In short
Employee monitoring software records and analyses how staff use work computers: the apps, websites, files, email and screen activity involved in their work. UK organisations use it for productivity insight, insider risk detection and data loss prevention. Forever Systems supplies, sets up and supports Teramind, and helps you configure it so monitoring stays necessary, proportionate and transparent.
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Tell us what you need to achieve and we will point you to the right option.
What employee monitoring software does
Employee monitoring software (also called staff monitoring software or employee computer monitoring software) puts a small agent on each work computer. The agent records activity, a server analyses it, and authorised people see the results on a web dashboard. What you record, for whom and when is set by policy, so the same product can be configured lightly for productivity reporting or more deeply for security investigations.
Most UK buyers are trying to do one or more of these jobs:
- User activity monitoring: which applications, websites, files, email and printers people use, building an audit trail you can search. See user activity monitoring software.
- Productivity analytics: active and idle time, time in productive and unproductive apps, schedules and workforce trends. See employee productivity monitoring software.
- Insider threat detection: behaviour rules, anomaly detection and risk scoring that flag risky activity for review. See insider threat detection software.
- Data loss prevention: content rules that spot sensitive data in files, email, the clipboard and AI chats, and can warn, block or redact. See Teramind DLP.
- Screen and session evidence: live view and recorded sessions, so an alert comes with context. See screen monitoring software for employees.
- AI usage oversight: which AI tools staff use, what they share with them and which AI agents run on their computers. See employee AI usage monitoring.
If you are new to the subject, start with what is employee monitoring?, which explains the types of monitoring and how the software works in plain English.
Why we build on Teramind
This site is built around one platform so we can go into real depth. Teramind covers the full range of monitoring jobs above in one product, from basic activity and productivity reporting to content-aware DLP, and it gives you real choices about how it is run:
- Three ways to host it: Teramind Cloud, run by Teramind on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure in a US or EU (Germany) region by default; Private Cloud in your own AWS or Azure account; or On-Premises as a Linux virtual machine on VMware, Hyper-V or Nutanix AHV. See Teramind deployment options.
- Windows, macOS and Linux agents: Teramind says its Mac and Linux agents have more limited functions than Windows, so we check your requirements against each platform before you buy. See the Teramind agent.
- Visible or hidden agents: the Revealed agent has an interface that lets staff clock in and out of monitoring; the Stealth agent runs without one and is offered only to customers Teramind has vetted. Hiding monitoring from staff is covert monitoring, which the ICO allows only in exceptional cases.
- Privacy controls: role-based access, monitoring schedules matched to working hours, app and website exclusions (excluded windows are blacked out in recordings and live view), password-field exclusion and, from the UAM plan up, an option to record video only when a rule is broken.
- A redesigned interface: Teramind NextGen, the successor to the Legacy console (Teramind is still migrating some Legacy features), adds preset dashboards for productivity, employee monitoring and insider threat detection, and an AI widget generator that builds dashboards from plain-English requests.
- Four plans: Starter, UAM, DLP and Enterprise, so you pay for the depth of monitoring you can justify, not more.
Teramind also offers OMNI, an AI-driven insights feed covering areas such as insider risk scoring and drift from a person's usual pattern of behaviour. Features that profile people need particular care under UK GDPR, and we flag them during scoping so they go into your data protection impact assessment rather than being switched on by default.
Teramind plans at a glance
Each plan includes everything in the plan before it. The Teramind pricing and plans page has the full comparison.
| Plan | Best suited to | What it adds |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | Basic productivity reporting and spotting users to investigate | Screen recording and live view, website and app tracking, time tracking, productivity reporting, limited forensics and behaviour rules, customisable dashboards |
| UAM (User Activity Monitoring) | Full activity monitoring, productivity and security investigation | Email, files, console commands, online meetings, printing, keystrokes, AI conversation recording and agentic AI governance, unlimited activity-based rules, anomaly detection, risk scoring, recording only on rule violation, SIEM integration |
| DLP (Data Loss Prevention) | Organisations protecting sensitive data and intellectual property | Content-based rules, sensitive content detection and redaction, clipboard inspection, fingerprinting, data discovery and classification, automatic blocking, content rules for AI tools |
| Enterprise (listed by Teramind as Enterprise & Government) | Large and regulated organisations needing tailoring | OCR engine included, custom website and app field capture for fraud detection, scriptable behaviour rules, professional services and customisation, premium support from Teramind |
Pricing depends on your number of monitored users, plan and hosting, so ask us for a quote. Our guide to employee monitoring software pricing explains what moves the cost.
Not sure which plan fits? Ask us
Tell us what you need and we will help you choose the right plan.
UK law shapes every set-up
Employee monitoring is lawful in the UK when it is done for a clear purpose, by the least intrusive means that will work, and openly. The main rules come from UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, explained by the Information Commissioner's Office in Employment practices and data protection: monitoring workers, published in October 2023. The ICO says the guidance is under review following the Data (Use and Access) Act, so we keep an eye on changes.
What that means in practice:
- Identify a lawful basis before you start. Many employers rely on legitimate interests, backed by a legitimate interests assessment; the ICO says consent is not usually appropriate because of the imbalance of power between employer and worker.
- Complete a data protection impact assessment (DPIA) before high-risk monitoring: the ICO's examples include keystroke monitoring and monitoring that may lead to financial loss, such as performance management. It says you should do one even when it is not required. See employee monitoring DPIAs.
- Tell workers what you monitor, why and how, normally in a monitoring policy and privacy information.
