American Time Blog

Anyone who's ever visited an ice cream shop, craft beer taproom, or the cereal aisle of a grocery store knows choices can be hard. Cheerios or Captain Crunch? Weird... somehow they both ended up my cart. But sometimes in business, you have to make just one choice and when making big decisions is part of your job, the stakes only rise.

If you're tasked with selecting a synchronized clock system for your facility, there are many options to choose from. If you don’t know much about synchronized time, your mission might seem easy at first, you just buy clocks and hang them on the walls right? But just like buying an ice cream cone or picking out your favorite cereal brand, there are a variety of options to choose from. We are, after all, talking about installing an entire network of electronic devices.

As you delve deeper into this mission, you might require some guidance. Here, we'll help you determine which type of clock is best for you, depending on your industry and the type of facility you're responsible for keeping on time.

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.

Daylight Saving Time seems simple enough. You just adjust the clocks to the new time, right? But what if you have more than a few clocks? We've created a quick video to describe the difference between Right Burt, who has a no-hassle timekeeping system which easily adjusts for Daylight Saving Time, and Left Burt, who... is a little stressed out after DST.

There are few moments during the day as precious as lunchtime. Lunch is supposed to be a refuge from the day's obligations, a time to decompress, regroup and recharge.

Any grown-up with a hectic daily schedule appreciates this, but for young learners, lunchtime is even more vital. It's their time to fuel their brains as they learn about the world around them.

That means people like Joshua Poveda, chef and food service director at Evergreen Charter School in Hempstead, New York, play a vital role in students' education. When Poveda realized lunchtime at his school wasn't the nourishing respite it was supposed to be, he optimized Evergreen's lunch schedule with the help of synchronized clocks.

In the synchronized clock industry, there are a lot of options to choose from if you’re considering a build out or upgrade to your facility. Think about clocks from the schools you went to as a kid: they were most likely wired, received an accurate time signal from a master clock, and were in-sync with a bell system for class changes. That may be the most common time system we can think of, but the technology and methods by which we keep time are changing. It may be time to re-think the traditional clock network, with Wi-Fi leading the way.

When someone mentions Wi-Fi, you may think of the technology that allows us fast and easy access to our smart phones — or heading over to the neighborhood coffee shop where the service works really well. For some of us, fast Wi-Fi access is more important than a reliable car. But Wi-Fi's versatility goes well beyond the consumer level. Businesses, hospitals, and schools are all using it to run their operations more smoothly with accurate time keeping.

Most of us take certain types of technology for granted — until it's not working for us. We have all probably lost phone service while inside the walls of a warehouse or at the bottom of a parking garage. This can be an annoying inconvenience, but how often has it prevented you from making a deadline or resulted in a loss of revenue?

Deciding what type of network clock you need, whether it be Wi-Fi or PoE (Power Over Ethernet), all depends on the connection to the internet in your facility. Some buildings may have more accessibility than others, so it's really up to you when purchasing your clock system. Here are some tips for determining what will work best for you.

At a quick glance, you may not notice the characteristics of the clock in your classroom, office, or facility. Would you be able to tell if the clock next to your desk is a wired or wireless system? You probably have no idea and quite honestly why would you if that clock is doing a great job with keeping accurate time. The terminology isn’t something you pay attention to, but that’s what we’re here for. In this video, we explain the terminology you should know for wired and wireless clocks, making your decision to purchase a system or repair a system that much better informed.

We need to face it and embrace it: We are living in a Wi-Fi world. In our personal and business lives, it can be difficult to communicate efficiently without Wi-Fi access and the devices that connect to it. Whether it's a mobile phone, printer, or even a thermostat, quick and clear communication often relies on Wi-Fi. Well, you can now add clocks to the list, as Wi-Fi is transforming the way synchronous clock systems operate in environments where keeping a precise schedule is paramount.