The oDesk Application

Before you can start working, you are advised to download the oDesk application (at no cost). But what is it in the first place? This software is another feature of oDesk to ensure that contractors are doing their hourly jobs. Through this app, the employer can monitor which employees are doing their tasks promptly and also help track the number of hours a contractor spent for the job. 

It has a mechanism to check the window pages that the contractor is viewing through the Screensnap. The Screensnap takes snapshots of the open pages (e.g. facebook, youtube, odesk app, etc.) and stores them in your Work Diary. The employer can then review the snapshots of each contractor and determine which should be given credit for working hard and which should be reprimanded. 

HOW TO USE?

In your home page, you will see an image saying "oDesk on Your Desktop". Click on the"Learn more" button as you will be guided on downloading the software. Once you've finished downloading and have installed the software, open the software and log-in.

The username and password needed in the application is just the same as the ones you use in the oDesk website.

Once you've logged in, you need to click the "Start" button. This will indicate the beginning of your work. A new window will appear indicating the Work Memo. This Memo page is where you can write something about what you are currently doing (e.g. now working, just started encoding, etc.). This will pop up frequently (depends on the settings you've made) but it is your prerogative whether you'll change it or not.

This is how the application will look like once you've started working. You can view what the other  members of the working team are doing as well as their logged time.

TAKE NOTE: Make sure that you're facebook, youtube pages are not seen because the Screensnap will automatically begin. A pop-up message will appear every now and them showing that the Screensnap is already taking snap shots (usually takes 5 seconds). When your work is done, just click the "Stop" button. Your time of work will automatically stop (or pause). To log out, just go under the "Status" tab on the upper most right of the window and click "Log Out".