Inventory & Maps

Asset inventories and maps are a fundamental part of effective Estate Management.

  • It is normal practice to start a Asset Management programme with a comprehensive baseline survey. As part of a this survey you would identify and plot all items of site furniture on your property(s). OTISS maintains a geographic information system (GIS) based database of your site furniture.
  • OTISS stores details on location, type, size, description, condition and all the other information you need for site furniture management.
    • Many of the fields can be customised to suit the estate’s requirements.
    • See the full listing of furniture survey/inspection data stored by OTISS for each item.
    • At present, a single point is used – even for fences, pipelines, etc. In the future, the extent of linear items will be drawn.
  • If you have existing spreadsheets, databases, KMLs or shapefiles with relevant asset data, we may be able to load these into OTISS. Please contact us for more information on what can be done.
  • In the future, OTISS you will also be able to store photos and other documents relating to each item.
  • For administrative purposes, your estate can be divided into separate sites. Site details (access, contact, key holders, etc.) can be setup for each site.

The inventory can be viewed and updated from any Web browser. The spreadsheet page allows you to search and sort your data using multiple criteria. For
example:

    • “show me all furniture items on a particular site that need work doing on them”,
    • “show me all the site furniture that is overdue for their next inspection”,
    • “list all the signs and order them by age”.

PDF Reports can be created containing coloured charts, graphs and tables (examples below). You can create your own charts and reports by downloading the data into an Excel spreadsheet.

Maps

The furniture items can also be displayed using online maps and coloured icons.

  • The standard pan and zoom features allow your to move around the map.
  • Clicking on an icon allows you to view or update the item’s details.
  • The map view is a very easy way of adding new furniture. Simply click on the map and enter the information you have available. Items can be re-positioned by simply dragging them to a new location.
  • OTISS currently uses Google Maps to display the furniture (this may change in the future). We are also looking at using Ordnance Survey and Open Street Map.
  • In the future, you will be able to upload your own maps, detailed site plans and aerial photos.

Sharing the workload

You will probably want members of your staff and your agents to work with you to manage your site furniture.

  • Each user must register with OTISS. They will have their own login-name and password. All access to OTISS requires a security login.
  • You can authorise other OTISS users to view and/or update your data – on a site-by-site basis. Each user is assigned the appropriate access rights. For example
    • Some members of your staff will require unlimited access to all aspects of the data.
    • But some staff may only require read-only access.
    • You may assign an independent contractor to carry out a specific survey at one of your sites. They can see (but not modify) previous inspection details for the items, and they can add new inspections. Once the survey is completed, they lose all access.
    • You may work closely with an indepentent contractor or agent to jointly manage the site furniture.

Excel Spreadsheets

OTISS allows you to download all the furniture inspection data in Excel spreadsheets. In this way you can use OTISS to collect and collate inspection data, but then perform your own specialised analysis and reporting.

CAD/DXF drawings

High quality maps and printouts can be prepared using your own CAD application to combine your maps and site plans with the CAD/DXF files (provided by OTISS). The furniture icons can be exported as a CAD/DXF file. This file is intended to be opened by your CAD application and merged with your existing background maps, site plans and other information. More information of the Site Furniture CAD/DXF drawings.

Sample PDF Reports

OTISS provides a range of PDF reports containing coloured charts, graphs and tables (examples below). You can create your own charts and reports by downloading the data into an Excel spreadsheet.

Reports can be created for individual sites or for the entire stock of furniture. The Summary report is ideal for management committees, boards of directors and governors.

  • Site Summary Report provides an overview of the condition and type  – with charts and tables.
  • Site Detailed Report provides a detailed listing of the furniture items, together with the most recent inspection information.

Each year some of the furniture will need inspecting. A survey is created in OTISS and the furniture are inspected by one of your staff or by an independent agent. The inspector will update the online records for each item, noting any new defects or items of concern. The results of the survey can be seen on the following reports.