BORROWINGS

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Introduction to Borrowings

movement of company assets. Broader settings allow you to set approvals to borrowings, preventing arbitrary asset movement.

The Borrowings functionality is linked to devices in the configuration database and is not a direct part of the navigation menu. There are several ways to request a borrowing in CDESK. Included with this manual is a basic borrowing scenario that offers the quickest path to borrowing devices.

For ease of reference, we list and explain at the outset a few of the types of terms you will encounter in this manual:

  • Item/Equipment/Assets/Property – since businesses work with a wide range of items, the above terms serve as a universal name for the contents of a corporate inventory in our manual.
  • Configuration Database (CMDB) – a module in the CDESK system that allows you to create, record and manage all elements of the infrastructure or services of an enterprise.
  • Main group of items – a broader grouping of items in the configuration database. We can imagine under this term operations, facilities, branches.
  • Item types – a narrower division of items that is linked to the main group. In the case of branches, it can be specific branches, in the case of equipment (computers), for example, laptops or desktops

Enabling Borrowings in CDESK

Borrowings are available automatically, but to use it you must activate the switch next to the types of items you want to make available for borrowing. The switch can be found in the CMDB -> Item Types module. Here you need to select a device group and then choose a device type from the database on the right side of the screen. Once the device type is selected, the user is taken to an interface where the Borrowings toggle switch needs to be toggled to the green (activated) position. This will make all items of that type available for borrowing.

Figure: Toggle the switch to allow requesting borrowings in the CMDB

Preparing equipment for borrowing

Once the previous step has been completed, it should be possible to request a borrowing of any device of that type in the database. You can check this in CMDB -> List of items, where you can select the device falling under your chosen type from the list. When you click on the device name, you will see Borrowings under the General Information tab under the basic information about the item. This is where you should see the switch activated and the Borrow button.

If the switch is not in the activated position, the Borrow button will not appear. You can activate the switch manually. After pressing Save and refreshing the page, the Borrow button should appear.

Figure: Borrow button and switch indicating the availability of the device for borrowing

Simple/basic borrowing scenario

It is easy to request a borrowing of equipment via the configuration database. You can search for an item in the item list (CMDB -> List of Items) either directly in the list or by using a filtered search, for example by searching for a specific item type.

When you click on the device, the Borrow button is available in the General Information tab, under Borrowings. What to do in case the button is not displayed is written in the previous section of this manual.

After pressing the button, the user is taken to a form where they enter the following data:

  • Date of planned borrowing
  • Date of return
  • Name of the transferee (CDESK adds this information based on the account used)
  • Name of the transferor (optional)
  • Note on borrowing (optional)
Figure: Completed borrowing request form

Press the save button to submit the request. You can check the created borrowing in the list of active and upcoming borrowings. This can be found in the Borrowings section by clicking the magnifying glass button marked Active and Upcoming Borrowings. The exact location of the button can be found in the figure below.

Figure: Magnifying glass button to check the list of active and upcoming device borrowings
Figure: The list of borrowings is sorted into “Active” and “Upcoming” categories. There is also a marked “Return” button

It is possible to return the equipment in the list of borrowings and thus end the entire borrowing process. After returning the device, just search the list of borrowings for this device and click on the Return button. After pressing it, you need to enter the last data:

  • Date of return (CDESK will fill in automatically according to the current time – date and time can be modified)
  • Transferee from the list of users

Again, a text field for a note is available. The whole process is completed by pressing the “Return” button, which will also remove the borrowed item from the list of borrowings.

Figure: When returning the device, confirm the completed data by pressing the “Return” button.

Other ways to borrow

It is also possible to borrow equipment via the Calendar module. To make this functionality available, you need to make specific item types available for the Calendar module. Borrowing equipment via the Calendar module is done in the following steps:

  1. Making a specific type of item available for borrowing in the Calendar
  2. Open the Borrowings tab and add your favourite devices to the Calendar
  3. Select a specific device (from the favourites list) and date.
Making an item type available for borrowing in the Calendar

To set it up correctly, you need to go back to the configuration database in the navigation menu, where you then select Item Types. Here you choose the main group and the associated item type you want to work with in the Calendar. You will find yourself in the same interface in which you previously made this (or another) item type available for borrowing (Note: Making a device available for borrowing and making it available for borrowing in Calendar are not the same concepts. Activating the Borrowings toggle will allow users to request a loan of device, but now we want to activate the Borrowings feature in the Calendar module as well. Both processes have their own switch).

