Remote - Detailed Review

Career Tools

Remote - Detailed Review Contents

Add a header to begin generating the table of contents

Remote - Product Overview

Overview

Remote (https://remote.com) is a leading platform in the global HR and payroll management space, particularly tailored for companies managing remote workforces. Here’s a brief overview of its primary function, target audience, and key features:

Primary Function

Remote is designed to help companies hire, manage, and pay employees and contractors across the globe. It streamlines HR operations, including payroll, benefits, taxes, and compliance, ensuring that businesses remain compliant with local labor laws and regulations.

Target Audience

The platform is aimed at international large and small companies, as well as HR professionals, operations managers, and compliance experts. It is particularly useful for businesses looking to expand their global workforce, manage distributed teams, and ensure compliance with various international labor laws.

Key Features

Global Payroll and Compliance

Remote facilitates the management of payroll, taxes, and compliance for employees in over 200 countries and territories. It includes features like payroll compliance, local tax calculations, and unified multi-country payroll.

Employer of Record (EOR) Services

The platform offers EOR services, which handle employment-related responsibilities, compliance, and HR functions, allowing companies to hire internationally without establishing a local entity.

Contractor Management

Remote provides full compliance and administrative support for engaging and paying contractors, including direct contractor engagement, payment, and IP transfer facilitation.

Onboarding and Offboarding

The platform offers guided onboarding and offboarding processes, along with employee profile and document management, time and attendance tracking, and expense management.

Remote AI

This AI-powered chat feature provides instant, actionable insights on hiring, managing, and complying with global HR regulations. It helps in resolving compliance, payroll, and benefits queries quickly and efficiently.

Equity Compensation

Remote offers fully compliant equity compensation solutions, including stock option grants in over 75 countries, synced with your cap table and including tax handling and reporting assistance.

Integration and Self-Service

The platform integrates with various HR tools like Greenhouse, Zapier, and Bamboo HR, and provides unlimited platform access for employees and contractors, including a mobile app for key tasks.

Conclusion

Overall, Remote simplifies the process of managing a global workforce by providing a comprehensive suite of HR, payroll, and compliance tools.

Remote - User Interface and Experience

User Interface Overview

The user interface of Remote, particularly in its career tools and AI-driven features, is designed to be intuitive, user-friendly, and highly accessible.

Ease of Use

Remote’s platform is structured to simplify HR management tasks, making it easy for both employees and HR teams to use. Here are some key aspects:

Employee Self-Service

Employees can easily access and manage their employment details, including viewing payslips, managing benefits, requesting time off, submitting expenses, and tracking their work hours. This is all available through a straightforward and intuitive interface.

Mobile App

The platform offers a mobile app that allows employees to perform key self-service tasks on the go, such as viewing payslips, submitting expenses, and requesting time off. This ensures that the interface is accessible and convenient, regardless of the user’s location.

User Experience

The overall user experience is enhanced by several features:

Streamlined Processes

Remote consolidates various HR tasks into a single platform, reducing the need for multiple software tools and streamlining workflows. This makes it easier for users to manage their tasks efficiently.

Global Payroll and Compliance

The platform handles payroll and compliance issues across multiple countries, ensuring accurate and timely payments. This is facilitated through automated payments and built-in compliance tools, which reduce the burden on HR teams and enhance the user experience.

AI-Powered Insights

With the introduction of Remote AI, users can get instant, actionable insights on HR-related queries. This AI-powered chat feature helps HR professionals, operations managers, and compliance experts make data-based decisions quickly, reducing manual effort and time lags.

Feedback and Support

Users have consistently praised Remote for its exceptional customer support. The support team is proactive, patient, and thorough, ensuring complete transparency and addressing user queries effectively. This commitment to customer service significantly enhances the overall user experience.

Consistency and Accessibility

Remote ensures a consistent experience for all employees, regardless of their location. The platform is accessible via both web and mobile apps, making it easy for global teams to manage their employment tasks uniformly.

Conclusion

In summary, Remote’s user interface is designed to be user-friendly, accessible, and efficient, making it easier for both employees and HR teams to manage various tasks related to employment, payroll, and compliance. The platform’s ease of use and positive user experience are key factors in its popularity among global businesses.

