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Catalog items are all the objects that can be used in other modules, but are not actually physically available at the customers customer’s location, as opposed to assets, which are all the objects that are physically present. Therefore, as the name suggested, catalog items are part of a catalog of potential objects. These catalog items can be used for multiple purposes:
Reservable items: Catalog items
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Different to most of the modules that require activation, these master data modules are always available. Each customers always has at least one person, as users are created based on person or organizations (Both considered 'Contacts' (See Creating users for more information) . It is not mandatory to link this person to an organisation and address, but by default this is available.
1.1 Organizations
Organizations encompass all the entities within or affiliated with your organization, whether internal departments or external suppliers. Any entity worth tracking for organizational purposes, such as managing collaborations, can be added to the Organizations module.
The Organizations module serves as a central hub for organizing and managing these entities, offering several practical benefits:
Integration with Other Modules: Linking organizations to other modules facilitates seamless integration across the different modules. For example:
Service Desk: Connecting requests to specific organizations (e.g., a supplier) allows for more comprehensive data access, aiding in issue resolution and resource management.
Contracts: Linking organizations to contracts enables tracking of costs and responsibilities per entity, enhancing strategic decision-making and supplier management.
Beyond integration with other modules, the Organizations module provides valuable insights into your organization's structure and relationships. Gain visibility into the structure, location, ownership, and relationships of different entities within your organization. This overview aids in resource allocation, cost optimization, and strategic planning.
Most of the core concepts of this module can be managed by key users (Contact editors). Therefore, most concepts are described in the user manual, which can be found here: User manual: Organizations, persons, and addresses
The next parts will go into more detail on some of the core concepts of this module that are mostly relevant for administrators:
1.1.1 categories
Each organization that is created is created in a category. For more general information about categories, see: Categories
The following default categories are available for this module:
1.2 Persons
Persons in the software are all the contacts that represent actual persons. This encompass all the persons within or affiliated with your organization, whether internal employees or external suppliers. Any person worth tracking for organizational purposes, such as managing collaborations or providing access to the system as a user, can be added as a person in this module.
Similar to the organizations, persons are also used as an integration with other modules:
For example:
Service Desk: Assign requests to specific persons (e.g., a service desk employee) allows for clear tasks assigned to specific persons and the ability to track the personal performance.
Contract: Linking which persons should receive contract reminders for a contract, will help to track responsibilities and keep the correct persons informed, enhancing strategic decision-making and contract managementWork order items: Catalog items can be used as ‘fixed tasks/price’ options in work orders. For instance, create a catalog item with the name ‘Empty garbage container’ and a fixed price (negotiated with a contractor). This item can be added to work orders instead of adding a free text description and manually adding a price every time, making it easier and less error-prone to specify certain tasks in work orders. The same also applies to contracts and therefore catalog items can also be linked to contract items.
Orderable items: Catalog items can be used as a list of products that can be purchased at a supplier via a purchase order. having a fixed list of catalog items with fixed prices, it becomes less error-prone and more clear to users which products can be purchased and at what prices
Meter type: Catalog items can also be used to register different meter types (gas, water and energy) and link these to the energy meters. For more information, see: Energy meters module
can be used as ‘Services/Catering’ in reservations. The lunch, coffee, etc are not already present/created when you select to reserve. You select them from a catalog
Since catalog items are only relevant in relation to some of the other modules, the catalog module is automatically enabled if a relevant module (Reservations, Work orders, Purchase orders or Energy meters) is enabled.
Most of the core concepts of this module can be managed by key users (Contact Catalog item editors). Therefore, most concepts are described in the user manual, which can be found here: User manual: Organizations, persons, and addressesCatalog items
The next parts will go into more detail on some of the core concepts of this module that are mostly relevant for administrators:
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1.1
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categories
Each persons catalog item that is created is created in a category. For more general information about categories, see: Categories
The following default categories are available for this module:
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Hidden contacts category can be used for any person that is technically needed (for instance for a user account), but should not be shown to other users. A good example for this are the system administrators. Since administrators can also be employees (application managers), it is often advised to use a separate account for the user activities (e.g create reservations) vs the account to do the application management (as mixing these tasks in one account can lead to mistakes, as administrators can often see and do more in a process than is relevant for users). By putting the person object related to the administrator user in the hidden contacts category, other users cannot select this contract by mistake in a process (e.g. when assigning a ticket) |
1.3 Addresses
Addresses are mostly not managed separately , but in relation to organisations and buildings. To be able to register the address of organizations and buildings, this module is also always available by default.
All of the core concepts of this module can be managed by key users (Contact editors). Therefore, these concepts are described in the user manual, which can be found here: User manual: Organizations, persons, and addresses
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2. Additional information on this module
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For an (end) user manual, see: User manual: Organizations, persons, and addressesCatalog items
For more detailed implementation information (including which system groups are involved, data imports, and more information on the startboard and navigation menu options), see : Initialize the environment the module activation articles for some of the related modules: Module activations