Equipment

Navigate to the Equipment Grid. Main > Inventory > Equipment Press the  button located on the Grid Toolbar to open the Add New Equipment form. The Equipment Grid shows the User all of the Equipment records that are currently in the system. These Equipment records let the User(s) review their Status, Location, GLAs, and even associated Services.

Users must first select the appropriate item from the Equipment Catalog by clicking on the Search Icon in the 'Catalog' field and selecting an item from the Equipment Catalog tree. Users can also type into the field and press 'Enter' when the tree appears. The Picker auto-completes the items that match the search text.

Equipment basics video

Required Fields

In the box labeled 'Owner - Contact', select an Owner from the Contact list by clicking on the Picker. Alternatively, select 'Set Department as Owner' and click the Picker to select a Department Hierarchy. This is only required if the Status is Assigned.

In the box labeled 'Location', select a Location from the Picker. This designation is only required when the corresponding Equipment Catalog entry indicates it is required.

In the box labeled 'Units', enter an amount for this Equipment. This is only required if the Equipment Catalog specifies 'Has Units'.

The 'Equipment ID' becomes required if the Equipment Catalog has the Cabling flag set and the Equipment Status is either Assigned or Installed.

Equipment Status

There are several pre-designated Statuses that can be associated with a piece of Equipment.

• Unassigned - Unassigned Equipment in Inventory is the only Status that can be searched and added through a Service Order. This is Equipment in a Warehouse awaiting an assignment to an Owner/Service. Any Equipment added with a Purchase Order or Bulk Add on either a Warehouse or the Inventory Overview Grid is automatically assigned this Status on creation.

• Assigned - Assigned Equipment is associated with a specific Owner/Service. It is not included in Warehouse Inventory counts.

• Installed - Installed Equipment is always left at a specific Location (Owner is optional, not required). Marking Equipment as Installed removes it from searches when adding Equipment elsewhere in the application preventing duplicate associations. Installed is the Status used by all Cabling Equipment.

• Retired - Retired Equipment is aged Equipment still in possession of the organization but no longer actively in Service. Marking Equipment as Retired removes it from assignment searches and pickers.

• Broken - Any Broken Equipment is no longer functional. This status can help identify Equipment that is faulty over time or note that a piece of Equipment is non-functional and in need of repair/warranty work. Marking Equipment as Broken removes it from assignment searches and pickers.

• Lost - Is associated with Equipment that has gone missing. Marking Equipment as Lost removes it from assignment searches and pickers.

Special Status Update Events

There are some User activities where an Equipment Record may be automatically updated based on specific other updates made to the record.

1. On an Assigned piece of Equipment not in a Warehouse, removing the Associated Service ID will cause the Status to become Installed.

2. On an Assigned piece of Equipment in a Warehouse, removing the Associated Service ID will cause the Status to become Unassigned.

3. On an Unassigned piece of Equipment, adding an Associated Service ID will cause the Status to become Assigned.

4. When an Assigned Piece of Equipment becomes Unassigned, the system will Remove Unbilled Charges and Stop Active Charges.

Optional Fields

In the box labeled 'Parent Equipment,' select a piece of existing Equipment from the Inventory list by clicking on the Picker; this designation is not required. When a piece of Equipment has a Parent, it will inherit information from that Parent. When a Parent Equipment is updated, these updates are not passed on to Children.  If synchronizing updates are made to Parents, and it's Children, see the FAQ page for these details.

To add a piece of child equipment, select the tab marked 'Equipment Children' and click the 'Add' button.  

Select the tab marked 'Contacts.' To add a contact from the contact list, click 'Add Existing.' To add a new Contact that is not currently on the Picker's Grid, click the button. 

In the boxes labeled 'Asset Tag,' 'Equipment ID,' and 'Serial Number,' define each field appropriately.

Equipment will hold the information of the 'Purchase Order Number' associated with it.

Special Rules

• Asset Tag - This field is available AND required if the Asset Tag flag is set in the Equipment Catalog and the Equipment record has a Status of Assigned or Installed.

  • Asset Tags MUST be unique to only one Equipment record and allow the User(s) to track an individual Equipment throughout PCR-360.

  • Asset Tag does not have to be specific expensive Equipment and can be used on any Equipment records that need to be tracked.

• Equipment ID - This field is always available and is optional.

  • Equipment IDs MUST be unique in a given Location. What is meant by this is that the same Equipment ID, for example, EqpID001, can be used on more than one Equipment record. However, two Equipment records with the same Equipment ID cannot be placed in the exact Location.

  • the Equipment ID becomes required if the Equipment Catalog has the Cabling flag set and the Equipment Status is either Assigned or Installed.

• Serial Number - This field is always available and is optional.

  • Serial Numbers are typically assigned by manufacturers and are never required to be unique.

In the tab labeled 'Remarks,' click the 'Add' button to add text-based remarks.

In the tab labeled 'Attachments,' click 'Upload a File' to add an attachment (.doc, .jpg, etc.) to the selected Equipment.

*Parent/child are designations of relationships between pieces of Equipment. Any piece of Equipment that relies upon another piece of Equipment to function on a basic level is a child to that Equipment's parent. Any piece of Equipment that improves or affects a piece of Equipment's non-basic functions is considered a child.

Equipment tabs

On the data entry form for Equipment, the available tabs are Charges, Expense GLAs, Billing, Network, Equipment Children, Ports/Pins/Lens, VLANs, Contacts, Remarks, Activity, Attachments, and User Defined Fields.

Tabs on Equipment

Saving the New Piece Equipment

Once all required fields have been satisfied, click the 'Save' button at the bottom of the data entry form.

Once saved, the new piece of equipment appears on the Equipment Grid. At this point, the Equipment can be edited by double-clicking on its position in the Grid.

When a new piece of Equipment is saved, PCR-360 will populate the Warranty Date based on the Warranty period defined in the Equipment Catalog and the date the Equipment was added into the System.

On the Inventory: Equipment Grid, double-click or highlight any existing piece of equipment and click 'Edit Selected' above Grid to edit. This opens the Equipment's data entry form (see image above).

Users can edit the equipment's information following the same protocol established in the Creating a New Piece of Equipment article.