Active Time and Passive Time in ActivTrak
ActivTrak Product Team
In ActivTrak, activity time is captured and categorized as either Active or Passive, as shown below.
Activity Classifications in ActivTrak
Active Time- The user is currently providing input to the machine via keyboard, mouse, etc.
Passive Time - The user has stopped providing input to the machine.
Inactive Time - The Passive Time collection period has expired (based on your configuration) and there is no input into the machine.
Example 1:
Rebecca has joined a Zoom meeting and at the start of the meeting, she is sharing her screen and clicking through a PowerPoint presentation. Since there is mouse input, this time is reported as Active Time.
A coworker then starts sharing their screen and Rebecca stops interacting with her machine to listen. Since the account’s Passive Time Settings are set to begin at 2 minutes and stop at 5 minutes, the first 2 minutes that Rebecca is not interacting with her machine are recorded as Active Time. The following 5 minutes are recorded as Passive Time.
After 7 total minutes of no input to her machine, Rebecca’s time switches to Inactive and tracking has stopped until inputs via mouse or keyboard resume.
Note: If your account has Offline Meetings enabled and the user has a qualifying meeting on their calendar, inactive time will be recorded for the duration of the user being inactive during the scheduled meeting time to fill in time from in-person activity. Learn more.
Example 2:
Jose is working in Microsoft Excel, an application that is classified as Productive in their ActivTrak account. They step away for a break without locking the screen. They are away for 8 minutes before touching the mouse again.
Since the account’s Passive Time Settings are set to start at 3 minutes and stop at 10 minutes, the first 3 minutes that Jose is not interacting with their machine are recorded as Productive Active Time. The following 5 minutes are recorded as Productive Passive Time because the activity immediately before going Passive was a Productive activity.
Since Jose returns to their desk before Passive Time is configured to stop, Active Time resumes immediately after Passive Time and they do not have an Inactive period.
Learn more about:
- Active Time Details
- Configuring Active Time
- Passive Time Details
- Configuring Passive Time
- Active Time and Passive Time FAQ
Active Time Details
Throughout the workday, users engage in many tasks that involve using their keyboard or mouse - for example, composing an email, working within a spreadsheet, editing a graphic, or creating a slideshow presentation. This work includes active movements and that's why it is labeled as Active Time within the ActivTrak app.
By default, ActivTrak stops collecting Active Time after 60 minutes of reporting on a single activity.
In order to change the duration and customize the configuration of Active Time, review Configuring Active Time.
Active Time is represented within ActivTrak as the darker, bolder color of each of the Productivity statuses:
Configuring Active Time
Active Time collection can be configured based on your organization’s needs and habits via the Account Configuration page (Settings > Configuration). Scroll to "Active Time Settings" to update the time in minutes and click "Save" to apply changes.
Default Settings
Active Time defaults to 60 minutes. Admins can adjust from 30-120 minutes.
The Active Time Settings in ActivTrak
Notes
- If you do not want active activity durations to be capped, toggle on “Track active time indefinitely” and click “Save” to apply changes.
- Changes are applied within 10 minutes to all new activities only. Changes to Active Time Settings are not applied retroactively.
Passive Time Details
Throughout the workday, users engage in many tasks that do not involve using their keyboard or mouse - for example, collaborating with a colleague in person, watching a training video, attending a meeting, or speaking with a customer on the phone. This work is not idle and that's why time away from the keyboard and mouse is labeled as Passive Time within the ActivTrak app.
By default, ActivTrak starts collecting Passive Time after 2 minutes of the employee not actively using or providing input into their computer. These 2 minutes are included in the prior activity’s duration.
In order to change the duration and customize the configuration of Passive Time, review Passive Time Configuration.
Passive time is represented within ActivTrak as the lighter color of each of the Productivity statuses:
Configuring Passive Time
Passive time collection can be configured based on your organization’s needs and habits via the Account Configuration page (Settings > Configuration). Scroll to "Passive Time Settings" to update the time in minutes and click "Save" to apply changes.
We recommend Passive Time configurations between 5 and 10 minutes given that most Passive Time episodes are less than 10 minutes. This will allow you to classify the most common cases (e.g. going passive on a video conference). However, you can also set it to 0 to completely exclude Passive Time. If you completely exclude passive time by stopping it at 0 minutes, we recommend starting it at 5 to 10 minutes to ensure you are accounting for normal short pauses throughout the day.
Default settings
Passive time start defaults to 2 minutes. Admins can adjust from 1-10 minutes.
Passive time stop defaults to 5 minutes. Admins can adjust from 0-30 minutes.
The Passive Time Settings in ActivTrak
Time Reflected in Summary & Detailed Views
Summary and Detailed Views are displayed across reports in ActivTrak.
Summary Views include both Active Time and Passive Time durations.