Below the Borrowings toggle is another toggle called Set all CI items under the current CI type as Available for Borrowing. Activating this toggle will make borrowing of this device type available in the Calendar module. Click to activate the switch. Once clicked, press the save button, which is located on the right side of the screen by the scroll bar as well as on the bottom right of the interface.

Figure: Activation of the switches must always be confirmed by pressing the Save button. After saving, we recommend to refresh the page (F5 on the keyboard)
Open the Borrowings tab and add your favourite devices to the Calendar

It is now also possible to request borrowings of this type of equipment via Calendar. Therefore, search for Calendar in the navigation menu. Clicking on it will take you to an interface with an overview of the days in the current month. The first step is to click on the Borrowings tab at the top of the screen. Once clicked, you will see the option to add devices from the database to the calendar.

Figure: When you click on Borrowings at the top, a small button with a + icon is available to add devices to the calendar for borrowing.

To clarify, we give a short, illustrative example. If you have made the item type “computers” available for the Calendar module in the configuration database, you will now be able to include in the Calendar specific computers, laptops, and other devices that you have included in the database under this type.

Press + to see a list of these devices available for loan in the Calendar. Marking each device will add it to your favourites and allow you to work with it in the Calendar. Once you have ticked the devices, simply close the “My Favourites” panel, there is no need to save anything.

Figure: After pressing the “+” icon, we have the choice to select the devices we want to work with in the Calendar from the available ones. Once selected, just close the table.
Device and date selection

After the previous steps, you have one or more devices on the left side of your screen.

Figure: Once the previous steps have been completed, the devices should be displayed as they are highlighted in the figure.

The next step is to click on the device you want to borrow. The device will be visually highlighted when clicked. Now all you have to do is select a date. (Note: CDESK also allows you to create Borrowings backwards or months in advance). When you click on a date in the calendar, the form will appear with the preset date and the transferor, which is identical to the variant in the simple scenario. Here too, you need to enter/edit the date of borrowing, return date and the transferor, while there is also a field for notes and the name of the transferee (person borrowing the item).

Once you have entered all the necessary information, press save.

Ongoing and planned borrowings are not visually marked in the calendar, but this function is available to users. In Global Settings -> Calendar, the Reservations section is located at the very bottom of the page under Calendar Settings. Here there is also a toggle “View active borrowings on the top bar”. After activating the toggle, the borrowings will be displayed in the calendar, as shown in the following picture.

Figure: View borrowings in the Calendar

The switch makes another practical feature available to users. Thanks to its activation, a Borrowings button with the same symbol as the other buttons with this name will be added to the top bar of the page. This button is accessible to the user from anywhere and can be pressed no matter which module they are currently in.  When pressed, it will display active borrowings as well as those overdue.

Figure: The Borrowings button (in red) when clicked will display active borrowings. In this menu it is also possible to create a new borrowing by pressing the Request to Borrow button (in green)

Pressing Request to Borrow takes the user to the Calendar module, where the borrowing is created in the normal way. This is just a quicker approach to creating a borrowing in the Calendar.

Approval settings

Borrowings in the CDESK system can be subjected to an approval process, giving you better control over the movement of corporate assets. The approval process is fast, which aims to reduce the response time between staff.  

It should be mentioned at the outset that if you do not have a free approval template or approval request template created in CDESK, you will need to set these up in advance in the Approvals module. When creating this template, you will need to specify the name/account of the responsible person, as well as whether a note should always be added to the rejection or approval.

After activating Borrowings in CMDB -> Item Types, a field called Creation of the Request/Approval Process after Creation of the Borrowing will also appear in the interface of the specific device type. Its function is to associate a request/approval process to the borrowing. This means that once a borrowing has been created (using the procedures described in the previous sections of the manual), an associated request or approval process will be created in the system, which the responsible person approves or rejects.

Figure: Selecting a request/free approval template when creating borrowings. In this particular case, we have selected the free approval template

After selecting a template from the list, press the Save button. When you create a borrowing in the configuration database, another toggle switch appears in the item details – Creation of the request/approval process after creation of the borrowing, whose position indicates whether the borrowing approval process will be triggered.

The responsible user in charge of approving the processes will be notified of the creation of a borrowing in the CDESK system. This will automatically redirect them to the Approvals -> Approval Processes module, where the borrowing request will appear at the top of the list.

By double-clicking on the approval process, the responsible employee will have the option to approve or reject the loan, with the message containing the name of the applicant, the name of the device, and a description.

