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Church and H.O.W. – Forums for HOW Sound and AV - Your Displayed Name Must Be Your Real Full Name To Post In The Church and HOW Forums => Church Sound => Topic started by: Joe Anderson on March 20, 2014, 10:44:06 AM
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Ok, so i'm on staff at a church with about 4,000 members, and 5 different venues. We get pretty busy in the production technology department, and I have been given the task of trying to start an inventory system for out church's AV equipment.
Up to this point our "inventory system" has been randomly filed invoices, and scattered unformatted excel spread sheets.
I've looked at a few software solutions, and nothing seems to fit our needs. We've tried using Spiceworks which our IT department uses. It seems to work great for them, but it's really set up for what we do. Anybody have any solution? I'm not experienced at designing software or building databases from scratch, so it would be great to have a program that's already built for what we need, and that I just need to enter in our inventory into. We just need something that can tell us what should be in each venue, and help us track warranty, repairs, and maintenance.
Hope you all can help us with our probably lofty dreams!
Thanks!
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Ok, so i'm on staff at a church with about 4,000 members, and 5 different venues. We get pretty busy in the production technology department, and I have been given the task of trying to start an inventory system for out church's AV equipment.
Up to this point our "inventory system" has been randomly filed invoices, and scattered unformatted excel spread sheets.
I've looked at a few software solutions, and nothing seems to fit our needs. We've tried using Spiceworks which our IT department uses. It seems to work great for them, but it's really set up for what we do. Anybody have any solution? I'm not experienced at designing software or building databases from scratch, so it would be great to have a program that's already built for what we need, and that I just need to enter in our inventory into. We just need something that can tell us what should be in each venue, and help us track warranty, repairs, and maintenance.
Hope you all can help us with our probably lofty dreams!
Thanks!
Hi there, we'd love to help you, but per the Posting Rules for Participation of the ProSoundWeb, we are not permitted to render any assistance until you update your DIsplay Name to reflect your real full name.
If you do this before a moderator takes notice of your thread, it won't get locked. :)
Thanks for your cooperation!
-Ray
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I used a template for a spreadsheet that is for use for insurance.
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Joe,
We are in the exact same boat! So far it appears the best products are for AV rental companies. There are several that offer the ability to ship to different warehouses (campuses) the problem is $$$$ even with 5 campuses I can't swallow what those companies want for that. If it was a business And I was making money on it I could! For now we share a google doc that has a page for each campus. We enter each item individually (example: we purchase 2 wireless systems that's 2 transmitters & 2 receivers 4 total line items) that way each product gets it's serial number written down and it gets a numerical property control tag with a barcode as well. We don't currently use the barcode but that's the hope to do so one day. Cables get inventoried by quantity and length and we hope for the best no property tag or anything at this time.
I hope you find a great cost effective system and it works for both of us!
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You shouldn't really need to reinvent the wheel. Software is only a tool. What you need to do, which you've begun to describe, is write down everything you want your inventory management tool to do, then you can begin your search for the right tool.
Personally, I'd be looking for something rental focused. Have you looked at RentalPoint or some other rental management software? Alternatively, talk to your IT people and tell them the things you want your tool to do, and get them to help you find a solution. That way IT will support & manage the tool for you. That's the purpose of IT.
I should disclose that my role in our church is to manage all technical ministries, which covers ICT, AV and occasionally HVAC & electrical distribution. Out motto is that if it runs on power it's probably our responsibility!
Cheers,
Michael
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We are trying to integrate a program called "R2" rental software here at Gateway. each campus has a computer with scanning device. You can set a log in license per campus. Sub down departments and do transfers between campuses. It is pricey and takes a server to hold all of the info.