- Treat covert monitoring of employees as exceptional: the ICO says it is unlikely to be justified in most circumstances.
- Take extra care with people working from home and with personal devices.
Our employee monitoring law UK hub and the walkthrough of the ICO guidance on monitoring workers go further. This is general information, not legal advice; take legal advice for your situation. Where we help is the technical side: making sure the Teramind settings match what your DPIA and policy say.
How Forever Systems helps
We supply, set up and support Teramind from first conversation to renewal:
- Scope: we talk through what you want to achieve, which roles and devices are in scope, and which features you can justify. We give you the technical inputs for your DPIA and policy.
- Choose the plan and hosting: we match Starter, UAM, DLP or Enterprise to your aims, and Teramind Cloud, Private Cloud or On-Premises to your data location and IT preferences.
- Roll out the agent: the visible Revealed agent is installed locally on each computer; the hidden agent, once Teramind has vetted you, can be installed silently from an MSI package through Group Policy, SCCM, Microsoft Intune or Teramind's remote installer, with Jamf for Macs. We plan the roll-out with you.
- Configure privacy first: monitoring schedules matched to working hours, exclusions for personal banking, health and similar sites (blacked out in recordings), role-based access and the right agent type.
- Build rules and dashboards: behaviour rules, alerts and reports that answer the questions you started with, without collecting more than you need.
- Support and renew: we help your administrators, help keep agents on supported versions and review your licence count and plan with you at renewal.
If you want a wider view of your security, Forever Group's cyber security services cover networks, devices and people too.
Need help choosing?
We will recommend what fits your organisation and explain why, in plain English.
Find your way around
This site is organised by the questions buyers ask:
| Section | Start here |
|---|---|
| The basics | What is employee monitoring?, pricing factors and free employee monitoring software |
| Teramind | Teramind platform, plans and pricing, deployment options and the agent |
| Monitoring features | User activity, productivity, screen recording, keystroke logging, remote staff and email |
| Security | Insider threat detection, Teramind DLP and AI usage monitoring |
| UK law | Employee monitoring law, ICO guidance, DPIAs, policy, covert monitoring, working from home and personal devices |
| Comparisons | Employee monitoring software comparison, including Teramind against ActivTrak, Hubstaff, Insightful and Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management |
Who talks to us
Typical starting points include:
- A business that handles client, financial or personal data and wants to know if it is leaving by email, USB, cloud storage or AI chat
- A leadership team with hybrid staff that wants honest workload and productivity data rather than guesswork
- An HR or legal team investigating a specific concern that needs evidence gathered properly
- An IT or security lead whose insurer, auditor or client asks how insider risk is controlled
- An organisation that already uses Microsoft 365 security tools and wants screen-level context alongside them
- A team that tried a free or basic tool and found it did not do enough
Whatever brought you here, contact us with a short description of what you want to achieve and roughly how many people are involved, and we can come back to you with options and a quote.
Explore employee monitoring
How Forever Systems helps with employee monitoring
We supply, set up and support Teramind for UK organisations. Monitoring only works if it is lawful and trusted, so we help you collect what you can justify rather than everything the product can record.
- Scoping: we talk through what you want to achieve, who and which devices are in scope, and which Teramind plan and hosting option fit
- Inputs for your paperwork: we explain what each setting records, so your data protection impact assessment and monitoring policy describe the real set-up
- Privacy-first configuration: recording schedules, exclusions, masking, role-based access and a visible agent where that is right for you
- Deployment: agent roll-out through your existing device management tools, plus the rules, alerts and dashboards that answer your questions
- Ongoing help: we can help your administrators tune rules, keep agents up to date and review plans and licence counts at renewal
We are an IT and cyber security provider, not a law firm: for legal questions about monitoring your staff, take advice from an employment or data protection lawyer. Ask us for a quote and we will reply with options.
Frequently asked questions
Is employee monitoring legal in the UK?
Yes, when it is done lawfully. Under UK GDPR you need a clear purpose and a lawful basis (often legitimate interests), you must tell workers what you monitor and why, and high-risk monitoring needs a data protection impact assessment. The ICO's guidance on monitoring workers sets out how. This is general information, not legal advice.
What is the best employee monitoring software?
There is no single best product: it depends on whether you need productivity reporting, security investigation, data loss prevention or all three, and on where the data must be hosted. We specialise in Teramind because it covers that full range. Our employee monitoring software comparison sets out the criteria to check, using each vendor's own published facts.
Do employees have to be told they are being monitored?
In almost all cases, yes. The ICO says you must tell workers about monitoring, apart from very exceptional cases where covert monitoring is justified, such as suspected criminal activity or gross misconduct, with senior management authorisation and a DPIA. Teramind's Revealed agent makes monitoring visible on the computer itself.
Can Teramind monitor staff who work from home?
Yes. The agent monitors the work computer wherever it is. The Stealth and Standard agents can also record while offline and upload later (the visible Revealed agent does not record offline). The ICO is clear that monitoring homeworkers is covered by data protection law, so we help you limit monitoring to working hours and exclude personal activity, in line with your DPIA.
Does Teramind work on Mac and Linux?
Yes. Teramind has agents for Windows, macOS and Linux, plus support for terminal server, Citrix and VMware Horizon sessions. Teramind says its Mac and Linux agents have more limited functions than Windows, so we check your requirements against the platform before you buy.
How much does employee monitoring software cost?
It depends on how many people you monitor, the plan, the hosting option and any add-ons. Teramind is licensed per monitored user with a five-seat minimum. Ask us for a quote.
Still have a question about Employee monitoring software?
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