For a loan that is undergoing an approval process, the status Awaiting Approval will be displayed in the list of active and upcoming loans, alerting the user to the ongoing approval process.

Figure: Approval interface. On the left are the details of the borrowing, on the right are the ‘accept’ and ‘reject’ buttons.

Overview of notifications

Thanks to the notifications in the CDESK system, you always stay in the loop, and Borrowings are no exception. A great example is the toggle function in the Calendar module, which pins the Borrowings button to the top bar. It displays the number of active and completed borrowings, and when clicked, the user can view them in detail.

The user responsible for approving borrowings is notified of the creation of a new request in Notifications, which are also located in the top bar on the right side of the screen next to the profile picture.

Notifications for escalating borrowings

With borrowings, it is also possible to set up alerts for a selected group of users regarding important borrowing dates. CDESK works with the term “Escalation of a borrowing”, a term that denotes the end of a borrowing period or, conversely, its recent beginning. Notifications can be tailored to notify the responsible and involved staff at the exact time before an important deadline. The settings are made in Global Settings -> Other. Locate the Rules for Sending Notifications toggle and activate it.

Figure: The switch must be in the activated (green) position, otherwise the process cannot continue.

You can then navigate back to Global Settings -> Notifications -> Sending Rules, where you can set up several aspects of these notifications under the Borrowings tab.

To start, you must select the Escalation of the End of Borrowing event. If you don’t see this event in the list, manually add it using the Add Notified Event button. When you click on the event, the event will be colour coded and you can navigate to the Add a Rule button with the plus symbol.

Figure: After selecting an event, assign a rule to it. Learn more about the rule settings below.

You will be taken to a new interface with text boxes at the top of the screen where you can enter the name of the event and the name of the rule, whether it is the start date of the borrowing or the upcoming end date of the borrowing. The choice is yours.

Figure: This interface is used for basic rule settings. This is where you specify what message is sent in the notification, who receives it and when, and how it is delivered.

Below is the section Setting conditions for sending notifications. This section is initially empty. To specify the conditions under which the notification will be sent, press the + button. Currently, only the Status and then Borrowed options can be marked.  Once marked, press Apply. In practice, this means that notifications only apply to borrowed items, and so in effect it is only possible to send notifications when a borrowing has started or is about to end. Items that are not currently on loan cannot be the subject of notification settings in this interface.

Next up is setting up the notification template itself. In the Notification Templates section, there is another + button to add notification templates to the list. The newly opened interface has 2 tabs: Basic Settings and Content.

Figure: In the Basic Settings tab, some data is immutable. You can change them in Global Settings -> Notifications -> Notification Templates.

Some values are fixed in the Basic settings, but for a better overview we will briefly describe them:

  • Module (in this case it is Borrowings)
  • Event (type the name of the event to which this notification responds)
  • Notification type (email, SMS)
  • Template name (type the name you want to assign to this template)
  • Status (enabled/disabled. This is whether the template is in use or not)
  • Description (free text field)
Figure: Important interface that determines the content of the notification. After typing the text and pressing the translate button, the user has the option of automatic translation into 17 languages. In the right part there are variables that can be implemented in the notification.

The Content tab focuses on the content of the notification, i.e. the text itself.

  • Subject of the message (like in normal email communication)
  • Main text (written in a text editor with automatic translation. In this section it is also possible to work with the variables that are listed on the right side of the screen. Just copy the variable in the form of “%XXX%” and paste it into the text, where it will be replaced with the appropriate data in the notification).

After setting up the template, you can return to the rule settings. Here you can proceed to specify the time limit. Locate and click the “+ Add Escalation” button. This button will allow you to select:

  • Number
  • Units (days/hours/minutes)
  • Period (before/after)

If you set the period “before”, the notification will come to users that time before the end of the borrowing. The “after” period, in turn, will come after the time you set from the start of the borrowing.

There is also a Repeat checkbox that will repeat the notification process. Repeat intervals can only be set after the Repeat checkbox is selected.

Figure: Here you can set the time horizon for notifications. There is a red button on the right-hand side. When you press it, the times will be removed.

Under Recipients – Roles, you can add a role that will be notified each time a borrowing is made. The roles in the borrowings are Receiver and Transferor.

You can also notify an employee who is not directly involved in the borrowing. In the Recipients – Users and Groups section, you select a user or an assignee group. If you have selected an assignee group, the notification will be sent to all members of the group.

Finally, a custom setting is also available. Here you can enter your own e-mail address or phone number, which will also be notified of the borrowing.