Getting Started: Dataplates

With our dataplate capture improvements, the process of adding new equipment has become significantly faster and more efficient. By leveraging your device's own computing power, OCR instantly captures and recognizes text, eliminating the need for manual data entry and streamlining workflows. This enhancement not only saves time but also reduces errors, allowing technicians to focus more on the job at hand.

How It Works

Adding a new piece of equipment

Adding an existing piece of equipment

Impact to Admin

Design Changes

Feature Compatibility Requirements

Frequently Asked Questions

How It Works

Dataplate steps (a step where you are being asked to provide a dataplate) will have an '+ Add Equipment' button at the bottom of the step, allowing you to quickly add equipment within that step.

Begin by selecting Add Equipment. This will open the Manage Equipment screen.

On the Manage Equipment screen, you’ll see a list of equipment associated with the location specified when the job was created. If no equipment is associated with the location, no records will appear, and you’ll need to add new equipment. From this screen, you can either add new equipment or select an existing piece of equipment.

Adding a New Piece of Equipment

To add a new piece of equipment, tap '+ Add new equipment' button to open your camera. 

You will see various icons on the screen: 

When using the dataplate camera, the flash automatically turns on to help provide a better image of the dataplate. The flash can be turned off/on by pressing the flashlight icon.

To take a photo, press the circle button.

To upload a photo from your device's gallery, press the gallery icon.

To rotate the camera view, press the rotate icon. 

There will also be feedback at the top of the screen stating if the dataplate is in focus.  

Once you've either uploaded an image from your gallery or taken a live photo of the dataplate, the image will begin to process. Key details will be extracted such as the Make, Model, and Serial Number of the equipment for you. This saves time and ensures accuracy when documenting equipment.

Review the information to make sure it is accurate. If any of the fields need updating, tap the “Edit” button on the field to bring up the editor. 

If editing the Make, a dropdown list of available options will appear. Simply start typing to filter the list, then select the appropriate Make or No Make/Cannot Read. 

If editing the Model or Serial number the image of the dataplate will appear.

 

You can zoom in and out on the dataplate image to better identify any text. The red boxes highlight all the pieces of data that our image analysis engine has detected. Simply tap on any of the red boxes to select that text, and it will automatically fill in the corresponding field. The details can also be manually typed in.

 

Select Confirm when done.

Note: If the data is unreadable or not on the dataplate you may select Cannot Read. This will present a pop-up to confirm you want to move forward with no data in that field. 

After confirming you will be taken back to the confirmation screen to verify the other data points. Select Confirm Data.

For new dataplates you will be prompted to provide a name for the unit. The field, "Unit Name," is where you can enter an informal name that you and your team use to easily identify the equipment. Examples might include "RTU-1" or "Air Handler Rear Left."

 

Select Save name when done. This will take you back to the Manage Equipment screen, where you can continue to add more equipment or see all details for existing equipment. 

The Unit Name is automatically added as a workflow label on the corresponding workflow if it has not already been filled in. However, if a second dataplate is added to the workflow, the label will remain unchanged.

You can edit the unit name, serial, make, and/or model number after confirming through the equipment alerts screen. Press the Edit button to the right of Dataplate Info. 

               

Adding an Existing Piece of Equipment

There is no need for you to be adding equipment that has already been identified as being at this customer’s location. Utilize the list of existing equipment to quickly add equipment to your job. 

You can search for a specific piece of equipment utilizing the search bar at the top. It is best practice to search by Make, Model, or Serial Number. 

To choose an existing piece of equipment,  tap on the icon on the equipment card to add it into the workflow step. 

Note: You can select “See all details” to review the Equipment Alerts section before selecting. 

This will add the equipment and its corresponding information to the workflow step. 

Once you’ve added equipment to the workflow step, you can tap the > icon to see the Equipment Alerts, including Service History, associated with it and edit the details of the equipment (make, model, serial, name) if you choose to do so. 

While the best practice is to limit workflows to just one piece of equipment, you can always tap the "Manage Equipment" button to add more pieces of equipment to the workflow step. In the Manage Equipment view, you'll be able to see which pieces of equipment have already been added to the step and which haven't. Equipment not included in the step can be considered as other equipment available at this location. 

Note: Any non-dataplate images can be added through the  “Take Non-Dataplate Photo” or “Photos from Gallery (Non-Dataplate)” buttons after selecting the plus button. You would normally use this on non-dataplate image steps.

Impact to Admin

Admins can access the Equipment Name field directly within dashboards and report builder datasets in XOi Web, wherever Make, Model, and Serial fields are available.

Partial equipment will now also be displayed. Editing the Make, Model, and Serial fields is easier, and duplicates will be merged in the backend. Additionally, Make, Model, or Serial can be marked as “Not Available” or “Cannot Read.” As a result, equipment missing Make, Model, or Serial information will now appear in reports. In some cases, this may lead to apparent duplicates due to the missing data.

This enhancement provides greater flexibility and detail when building reports and analyzing data, making it easier than ever to organize and interpret your equipment-related information.

 

Design Changes

With the improved Dataplate Capture there have been some design changes to the mobile application. Review the below. 

1. Edit Confirmed Dataplate information through Equipment Alerts, including Unit Name. 

             

2. Dataplates button and Equipment section gone.

              

3. Upload dataplate images from gallery inside the camera.

          

4. + Button is still used for non-dataplate steps to add images.

 

5. “Dataplate Not Detected” pop-up gone. Technicians confirm No model/Cannot Read.

       

Feature Compatibility Requirements

These features are toggled on by your Customer Success Manager.

XOi Version Requirements: 1.90.0 or higher

Frequently Asked Questions

Equipment Management and Editing

1. Why can’t I take a dataplate photo like I used to?
   1. You can still add non-dataplate images via the plus button, but dataplate image functionality is now part of the Manage Equipment feature.

2. Can I edit or delete an existing piece of equipment from mobile?
   1. Yes, you can edit equipment details (make, model, serial,name) from mobile. You can also remove equipment from a step, but it won’t be deleted and will still appear at the location on future jobs. 

3. Do I have to provide a name for the equipment, or can I skip that step?
   1. Yes, an equipment name is required.

4. Can the name of two pieces of equipment at the same location be the same?
   1. Yes, unit names can be the same, though it’s best practice to keep them unique to help with identification. However, serial numbers must be unique and will result in an error if duplicated.

5. If I edit the MMS of one asset, and the edits and name now match the MMS of another asset, will those records be consolidated? 
   1.  No. but they will be mergeable in future releases

Equipment Search, Replacement, and Inactivation

1. Is there a way to search through the list of equipment at a specific location?
   1. Yes, a search bar at the top of the equipment list screen allows you to quickly find existing equipment.

2. If I’m replacing equipment at the location, is there a way to label it as replaced/inactive? Can I remove incorrect or duplicate equipment?
   1. Currently, equipment cannot be deleted or marked as inactive. That will be considered for a future enhancement.