This section defines the URL for the instance of the application the clock communicates with, as well as the clock's communication timeouts.
The <communication> section contains the tags described below.
<url>
Sets the URL and port number for the instance of the application the clock is connected to. This tag can never rely on the default setting in the clock's config.xml file, and therefore must be set for each clock.
<devicename mac_addr>
Controls whether the clock uses its MAC address as its device name. This is the recommended configuration to uniquely identify clocks.
<proxy>
Controls whether the clock communicates with the application through a proxy server.
To configure the clock to communicate through a proxy server, replace enabled="no" with enabled="yes". Then, specify the proxy server's IP address in the host attribute and the port number in port attribute.
For example, to configure the Dayforce Touch Clock communicate through port 80 of a proxy server with the IP address 192.0.2.0, specify <port enabled="yes" host="192.0.0.0" port="80"/>.
<timeout>
Controls (in thousandths of a second) how long the clock attempts to access the application before timing out. The default setting amounts to ten minutes.
<encryption>
Controls whether clocks operating in online mode encrypt the data being sent to and from the main application server.
When set to <encryption>no</encryption> encryption is disabled. Replace this with <encryption>yes</encryption> and the clock encrypts clock entry data and validation responses using a 128-bit AES encryption algorithm.
Note: This applies only to clocks operating in online mode (that is, the <local_punch_validation> tag in the <system> section is set to no).
<compression>
Enables compression on clocks operating in standalone mode.
When set to yes, as it is by default, data sent to clock from the application server is compressed, reducing the overall bandwidth usage.
<punch_exchange>
Enables inter-clock communication.
When set to yes, employees don’t have to perform all of their clock entries for the day on the same clock, provided that the other steps for inter-clock communication are complete. See Configure Inter-Clock Communication.