Incident Desk simplifies fixed asset management with new mobile solution

A new fixed asset management solution by Incident Desk is easily accessible to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), according to Cape Town-based software as a service company, Solution House Software.

The problem

Tiaan Janse van Rensburg, Commercial Director at Solution House, says for years maintenance and facility management businesses have struggled to efficiently manage services and incidents related to physical assets like air conditioners, CCTV cameras and vehicles.

“Information regarding these fixed and movable assets and their service management is difficult to combine without a complicated ERP or asset management application, and this has forced businesses to approach the problem manually, which is fraught with errors and delays.”

The solution

Janse van Rensburg says Solution House saw an opportunity to develop a solution for the SME market where most of the managers and workers are mobile and a diverse set of assets, services and incidents are managed – from alarms generated by IOT devices, ad hoc maintenance, service calls or recurring maintenance.

The mobile solution consists of two modules:

1. Enrolment of assets via a mobile device by capturing the details of the asset, adding a photo and GPS location co-ordinates, and completing the asset information template; and
2. Service management, whereby incidents and service requests can be logged against an asset.

How it works

Janse van Rensburg explains that a service technician can enrol an asset by simply taking a photo; capturing its details like product type, make, model and serial number; completing the asset questionnaire; and adding the site and GPS location of the asset.

“To find an asset is just as easy using the smartphone app: simply search for the asset or use the ‘find assets near me’ function. This uses the user’s GPS location and matches it with nearby assets the user has access to. For example, in a shopping centre, the user can match the request to the correct asset by searching by name, serial number, location or by scanning its QR code.”

Once an asset is enrolled, a service manager can log incidents or service requests against it from a pre-populated list, including a standard operating procedure checklist for servicing a specific asset type.

The service request will then be routed to the relevant person or department, depending on the request type and location of the service request. Users can respond to service requests using the Incident Desk smartphone app, upload documents and photos, and update the status of the request.

Incident Desk Asset Management adheres to a strict POPIA compliancy process with a stored and auditable user policy acceptance, encryption and restricted and pre-approved data sharing lists.

Benefits

Janse van Rensburg adds that using the powerful Incident Desk no-code platform, the new function can quickly be adapted and rolled out to clients.

“The easy development, adoption and use of the all-mobile asset management component, as well as the sheer speed to value make this solution another very accessible addition to the Incident Desk family. We are confident that, as organisations seek to improve efficiencies as cost-effectively as possible, we will see a strong uptake across several verticals in the SME space."