asset tag/machine reference number

[kingarthur]

Was wondering how everyone labelled m/c's in the field, do all your customers have a unique reference number, or is it the machine, or both, are you able to find a service history electronically, is anyone using netheldesk, if so do you use any of the above, and more importantly , can you find an individual machine history quickly/easily...

Cheers

[Phil B.]

Was wondering how everyone labelled m/c's in the field, do all your customers have a unique reference number, or is it the machine, or both, are you able to find a service history electronically, is anyone using netheldesk, if so do you use any of the above, and more importantly , can you find an individual machine history quickly/easily...

Cheers

my situation is rather unique.
We do NOT assign asset #'s to the units.
We do NOT keep track electronically of the work that has been done, nor when it was done.
IF I want to see history I have to paw through paper files that contain ALL history for that client ( sales/service ect) ALL requests/service is done with paperwork. ( ASS BACKWARDS in todays times )

Fortunately I have a very good memory and can remember MOST of the history for any of our 4000 clients whose machines I have serviced in the 5 years working here.

[kingarthur]

my situation is rather unique.
We do NOT assign asset #'s to the units.
We do NOT keep track electronically of the work that has been done, nor when it was done.
IF I want to see history I have to paw through paper files that contain ALL history for that client ( sales/service ect) ALL requests/service is done with paperwork. ( ASS BACKWARDS in todays times )

Fortunately I have a very good memory and can remember MOST of the history for any of our 4000 clients whose machines I have serviced in the 5 years working here.


I know where you're coming from. I do most of the calls on copiers in my area, but when I'm on holiday, or busy & someone else has carried out work, I like to check what's been done, so i have an idea what to take, 99% of my calls i walk to, so don't have the pleasure of car stock , our old logging software I could check the last 18 months, but our new system, I can't get a lot of history, unless i go into each individual call.....

[mikadonovan]

I print a meter and smc report at each service call, and then write up a quick service report before scanning to my pc where it goes to a folder for that particular customer. Then access is easy, unless I wait too long too scan the data. Then it's a matter of digging through my inbox on my desk. Works well for me. Multiple machine at 1 account are identified by location, model, and the last 3 digits of the serial number.

[FrohnB]

We have ID # tags that we place under the glass of all our Machines upon initial setup, so when a customer calls in they can lift the doc feeder and reference that number. We used to fill out hand-written tickets after each call, and then those would be entered into our office's inventory/service call system. We could then check service history through our system. Now (since beginning of 2017) we have switched to E-Automate and they have a deal called Remote Tech where all of our calls are filled out via phone, tablet, or laptop. VERY Convenient, once you get past the 3 or 4 months of training and working out the bugs and what not. But with this new system we can look up (on our phone) EVERYTHING that has been done to that machine, who did it, what parts were used, etc. Much better now.

[Phil B.]

I know where you're coming from. I do most of the calls on copiers in my area, but when I'm on holiday, or busy & someone else has carried out work, I like to check what's been done, so i have an idea what to take, 99% of my calls i walk to, so don't have the pleasure of car stock , our old logging software I could check the last 18 months, but our new system, I can't get a lot of history, unless i go into each individual call.....

WOW you have another tech working with you? I'm the Lone Stranger here! :mad::mad:

[Phil B.]

We have ID # tags that we place under the glass of all our Machines upon initial setup, so when a customer calls in they can lift the doc feeder and reference that number. We used to fill out hand-written tickets after each call, and then those would be entered into our office's inventory/service call system. We could then check service history through our system. Now (since beginning of 2017) we have switched to E-Automate and they have a deal called Remote Tech where all of our calls are filled out via phone, tablet, or laptop. VERY Convenient, once you get past the 3 or 4 months of training and working out the bugs and what not. But with this new system we can look up (on our phone) EVERYTHING that has been done to that machine, who did it, what parts were used, etc. Much better now.

IN another lifetime I worked for Copiers Plus.. we used Remote Tech there... loved that program and it's abilities!

[theengel]

I bill everything via quickbooks, and tag each machine. I don't have the data set up the way I'd like, but I can do a quick search on a tag # to see what I've billed for in the past... but I don't really record comments on specific calls.

I also fill out paper work orders, and that eventually gets scanned and filed on the computer. So I can look at the invoice via quickbooks, which mentions the date & work order #, and I can go through the pdf's to find that specific work order.

[Ctl-Alt-Del]

IN another lifetime I worked for Copiers Plus.. we used Remote Tech there... loved that program and it's abilities!

We've been running e-automate and RemoteTech for years so everything is serialized and tagged with a machine ID number. All inventory, every meter, every service agreement, every lease, every shipment is tracked in our system. Techs in the field have full access to all calls and service histories as well as part lookup and inventory availability system wide. The thought of working in this business without such tools is hard for me to grasp because I know service makes it's money in the 3rd through 5th decimal place and trusting math that tight to index cards makes no sense to me.

[theengel]

Such records are a LOT more important in high-volume than low-volume... just something worth pointing out in all of this.

[JR2ALTA]

We've been running e-automate and RemoteTech for years so everything is serialized and tagged with a machine ID number. All inventory, every meter, every service agreement, every lease, every shipment is tracked in our system. Techs in the field have full access to all calls and service histories as well as part lookup and inventory availability system wide. The thought of working in this business without such tools is hard for me to grasp because I know service makes it's money in the 3rd through 5th decimal place and trusting math that tight to index cards makes no sense to me.

Remote Tech is nice, but on mine I can only look at machine history if there is an open call in my log for said machine
I can't search a tag number or customer, which would come in handy when I am trying to remember a part number or fix i did in the past

and also, our techs dont get access to e-auto which would be awesome

[SalesServiceGuy]

I print a meter and smc report at each service call, and then write up a quick service report before scanning to my pc where it goes to a folder for that particular customer. Then access is easy, unless I wait too long too scan the data. Then it's a matter of digging through my inbox on my desk. Works well for me. Multiple machine at 1 account are identified by location, model, and the last 3 digits of the serial number.

I like the idea of storing to eFiling a blank service maintenance report. When a service call is complete, print, write in the details and scan to email back to the office's service email account. Somewhat low tech but free, easy to do and better than nothing for dealers with less than 100 copiers in their fleet.

[theengel]

This post got me to thinking and researching.

Has anyone used:

PC Repair Tracker - PHP/MySQL Computer Repair Shop Tracking Software (http://pcrepairtracker.com)

EDIT:

I'm looking into it now, and it really looks like a good deal. I'll report back what I find.

[chance elkins]

We have been using remotetech for over a decade now and its been great. that being said we run into a lot of user generated issues on our copiers and the ability to put pictures on our calls would be very helpful. does anybody know if thats possible with this system?