Definitions: Common Words and Phrases Used in Assetbots

Before diving in – or maybe after, if you’ve already gotten started 😀 – it’s helpful to understand what the most common words and phrases you’ll find throughout Assetbots mean.

Database

• Database

  A workspace containing all your Assetbots data. Databases can have multiple users, and users can participate in multiple databases. Most organizations maintain a single database, but some like Managed Service Providers (MSPs) or large enterprises with multiple departments or locations have many.

• User

  Someone that works with your Assetbots database. You can invite multiple users to collaborate with you with various access roles, ranging from read-only up to full administrative control.

• Field

  Fields are one of the fundamental building blocks in Assetbots and are like columns in a spreadsheet. Each record (assets, people, locations, etc.) in Assetbots is made up of multiple attributes, or fields, many of which are customizable. Fields allow you to decide what data you want to keep track of, what order you want to see that data in, and how you search, sort and browse through your database.

Assets

• Asset

  An item you want to keep track of. An asset can be anything, from a computer to a tool, a document to a tractor. Assets are “serialized,” which means they have unique identities rather than bulk quantities (e.g., cans of soup are not assets because you think of them by count and one is interchangeable from another).

• Asset Tag

  Each asset has a unique tag, which is its identifier within Assetbots. The asset tag is typically different from the serial number, even if your assets have serial numbers. Most organizations set up a tagging scheme with specific tag formats to make it easier to derive meaning from just the tag. Review our guide to asset tagging best practices for more information.

• Category

  The top-level grouping of assets in Assetbots. In addition to basic organization, categories provide the ability to customize which fields are available to a group of assets, as well as define asset tag formatting rules.

Directory

• Person

  A person you would like to assign assets to. Most organizations sync or import their employees as people, but you can also add customers, clients, contractors – anyone with a name.

• Location

  A location you would like to assign assets to. Locations are useful if you want to track a second line of responsibility for your assignments. You can add buildings, floors or rooms as locations, or even projects or events. Unlike people, locations cannot sign for custody or have emails sent to them, as they are intended to be used for tracking purposes only.

Assignment

• Checkout

  An assignment of assets to a person, location or both. Checkouts are “living” records that can change over time – much like an order from Amazon. A checkout is created when one or more assets are assigned, and they stay open until all of the assets that make up the checkout are checked back in.

• Check-In

  When a person or location releases responsibility of an asset, it is checked in. One or more assets can be checked in at once, across one or more open checkouts.

• Reservation

  You can coordinate future checkouts and prevent conflicts by creating reservations. Reservations look and feel just like checkouts, except the same asset can be reserved multiple times as long as the dates don’t overlap.

Search and Filter

• Label

  A way to categorize data. Labels can be applied to many record types in Assetbots, including assets, people, locations, reservations and repairs. Each record can have multiple labels applied, and each label can be applied to multiple records. Clicking a label will filter the record list to only records with that label applied, and you can filter on multiple labels at a time.

• Filter

  Each record list in Assetbots supports the same filtering operations, which you can learn more about here. You can build custom “live” reports by saving your filters and choosing which fields to include in the table when the filter is selected.

Kiosks

• Kiosk

  A self-serve portal that provides a simple interface for check-in and checkout. Each kiosk has a link that can be used to launch a limited-access, easy-to-use checkout flow on a tablet, laptop, phone or shared however you like.

Repairs

• Repair

  A record of a maintenance operation or other reason an asset was removed from service. Repairs can simply be logged as a form of record keeping, or they can be used as workflows by transitioning assets from Needs Repair to In Repair to Repair Completed.