Remote - Key Features and Functionality

Remote Overview

Remote, a leading global HR platform and payroll provider, offers several key features and functionalities, particularly in its AI-driven career tools, that make managing and finding global talent more efficient and streamlined.

Remote Talent Marketplace

Remote has launched a marketplace that connects global job seekers with employers. This platform allows job seekers to filter roles by time zone requirements, salary in multiple currencies, and travel obligations, making it easier to find the perfect job.

Recruit AI – Matches

One of the standout features is Recruit AI, specifically the “Matches” tool. This AI-driven solution helps employers identify top global talent efficiently. Here’s how it works:

Employers create a job description on the Remote platform.
Recruit AI scans a proprietary database of active remote candidates and delivers a batch of matching candidate profiles within seconds.
These candidates are eligible to work in the hiring country, meet the required experience and qualifications, and align with salary expectations.
As users interact with the platform, Matches continually learns and improves, becoming smarter with every click.

AI-Driven Candidate Matching

The AI technology goes beyond basic keyword matching by considering critical factors such as candidate motivations, remote work preferences, employment eligibility, and skills. This ensures that employers are connected with candidates who are the best fit for their open positions, simplifying the hiring process and making it more human-centered.

Global HR Insights and Compliance

Remote AI provides instant, actionable insights around hiring and managing a global team. This includes real-time access to HR information, helping teams resolve compliance, payroll, and benefits queries quickly. Here are some key aspects:

Compliance and Payroll: Remote AI ensures compliance with local laws, manages payroll, and handles tax deductions and returns. It also provides guidance on country-specific employment laws, benefits costs, and salary benchmarks.
Onboarding and Management: The platform streamlines onboarding with country-specific documentation and benefits. It also simplifies global payroll operations and supports the management of employees throughout their employment lifecycle.

Talent Insights

In addition to Matches, Remote offers Talent Insights, which provides valuable guidance on talent availability, hiring and offboarding complexity, benefits costs, and salary benchmarks. This helps companies make informed decisions about hiring and international compensation.

Employer of Record (EOR) Services

Remote acts as the Employer of Record (EOR) for companies, allowing them to employ, manage, pay, and stay compliant with a remote workforce as if they had a presence in those countries. This includes managing local benefits, contracts, and compliance requirements.

Integration and Automation

Remote integrates with various tools and platforms, allowing for seamless onboarding, offboarding, and management of employee data. This includes real-time tracking of PTO information and automation of HR processes through unified APIs.

Conclusion

In summary, Remote’s AI-driven career tools are designed to simplify global hiring, compliance, and workforce management. By leveraging AI to match candidates with roles, providing real-time HR insights, and ensuring global compliance, Remote makes it easier for companies to find, hire, and manage top global talent efficiently.

Remote - Performance and Accuracy

When Evaluating Remote’s Performance and Accuracy

When evaluating the performance and accuracy of Remote (https://remote.com) in the context of career tools and HR management, several key aspects come into focus.

Time Tracking and Accuracy

Remote offers robust time-tracking features, particularly through its Remote HR Management platform. This platform allows employees to log their work hours, breaks, and tasks accurately, which is crucial for maintaining transparency and accountability in a remote work setup. The software integrates well with existing project management tools, enabling managers to set estimated work times for tasks and track the actual time spent on them. This helps in identifying productivity trends and areas where the team may need additional support.

Global Compliance and Flexibility

Remote HR Management stands out for its ability to handle global teams efficiently. It automatically calculates paid time off and compares it against regulations in the employee’s country, ensuring compliance across different jurisdictions. This feature is particularly valuable for companies with distributed teams, as it simplifies the management of legal minimum work hours and contractual obligations.

User Experience and Feedback

The platform is user-friendly, allowing employees to add context notes to their work hours, which can explain variations in their work hours. Additionally, the mobile app provided by Remote ensures that employees and contractors can log their hours from any device, making it convenient for those who are often in the field.

Limitations and Areas for Improvement

While Remote HR Management is highly effective, there are some potential areas for improvement:

Trust and Micromanagement: One of the challenges in remote work is the risk of micromanagement. Remote HR Management aims to strike a balance by providing insights into productivity without resorting to intrusive surveillance measures. However, it is crucial for managers to use these tools judiciously to avoid creating a sense of distrust among employees.
Training for Managers: Effective use of Remote HR Management also depends on the training and skills of the managers. There is a need for managers to be trained in managing remote workers effectively, which can be addressed through additional training programs like Leadplaceless® mentioned in other contexts.

