This Extra is designed to assist in processing and tracking loaner equipment, be it Computers or other Devices. While each record detail has a field for loan person and return date, this Extra offers a number of enhancements to that simple idea. You can view all available systems marked as being for loan, see what is available and checked out, view return date information, process mass checkouts, send email confirmations to the user, and more.
Before using this Extra, you need to configure it using the gear in the upper right. There are several tabs of configuration options to consider.
Settings
Basic settings include what Lifecycle stage should be used for Available and On Loan conditions. Note you may be interested in using Custom Values for these, and/or optionally use the Filters below. These lifecycle choices dictate what shows for Available and On Loan in the extra, and will automatically be changed between when you issue and return hardware.
You can choose to have a Tag automatically added to the asset record if the due date passes without it being processed for return.
There are then several settings for the Default due in number of days, default time of day due, and a maximum due date (e.g. end of semester regardless of default days).
If you have "bundles" of equipment, the option to Include attached Devices when loaning a computer is very useful. That is, say you have a camera, tripod, webcam, sanner, etc. all linked to a computer that is marked available to loan. This option effectively makes all the linked devices part of the loaner bundle so you don't have to select them individually in the process.
Lastly you can set if a Signature is Required when performing the checkout.
Terms
The Terms tab can be used to link to custom T&C on another site, and/or include a summary. These are used as part of the confirmation email and receipt functions below.
E-mail
For confirmation and reminder E-mails you can set a number of options. This includes a full macro enabled editor and ability to customize the template for each email type. The default templates include a lot of common example macros to get you started.
You can also choose to attach a Form to the email. This will not only provide a PDF of a custom Form that can contain any text and asset detail as desired, but also include the Signature of the person borrowing the equipment (as entered in the checkout process). This can only be a User form, other types will not be listed in the drop down.
Filtering
When using the default lifecycle stages, you may want to Filter which items are actually used for loaners. You can do this by Divisions as well as Tags, as well as an advanced Filter. Use of these options is largely dependent on if you are doing organization wide loaners that are segmented by department access rights by Sections, or if only one department in a large organization is using this feature.
Times
If you want to set individual default due days by device Category, you can do so on this tab. These override the Basic setting for due time, so computers and each device type can all be different as a result.
Loaner Process
Once you have set up the configuration options, the big buttons on the main screen reflect how many Computers and Devices are available for or currently on loan. Clicking one of these buttons will show a list of the relevant objects. For Available items, you can then check off one or more that you want to loan out, and click the Check Out button to start the process.
On the Check Out screen you can fill out who you are loaning the items to and when they are due back. Note the User field does a lookup in the Users table so you can select a person by their previously seen ID per their Computer logins. This will fill in the relevant fields in the Details of each computer/device. A confirmation E-mail will be sent to the address specified, and you can put in a Phone number and Notes as desired for record keeping. Note that if you select a User based on the search and enter email and phone information, those items will be written back to the User record as well.
Once you complete the checkout you will be shown a summary screen where you can Print the "receipt". You can also check on items assigned to a user by Loan or as the assigned Owner using the User Assets Extra detailed below.
