Let's explore which type of clock works best for you, depending on the size of your campus.

Have you ever taken on a major project in your home and wished you could just start from scratch and rebuild the house from the ground up?

Remember in “Back to the Future” when they're in the mall parking lot and Doc is testing his DeLorean? As the contraption speeds up to 88 miles per hour before disappearing into the void, Doc isn't just ripping a hole in space and time, but demonstrating the value of an accurate digital display.

As Doc operates the vehicle with his remote control — with Marty watching wide-eyed and poor Einstein the dog sitting in driver's seat — the rising tension centers on the controller's LED readout as the DeLorean's speed creeps up toward that transcendent threshold.

There's a reason Doc didn't rely on an analog display as the exotic sports car hurdles toward him and young Marty. In the process of making the most important scientific breakthrough in the history of human civilization, Doc knows the value of precision.

Did you ever realize how many choices you actually make while deciding what to have for dinner?

It shouldn't be that hard of a question, but the number of options available mean life is never that simple. If you want spaghetti, for instance, you have to decide what sauce, seasoning, ingredients, sides, and beverages you want. Then, you decide whether you want to cook it, get take-out, or dine out.

The stakes aren't high for a decision like this. Maybe a little indigestion, but it won't cause long-term headaches or lost opportunity. Deciding which synchronized clock system to buy for your facility, however, could have longer-lasting ramifications.