Engagement

In terms of engagement, Remote’s tools are designed to be transparent and user-friendly, which helps in maintaining employee trust and engagement. However, the success of these tools also depends on how they are implemented and used within the organization. For instance, ensuring that employees feel their work is valued and that the time-tracking is not overly intrusive is key to maintaining high engagement levels.

Conclusion

Remote’s career tools, particularly its HR Management platform, demonstrate strong performance and accuracy in managing remote teams. The platform’s ability to handle global compliance, provide flexible time-tracking options, and maintain transparency makes it a valuable tool for HR managers. However, it is important to address potential limitations such as the risk of micromanagement and the need for managerial training to ensure the tools are used effectively.

Remote - Pricing and Plans

Understanding the Pricing Structure of Remote.com

Free Plan

Remote.com offers a free HR Management plan. This plan allows you to manage all your employees in one place without any cost.

Contractor Management Plan

This plan starts at $29 per user per month. It includes features for compliantly onboarding and paying contractors.

Contractor Management Plus Plan

This plan costs $99 per user per month and includes everything in the Contractor Management plan, plus added indemnity coverage.

Payroll Plan

The Payroll plan is priced at $50 per user per month. It helps consolidate multi-country payroll.

Remote Talent Plan

This plan is $119 per month and allows you to reach top-tier professionals from around the globe.

Employer of Record (EOR) Plans

For certain countries like Canada, the UK, and Ireland, the EOR services start at $299 per employee per month when billed annually, and $349 per month when billed monthly.
For other countries, the plans start at $599 per employee per month for annual billing and $699 per month for monthly billing.

Global Payroll and Enterprise Plans

These plans require a custom quote based on the number of employees and the size of the organization.

Special Pricing for Startups and Nonprofits

Remote for Startups: Startups get their first employee free for the first year, two months free out of a 12-month subscription, and free contractor onboarding. To qualify, startups must have raised pre-seed, seed, or Series A funding.
Remote for Good: Nonprofits get their first employee free for 12 months, 25% off global employment for up to 10 employees, and free management and payment of global contractors. Eligible organizations include registered nonprofits, charities, trusts, social enterprises, or benefit corporations.

Additional Features

Remote.com also offers tools like the Country Explorer for legal and regulatory guides, the Partner Marketplace for services like Wise for payments and SafetyWing for health insurance, and the Remote Talent Marketplace to connect with talent marketplaces and recruitment firms.

By choosing the appropriate plan, users can leverage Remote.com’s extensive features to manage their global workforce efficiently.

Remote - Integration and Compatibility

Integration with HR Tools

Remote integrates with popular HR tools such as BambooHR, an HRIS (Human Resource Information System), to automate the transfer of essential new hire information. This includes details like name, start date, job title, and email address, which are synced automatically between the two platforms. This integration helps in reducing manual data entry, minimizing errors, and speeding up the onboarding process.

Accounting and Payroll Integrations

Remote also connects with accounting software to ensure accurate and efficient financial operations. By integrating invoice data with accounting tools, businesses can maintain accurate records and close their books confidently. This eliminates the need for error-prone manual data entry.

Single Sign-On (SSO) and Zapier

To enhance security and convenience, Remote supports SAML SSO integrations, allowing users to log in safely without multiple passwords. Additionally, Remote is integrated with Zapier, which supports over 5,000 apps. This allows users to create automated workflows (Zaps) without needing technical expertise, connecting Remote to their preferred tools effortlessly.

Custom API Integrations

For more customized solutions, Remote offers a robust API that enables businesses to build bespoke connections with any tool. This API helps in consolidating employee data and streamlining data maintenance across various HR systems. The API documentation is comprehensive, making it easy to implement these custom integrations.

Cross-Platform Compatibility

Remote’s integrations are designed to be user-friendly and do not require technical skills or coding experience. Customers can activate integrations in a matter of minutes, and all integrations are free for those already using both Remote and the partner platform. This ensures that businesses can integrate Remote with their existing tech stack without additional costs or technical hurdles.

Global Compliance and Local Infrastructure

Remote’s full-stack infrastructure, operated locally in each country, ensures compliance with local regulations and provides superior flexibility and speed. This infrastructure supports international hiring, onboarding, and payroll management, making it easier for companies to manage their global workforce.

