Would I Use This?

One of the best ways to validate a a product is to ask yourself if you would use it.

I already use Reftab. Today someone asked me, “hey I’m developing for an iOS app and i need an iPad, preferably 4th gen or later.” I said, “okay” and immediately picked up the iPad that was on my desk (we’ve got 4 but their spread all over the place).

 

iPad

I input the asset # into the Reftab app and got all the information I could possibly want right in front of me.

iPad Asset View500

Granted it was not 4th gen – it was 3rd gen, still I was able to quickly move on and get the right equipment in a faster more organized way than I had before.

Note:

1. I didn’t even have to do any work to get our over 400 items imported into Reftab. I just used our Import feature . The sticker you see above was from a legacy system. I didn’t even have to make any changes to our physical assets.

2. After I found the iPad to lend out, I was able to document it as checked out. Now everyone knows who has this iPad.

This is only one example of what Reftab can do, but it serves as a great reminder to me how well this product works.  I hope it will serve as a reason for you to try this product and see for yourself.

Easy Asset Look Up

Did you know there are multiple ways to look up an asset on your mobile device?
That’s right, there are three ways:

1. scan the QR code
2. input the asset ID #
3. Search by title of asset

Easy! We’ve built it like this for more flexibility. We want you to be able to get the information you need as quickly as possible. If you want more information on something but you’re not near it, just type in the title and the information will appear. And please, stop searching through spread sheets 😉

News!

Hello,

We’re actively working on some cool new stuff to make Reftab even better!

One of the major things is an overhaul on our mobile app. We’ve recently been developing in angular JS and ionic frameworks to bring you an improved mobile app experience. Stay tuned for a release on that.

Second is another field type which is “currency”. This is an addition to our other two which are “text” and “list”.  We’re adding this to be more flexible with asset types and fields in an effort to make monitory field types more reliable.

Lastly, we’re going to be updating our report abilities! We’ll have more features that come along with that, but I’ll leave that for another blog post.

Stay tuned and remember, reach out to us for any questions at: [email protected].

Best!
Mike

Import your existing assets!

We’ve been busy here at Reftab! We know you don’t want to loose all your current work  when switching to a new asset management system so we’ve launched a new feature to help you import your existing assets. It’s very easy to use:

1) Simply upload a .CSV file

2) Assign it to the client & category you want the assets to belong to.

3) Map your fields with the columns of each asset and hit submit!

MapFields

Once you hit submit, you’ll be prompted with an additional screen that will give you the ability to scroll through your assets to see exactly how they will be imported.

ScrollAssets

 

That’s all there is to it!

Check back soon for more updates!

Inspiration: Office Services

I decided to dedicate a specific section for this blog on use-case scenarios. I think Reftab has many uses and I want to document some of them here for prospective customers.

I keep running into the same scenario at companies where they have a seating chart or seating map, it always starts out okay but eventually ends up outdated and incorrect. It becomes too messy where no one wants to spend the time to fix it. Reftab is great fit to solve this issue.

All you need to do is something similar to this:

1) Creat category, call it: “seats”

2) Create a couple fields such as: “Employee Name” and “Title”.

3) Now, whenever you’re near someones desk, (or move someone to a new desk) you can simply take out your phone and make the update.

Don’t forget, Reftab allows for file uploads, you can upload an image of your company’s seating chart and access it on the site.

 

Thanks for reading! More to come!

The Reftab App!

Our App is finally done and available in the app store! We’re especially excited on it’s release because it’s one step closer to our launch! The app works really great, it’s got the ability to both view and edit current assets as well as add new ones.

It’s extremely useful because it means that wherever you are you can create an asset on the spot without having to remember information to document it later. it also means that even when you’re not intending to document anything, you can easily create a new asset hassle free if needed.

 

Use the app for:

1) I.T. Dept. to keep a list of inventory.

2) Document items loaned out and returned.

3) Office Services Dept. to keep a list of open desks, chairs, seating charts etc etc

4) Ability for anyone in the office to use their mobile device to walk around, plug in the asset ID and see what desks have who sitting at them.

5) Co-ordinate office moves by using the asset numbers to quickly keep tabs on who owns what and where it should go.

These are only some suggestions, but when multiple users can have access to a real-time inventory app, day-to-day tasks become a whole lot easier.

Thanks for checking us out!

Link to app in iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/US/app/id792581549?mt=8

 

 

 

 

 

Loans

Hello from the Reftab Team!

We’ve recently set up a system for loans! it’s a useful feature where you can loan out an asset, tag it as being checked out, and when it returns check it back in. The loan page now keeps a record of all items that have been loaned out. We’ve also incorporated filtered views to see all items, checked-in items, checked-out items and missing items. It’s a feature that saves time and helps keep things organized. When you’re looking for equipment, or want to loan something out you’ll always know where it is, who has it and when it is scheduled for return.

We built it to be as easy as possible in order to eliminate the headache of loaning equipment and dealing with tracking. It is easy to use, just scan your QR code or input the asset # and click “check out”. Then, input the loanee and you’re done. You can also input any notes on the loan if you like.

It’s a great system because it means that you don’t have to keep a separate list of assets and a separate list of loaned out items. Everything is in one place. If an asset is loaned out, it will be indicated on the individual asset, and from the loan page, you can click to view that asset. Our system also keeps a record of all transactions so you can look back at specific assets to see loan history. It’s a great way to keep records of an items use.

In the future we plan on developing a system to reserve items for use so you can manage when things will be ready for loan and schedule accordingly.

Thanks, and stay tuned for more!

-Mike

How We Started

Hello and welcome to our blog! Thank you for taking the time to check us out!

We’re Robert Hoyt and Michael Caslowitz and we started Reftab in early 2013. We love building stuff and have a history of other tech projects, some of which include building a home-made router, and a news website where users could vote on local news articles they wanted to see written. It was fun, but when we felt we needed to move on to something new, we wanted to build something that could solve a problem and help people and/or businesses. Finally we had the idea for Reftab.

Michael had been in IT and had struggled with asset/inventory management for quite some time. He soon found out that asset management is something that a lot of companies struggle with, and the current system used to do it is antiquated and unreliable. Many companies still use multiple spread sheets, shared by many users, with lots of unorganized information that makes it hard to actively keep updated. It’s too easy to become out-dated and messy, resulting in a lot of frustration. So we decided to take on the challenge and build something better.

We started with a simple idea, we wanted to design a way to easily manage office assets. It needed to be mobile, customizable and most importantly easy to use. We wanted to re-design how people store and update information on their physical stuff and furthermore, provide one easy place to do it. We figured that we should focus on grouping assets into categories, and each category should have fully customizable fields associated with them. This way, anyone could adopt our system to manage anything they have, without having to conform to a specific layout.

We also needed Reftab to be completely mobile. We wanted to be able to find information on something the quickest and easiest way possible. So we decided that each asset should get a unique QR code and asset number to identify it. This way, whenever you’re in front of something, you can simply pull out your phone to find out what you need. If you have multiple people working with the same inventory and asset list, it becomes essential to have everyone work off the same system and be able to make rapid changes in real time. Managing assets becomes easier when you have the freedom to record information from wherever you are.

As a result we’re proud to provide an entirely customizable, easy to use, mobile web app.

Thanks for checking us out! Take a minute to sign up and see what we’ve got to offer, it might just fit your needs.

-Mike