Example: The Activity Dashboard and Team Pulse always show the Summary Views where Active Time and Passive Time are displayed together as Productive, Unproductive or Undefined.
Summary View of Active and Passive Time
Detailed Views break down Active and Passive time explicitly.
Example: The Top Users & Groups Report provides a detailed view where Active Time and Passive Time are broken down into their respective Productive, Unproductive, or Undefined classifications.
Detailed View of Active and Passive Time
Note: In the the Single Day Report (Live Reports > Productivity) you will see passive locked or stopped as blank intervals:
Passive-locked is the time after the computer has displayed the lock screen and the user has not used the keyboard or mouse (e.g. the employee has turned off their computer or it has gone to sleep). In this mode, a password is usually required to gain access to the Machine again. Passive-locked does not count towards the Passive Time seen in the user's reports. Learn more here.
Active Time and Passive Time Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How is the productivity ratio calculated?
Within Summary Views (including the Dashboard and Team Pulse), productivity ratios are calculated with the productive active and productive passive time over the total time.
Within Detailed Views, productivity ratios are calculated with the productive active over the total time.
To see the productivity ratio using Active Time only, you can use the Detailed view within the Top Users and Groups report, as shown below.
Summary View:
Detailed View:
To view Team Pulse using Active Time only, click on the settings cog and select “Use Active Time”, as shown below.
How can you see details of Passive Time?
Within the Activity Log, you can see each passive activity shows the details of the last activity the employee was engaged in prior to going inactive. These details are how each passive episode is classified with a productivity status.
In this example, mail.google.com is considered a Productive activity and classified as Productive Active. The employee went passive while in gmail so therefore that passive time is classified as Productive Passive.
You can also see the employee was passive for longer than 5 minutes so any time after the 5-minute mark is shown as Passive - locked. Given the user is not interacting with their computer while Passive, ActivTrak cannot determine exactly what they are doing. Therefore, we stopped collecting passive time after 5 minutes to prevent over-reporting.
Notes:
- Passive time can show as more than 24 hours. When this occurs, it is due to a computer being left on overnight or over the weekend. Passive Time is applied to the day in which is started therefore if a computer goes into passive mode on a Friday afternoon and is not active again until Monday morning, the hours will be applied to Friday's metrics. In order to prevent instances as such, Passive Time can be configured to stop after a set amount of time; this setting can be found on the Account Configuration page (Settings > Configuration). Learn more here.
- Alarms cannot be triggered based on Passive Time.
- Once a computer has become Passive, screenshots will not be collected (if enabled via the Screen Details add-on)and they will show as Passive in the Team-Pulse view.
Can I set a timed lock on a PC for Passive-Locked?
Yes! Setting a timed lock on a PC with ActivTrak installed will help to prevent excess passive time in the user's reports if they forget to lock or turn off their machine after working.
In order to set a timed lock on the computer, go to the start menu and search for a Screen saver. Select a screensaver that you may want, set a time, and ensure the box to the right to display a locked screen is checked.
If an Admin changes the Active Time or Passive Time settings, does this change historical data?
No, modifying when Active or Passive Time begins or ends will inform the Agents associated with your account to track new activity data differently but will not apply changes retroactively. Historic data will remain as-is.
How do I know if the Active Time or Passive Time settings have been adjusted?
Each adjustment of passive time configuration will be recorded in the Security Audit Log (Settings > Security > Audit).
Active Time entries show the following:
- Event: UpdateActiveTimeSettings
- Description: Active Stop
- Action Data:
- Stopping adjustments with the minutes the stop has been set
- Infinite stops will show as “ActiveStop: Indefinite”
Passive Time entries show the following:
- Event: UpdatePassiveSettings
- Description: Passive Start or Passive Stop
- Action Data:
- Starting adjustments will show with the minutes the start has been set
- Stopping adjustments with the minutes the stop has been set
- Infinite stops will show as “PassiveStop: Indefinite”
The Security Audit Log (Passive Time entry)
What is the Impact of adjusting Active Time or Passive Time?
Reports
If the passive time is clipped or set to stop after 0-30 minutes, passive time throughout the data, app, and reports will reflect this change. This time will look similar to Passive Locked (when the computer is locked or asleep).
Within the Single Day Report (Live Reports > Productivity) you’ll see we show passive locked or stopped as blank intervals:
Here is the same time frame within the activity log (Live Reports > Activity Log). You will see the previous activity, passive entry, and passive stopped shown as Passive - Locked without duration.
Historical Data
When an admin adjusts the passive start/stop historical data will not change. Modifying when passive starts/stops will inform the agents associated with your account to track data differently and will not update historical data. It will only affect data moving forward and we cannot recover or adjust historical data.
Admins will see the following warning prior to saving adjustments to the Passive Time Configuration:
Learn more:
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