Software applications need to offer proactive management tools to enable users to cope with ever-increasing data volumes. This is particularly true in the world of facilities management and school premises management software. Integrating proactive watchers and alerts, such as email, into an application is a key aspect of improving data management.

These days this isn’t rocket science so we decided to make sure that our email integration provides more than a simple reminder service.

Effective measures are needed to minimise the financial and non-financial costs of missing important events such as renewals or critical data changes.

Something of real benefit to facilities managers and school business managers.

Watchers and alerts for facilities management

  • Monitor expiration dates – such as renewals for insurances, leases, certificates or vehicle taxes.
  • Provide alerts when other users create, update or relocate specific records to a new position. For example, when defects of a particular priority are created or assets of a particular type are installed.
  • User customisable trigger events including when alerts are triggered.
  • User customisable email content.
  • Enable records to be automatically updated by triggers, such as, setting a date or changing a record’s status.
  • Create chained events so that trigger events can in turn trigger later ones.

Creating flexible alerts in facilities management

  1. User definable query filters search for records of interest based on any attributes. For example, all records created after a particular date, or all records of a particular type, such as vehicle leases, due to expire in the next 60 days; amounts, priorities or any other attribute data whether it be for documents (contracts, leases, insurances, certificates etc), assets or maintenance defects.
  2. Geo-location can also be used in searches. This allows the search to be restricted to particular areas of a site or building allowing the software to let users know when data in specific areas triggers an event. For example, this allows the installation of new assets to be automatically tracked improving performance monitoring.
  3. Watchers are then created which automatically apply the filters. Watchers allow the user to:-
    • Define the events a user Is interested in tracking such as creating, updating and changing the location of a record or simply check for expiring dates and renewals.
    • Define the frequency with which the software should check for events.
    • Enable users to define their own customisable email messages adding to the information in the email the software generates.
    • Send the email to one or more recipients.
    • Watchers can undertake a number of optional tasks:-
    • Perform updates as an event is triggered. For example update a date field to show when a reminder was sent or automatically change the status of a record;
    • Create an event as a result of a previous event being triggered. This powerful process creates chains of events or actions;
    • Create activities – maintenance defects can automatically trigger an activities action for a contractor.

These features enable a comprehensive set of data events to be watched for and acted upon. Users responsible for their own site or facilities data are better empowered. This significantly helps professionals such as FMs, SBMs, bursars and site teams.

Service providers managing their clients’ data, such as maintenance organisations, can automatically deliver added value communications enhancing their customer service.

Learn about how AltoSites could help you manage your watchers and alerts or reach out to us via our contact page

 

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