You can use the Dashboard Calendar (basic view) to keep track of all ongoing events, asset assignments, and upcoming reservations, and have a bird’s eye view of all asset tracking and operational workflows.
Stay on Top of Ongoing and Upcoming Events
The top of the dashboard displays count of the following sections of IT asset management in AssetSonar explained in subsequent sections:
– Assets which are overdue
– Assets which are due on the current date
– Reservations which start on the current date (relating to all items — Asset, Asset Stock, and Inventory)
Note: You can also toggle between actionable metrics for carts and items and stay on top of which carts are coming in, going out, or overdue on return.
Assets Overdue Vs. Assets Due Today: The count of overdue assets is time-sensitive, while the count of assets due on the current date is day sensitive. Say, there are two assets due on July 8, asset#1 at 13:00 and the asset#2 at 19:00, the count of overdue assets will be ‘0’ and that of asset due today will be ‘2’ till July 8, 13:00.
Now if the asset#1 is not checked-in at its due time, the count of overdue assets will change to ‘1’ at 13:01. However, the count of assets due today will remain ‘2’ till the end of the day i.e. July 8.
Actions on Counter Boxes
When you click on any one of the counter boxes, it redirects you to the listings page of their particular details where you can then take actions on them e.g. extend checkout on an overdue asset or request check-in (see the image below).
Taking actions on Reservations: Clicking on the reservations counter box, redirects you to the reservations listing page.
Learn More: How to reserve Items in AssetSonar
Email Alerts for Counters
The following generates email alerts for Account Owners and Admins:
- Overdue Items: You will be notified via email whenever an asset is not checked-in after its due date.
- Reservations starting today: You will get an email on the day a reservation starts.
- Reservation starting in ___ days: You can select how many days in advance to the start of reservation you want to get an email alert.
Note: To enable these alerts, go to More from the side navigation menu and click on Alerts. Then check their respective boxes as shown in the snapshot below:
The Calendar View and Quick Activity Feed
The Dashboard Calendar enables you to look at events in the context of a monthly calendar and helps you to manage and monitor all your IT asset tracking tasks directly from the dashboard. The dates on which assets are due and reservations are starting are marked on the calendar for you to keep track of all important dates (see the date July 1st in the screenshot below):
Use the arrows to navigate between different months.
Quick Activity Feed: Alongside the calendar, there is an update of all the asset tracking activities of the current month. To see events of any other month, navigate between the months using the forward/backward arrow on the calendar. It goes forward and backward indefinitely (see image above).
The feed of events on the dashboard page also shows: addition of assets, members, comments, services, check-ins, and checkouts within the system — under messages and latest events.
If the arbitration on reservation is enabled (the access control is such that staff users cannot check-in/out assets themselves without an administrator’s approval), the activity feed will also include all the unapproved reservations along with other events. By clicking on the asset’s name, you will be directed to the detail page of the asset from where you can approve or reject the reservation request.
Note: From staff members’ standpoint, the activity feed and calendar only displays the requests they have made, as well as events related to assets in their possession.
Syncing the Calendar
The Dashboard Calendar can also be synced with a third-party calendar application. This comes in handy as you can keep track of your asset assignments from other applications. It might help you in better asset management and organization of your assignments and tasks depending upon the application you sync with. To do this, follow the following steps:
1. Click on the ‘Get ICAL URL’ as shown. You will be prompted to an URL.
2. Copy that URL into another tab of your web browser. An ICS file will be downloaded.
3. Now open this file using the calendar application of your choice. The details of your reservations and due assets will now be available on the application you have synced with.
Staying on top of Service Events
The dashboard by default displays a calendar view. However, you may customize it as per your preferences. You can choose any of the following to display on the dashboard from Settings → My Settings.
- Calendar
- Service Events
- Location Map
Service events can be enabled from My Settings → Dashboard Settings.
Atom Feed and In-app Updates
Subscribe to Atom Feed: The subscribe link provides an atom feed that can be provided to common RSS/Atom feed readers. Feed readers enable updates on new events in the system, like checkouts, etc, to be ‘pushed’ to you without having to log into the system. Feed readers can be web-based or desktop-based.
In-app Updates: Keep up with regular feature releases related to AssetSonar with the in-app updates which are accessible from ‘Your Name on Top left’ → Updates.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I assign a specific dashboard to my users?
AssetSonar allows admins to create customizable, role-based dashboards which can be assigned to specific users. To use this, first make sure you have Custom Roles enabled in your settings. Then go to the Navigation menu and select Dashboard → My Dashboard → Create new Dashboard
Which calendars can I integrate with?
AssetSonar does not integrate with any external calendars. It only uses its own dashboard calendar.