Conclusion

In summary, Remote’s integrations are designed to be seamless, efficient, and cost-effective, allowing businesses to streamline their HR, accounting, and payroll processes across various platforms and devices.

Remote - Customer Support and Resources

Customer Support

Remote offers a comprehensive and accessible customer support system. Here are some of the support options available:

24/7 Customer Support

Remote provides round-the-clock support, ensuring that users can get help whenever they need it. You can contact their friendly support team via email at help@remote.com.

Help Center

The Help Center is always available and contains up-to-date local hiring support guides, information on payroll regulations, and other relevant resources. This allows users to find answers to common questions quickly.

Personalized Support

Remote’s support team is on hand to answer specific questions, whether it’s about vacation policies in a particular country or other employment-related queries. This personalized support ensures that users get the help they need promptly.

Additional Resources

Remote provides several additional resources to support its users:

Local Hiring Guides

These guides help users understand the local regulations and requirements for hiring in different countries, ensuring compliance and ease of use.

Service Status Page

Remote maintains a service status page that reports on the health of their service, providing transparency and helping users understand what to expect.

Feedback Mechanism

Although not explicitly detailed for the Career Tools category, Remote’s commitment to transparency and customer feedback suggests they likely have mechanisms in place for users to provide feedback, which helps in improving the service.

General Support Culture

Remote emphasizes a customer-first approach, ensuring that users receive the highest standard of service. Their support is characterized by being fast, reliable, and transparent, which is crucial for managing global employment processes smoothly.

While the information provided does not specifically address an “AI-driven product category” named Career Tools, it is clear that Remote’s general support structure is well-equipped to handle a wide range of user needs, which would likely extend to any specialized tools or categories they offer.

Remote - Pros and Cons

Advantages

Global Reach and Compliance

Remote operates in over 170 countries, providing companies with the ability to hire, manage, and pay employees globally while ensuring compliance with local laws and regulations.

AI-Driven Hiring

Remote’s Recruit AI helps employers identify top global talent efficiently by matching candidates based on factors like skills, remote work preferences, and employment eligibility. This tool streamlines the hiring process and makes it more human-centered.

Comprehensive HR Platform

Remote offers a unified platform that handles the full end-to-end employment lifecycle, including onboarding, payroll, benefits administration, and employee data management. This consolidates various HR functions into one place, saving time and money.

Contractor Management

The platform provides free contractor management tools, including automated onboarding, invoicing, and localized tax compliance. It also generates 1099 forms for US contractors.

Customer Support

Remote offers 24/7 email support and responsive customer service, although a dedicated support team is only available on the Enterprise plan.

Cost Transparency and Discounts

Remote provides clear breakdowns of employment costs and offers discounts for special institutions like nonprofits, charities, and startups.

Global Payroll and HRIS

The platform allows companies to run global payroll operations easily and manage all employees through a free HRIS system that includes talent management, time and attendance tracking, and expense management.

Disadvantages

Pricing Transparency

The pricing for Remote’s Global Payroll and HR solutions is not very transparent, which can make it difficult for companies to anticipate costs.

Support Limitations

While Remote offers good customer support, a dedicated support team is only available for Enterprise plan users. Other users may experience delays in response times to some issues.

Payment Limitations

Remote currently only supports payments in USD, GBP, and EUR, and does not support local currencies for payments, which can be a significant limitation.

Onboarding for All Plans

The dedicated in-house team for onboarding is only available on the Enterprise plan, which might be a drawback for smaller businesses or those on other plans.

Overall, Remote offers a comprehensive suite of tools that can significantly streamline global hiring, payroll, and HR management, but it also has some limitations, particularly in terms of pricing transparency and payment options.

Remote - Comparison with Competitors

When comparing Remote’s AI-driven career tools

When comparing Remote’s AI-driven career tools, particularly its new Recruit AI, with similar products in the market, several unique features and potential alternatives stand out.

