Duty rostering software for media companies & newsrooms
vigotime is duty rostering software for newsrooms, news desks and media production. It plans editor-on-duty rotations plus early, late, night and weekend shifts for 24/7 news operations, checks German working-time law automatically and distributes unpopular shifts provably fairly – from €4–6 per employee per month, €0 setup.
vigotime for media & newsrooms
the facts
€4–6/employee/month
€0
German working-time law & collective agreements
24/7 news desk, duty-editor rotation, live events
Typical newsroom challenges
and how vigotime solves them
Staffing the news desk and duty editors around the clock
vigotime plans duty-editor, desk and production shifts per department with target staffing and flags gaps before they happen.
Distributing night, weekend and holiday shifts fairly
The point system distributes unpopular shifts transparently – whoever works New Year's Eve gets priority on their next wish.
Keeping rest periods between late shift and morning conference
The solver checks the 11-hour rest period automatically: nobody is scheduled into the morning conference after a late shift.
Breaking news overturns the plan
Changes are replanned with minimal disruption (stability objective); the team sees the current plan instantly in the app.
vigotime vs. Excel & shared shift sheets
| vigotime | Excel / shared shift sheets | |
|---|---|---|
| Plan creation | Automatic via optimization solver | Manual, often hours per week |
| Working-time check | Automatic on every change | None – violations surface in audits |
| Fairness | Point system, transparent to the team | Gut feeling – disputes over weekends |
| Changes | Real-time app notifications | Shouted across the room or messenger chaos |
| Cost | From €4/employee/month, €0 setup | Hidden cost of planning time |
Fair shifts instead of silent overload
In many newsrooms the same colleagues carry the night and weekend load – often without anyone steering it. vigotime makes the distribution visible and balances it through the point system: every unpopular shift pays into a personal account, and when wishes compete, the point balance decides instead of the loudest voice. That takes pressure out of planning and arguments out of the morning conference.
Can you beat the schedule?
Staff a mini week with early, late and night shifts — then see what automated planning changes.
Early
Late
Night
Mon
E + L + N
Tue
E + L + N
Wed
E + L + N
Thu
E + L + N
Fri
E + L + N
Frequently asked questions from newsrooms
Yes. Each department plans with its own shift types and staffing rules (e.g. duty editor, desk, production, social); plans stay separate but are checked together against rules and rest periods.
Changes are made directly in the plan; the solver validates them instantly against working-time law and staffing, and notifies affected staff via the app. When replanning, vigotime changes as little as possible.
Yes. Working-time models, availability and individual restrictions are stored per person and respected automatically.
Yes, via app or browser. Wishes carry priorities and are weighed fairly against each other through the point system.
Yes. Hosting is in European data centers and data processing is documented in line with GDPR.