Unique Features of Remote’s Recruit AI

Global Talent Matching: Remote’s Recruit AI, through its “Matches” feature, stands out by efficiently connecting employers with top global talent. It uses proprietary technology to match candidates based on factors such as candidate motivations, remote work preferences, employment eligibility, and skills, going beyond basic keyword matching.
Compliance and Onboarding: Remote ensures that the hiring process is compliant with local regulations, regardless of the candidate’s location. It also offers seamless onboarding, payment in local currency, and management of the employment lifecycle, all backed by Remote’s global compliance expertise.
Integration with HR Systems: Remote integrates with popular applicant tracking systems (ATS) and payroll software, enhancing its functionality and making it a comprehensive solution for global HR needs.

Alternatives and Competitors

Oyster

Global Talent Sourcing: Oyster is strong in global talent sourcing and employment tools, simplifying international staff onboarding and payroll management. It offers features like contractor vs. full-time employee analyzers and global employment cost calculators, which are useful for ensuring compliance and managing international hires.
Pricing: Oyster’s pricing starts at $29 per contractor per month and $599 per employee per month, with different plans available.

Multiplier

International Compliance: Multiplier excels in international payroll management, ensuring compliance with local laws through multilingual compliant contracts and localized benefits. It offers features like expense management, timesheet tracking, and leave management.
Pricing: Multiplier’s pricing starts from $400 per month for employees of record and $40 per month for independent contractors, with custom pricing for global payroll.

Deel

Global Payroll Management: Deel provides comprehensive global payroll management, supporting over 100 countries. It offers features like multi-currency payments and a remote work regulations guide.
Pricing: Deel’s pricing is custom quoted, but it starts at $49 per month for contractors.

AI Job Search Tools for Job Seekers

While Remote focuses on the employer side, there are AI tools that cater specifically to job seekers:

JobCopilot

Automated Job Applications: JobCopilot automates job application submissions, offers AI-powered resume and cover letter builders, and provides a personalized dashboard to track applications. It is ideal for busy professionals looking to maximize their job application efficiency.
Pricing: Starts at $8.90 weekly or $29.90 monthly.

BulkApply

High-Volume Applications: BulkApply is designed for job seekers who want to apply to multiple jobs quickly. It supports up to 30 daily job applications on the Basic plan and unlimited applications on the Unlimited plan.
Pricing: Starts at $15.99/month for the Basic plan and $23.99/month for the Unlimited plan.

Key Differences

Focus: Remote’s Recruit AI is primarily focused on helping employers find and hire global talent efficiently, while tools like JobCopilot and BulkApply are designed to assist job seekers in their application processes.
Features: Remote’s integration with HR systems, compliance assurance, and seamless onboarding set it apart from other tools that focus more on job matching, resume building, or high-volume application submissions.
Pricing: The pricing models vary significantly between these tools, with Remote’s pricing structured around employee and contractor management, and job seeker tools like JobCopilot and BulkApply offering subscription-based models.

In summary, Remote’s Recruit AI offers a unique set of features tailored for employers seeking to hire global talent, while alternatives like Oyster, Multiplier, and Deel provide different strengths in global payroll management and compliance. For job seekers, tools like JobCopilot and BulkApply offer efficient ways to manage and scale their job applications. Each tool has its specific use case, making them suitable for different needs within the career tools and HR management landscape.

Remote - Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions about Remote

What is Remote and how does it help in global hiring?

Remote is a global HR platform and payroll provider that helps companies hire, manage, and pay employees and contractors worldwide. It offers a range of tools, including a talent marketplace, AI-driven hiring solutions, and compliance management, making it easier for employers to find and manage global talent.

How does Remote’s AI-driven hiring tool, Recruit AI, work?

Recruit AI, part of Remote’s platform, uses artificial intelligence to match employers with top global talent. After creating a job description, Recruit AI scans a proprietary database of active remote candidates and delivers matching candidate profiles. This tool considers factors like candidate motivations, remote work preferences, employment eligibility, and skills to provide the best fits. It continuously learns and improves with user interactions.

What features does Remote’s job marketplace offer to job seekers?

Remote’s job marketplace allows job seekers to find remote roles with top companies. Users can filter jobs by time zone requirements, salary in multiple currencies, travel obligations, and more. The platform is free for candidates and provides clear information about the remoteness of each role, helping job seekers find the perfect job anywhere in the world.

How does Remote handle global compliance and payroll for remote employees?

Remote offers comprehensive global payroll and compliance solutions. It ensures compliance with local laws, manages international payments, handles tax deductions and returns, and provides benefit administration. Remote also acts as the Employer of Record (EOR) in over 170 countries, simplifying the process of employing and managing a remote workforce.

Can Remote help companies manage contractors globally?

Yes, Remote provides contractor management tools that allow companies to create locally compliant contracts and manage and pay contractors globally. These tools ensure that all contractor engagements are compliant with local regulations, making it easier to work with international contractors.

What kind of support does Remote offer for onboarding new hires?

Remote offers self-onboarding tools for remote teams, integrating with your HR stack through a global employee API. This allows for centralized employee data management and ensures that new hires can be seamlessly onboarded, regardless of their location. Remote also handles payroll and benefits administration as part of the onboarding process.

How does Remote’s Talent Insights tool help employers?

Remote’s Talent Insights tool provides valuable guidance on talent availability, hiring and offboarding complexity, benefits costs, and salary benchmarks. This helps employers make informed decisions about hiring and managing their global workforce, ensuring they have the necessary knowledge to guide optimal hiring and retention strategies.

Is Remote’s platform accessible for free, or are there any costs involved?

Remote offers a free plan with limited features, as well as various premium plans. The pricing starts at $29 per month per user and includes different plans such as Contractor Management, Payroll, and Remote Talent, each with specific features tailored to different needs.

How does Remote ensure data security and IP protection for global employees?

Remote provides solutions for managing IP and security, including Global IP Guard and security solutions. This ensures that companies with employees in different countries can protect their intellectual property and maintain data security.

Can Remote help companies transition from traditional office settings to a fully remote workforce?

Yes, Remote is designed to help startups and businesses transition to a fully remote workforce. It offers tools and services that simplify and streamline the process of hiring, managing, and paying remote employees globally, making the transition smoother and more efficient.

Remote - Conclusion and Recommendation

Final Assessment of Remote in the Career Tools AI-Driven Product Category

Remote stands out as a comprehensive and innovative platform in the career tools and AI-driven product category, particularly for companies and individuals involved in global hiring, payroll management, and benefits administration.

Key Features and Benefits

Global Hiring and Talent Management: Remote’s latest offering, Recruit AI, is a significant advancement. It uses AI to match employers with top global talent, considering factors such as candidate motivations, remote work preferences, employment eligibility, and skills. This tool simplifies the hiring process, especially for companies facing the challenge of sifting through numerous candidates.
Payroll and Compliance: Remote offers a global payroll solution that ensures compliance with local laws, manages international payments, and handles tax deductions, expense management, and benefit administration. This is crucial for companies operating in multiple countries, as it streamlines payroll processes and ensures legal compliance.
Benefits Administration: The platform introduces Remote Global Benefits, which simplifies the management of multi-country health insurance plans. This solution, powered by Kota, allows companies to select, enroll, and administer local health benefits seamlessly, integrating these benefits into the payroll workflow. This is particularly valuable for attracting and retaining talent globally.
Employer of Record (EOR) Services: Remote acts as the employer of record for companies, enabling them to employ, manage, and pay a remote workforce while ensuring compliance with local regulations. This is a boon for startups and companies looking to expand internationally without the hassle of setting up local entities.

Who Would Benefit Most

Global Companies: Businesses operating in multiple countries will greatly benefit from Remote’s comprehensive HR solutions, including global payroll, benefits administration, and compliance management.
Startups Expanding Internationally: Startups transitioning to a remote model or expanding into new regions can leverage Remote’s services to manage international contractors, full-time employees, and benefits, all while ensuring compliance with local laws.
HR Leaders: HR professionals will appreciate the streamlined processes for hiring, onboarding, and managing a global workforce. The integration of benefits and payroll reduces manual tasks and eliminates broker fees, saving time and resources.

Overall Recommendation

Remote is an excellent choice for any company looking to streamline their global HR operations. The platform’s AI-driven hiring tools, comprehensive payroll management, and simplified benefits administration make it a one-stop solution for managing a global workforce.

For individuals and companies seeking to hire and manage talent across different countries, Remote’s services offer a seamless and compliant way to do so. The platform’s ability to learn and improve with user interactions, ensuring better candidate matches and more efficient hiring processes, is a significant advantage.

In summary, Remote is highly recommended for its innovative approach to global HR management, making it easier for companies to find, hire, and manage top talent worldwide while ensuring full compliance with local regulations.