Asset Management
RAM's Assets page tracks your agency's equipment, vehicles, trailers, boats, kits, and supplies from the day you get them until you retire them. This guide covers everything an administrator does day to day. Setting up asset types, asset IDs and storage locations is on its own page: Asset Setup.
This page is about agency assets: things the agency owns. Members also have a private My Assets tab for their own gear. See Working with Assets.
Table of Contents
- The Assets page
- Adding an asset
- Opening and editing an asset
- Condition and status
- Assigning and moving assets
- Usage logs and what they keep track of
- Kits and supplies
- Service History
- Compliance
- Documents
- Import, export, and reports
- Archiving an asset
- Notifications
- Troubleshooting
The Assets page
👉 Assets in the left menu
The page has four tabs on its top bar:
| Tab | What it is |
|---|---|
| My Assets | Each member's own gear, plus agency gear signed out to them |
| Agency Assets | The agency's full asset list, and the page for one asset |
| Compliance | What is overdue or due soon across the agency |
| Storage Locations | Where everything is kept |
Asset Settings sits at the far right of the bar for members with Edit assets.
The list
The Agency Assets list shows each asset's picture or a type icon, name, ID, type, condition, status, and location. Hover a picture for a larger view.
- Narrow the list with the asset picker, Asset Type, and the filter button (status, condition, type).
- Use the columns button to choose which columns show.
- The tiles on the bar (Assets, Asset Value, Out of Service, Needs Attention) count the assets that match your filters. Select Out of Service or Needs Attention to narrow the list to those.
- The ⋮ menu switches the list between the row view and a table view.
Each row has actions on the right: Asset Actions (assign, move, send for service, retire), Edit, and Archive. A member sees only the ones they are allowed to use.
The bar actions
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| New Asset | Add an asset |
| Edit | Appears once an asset is open. Opens the full edit page |
| ⋮ More | Export Asset Template, Export Assets (CSV), Asset Valuation Report (PDF), Import Assets, Archive. See Import, export, and reports |
Adding an asset
Select New Asset. The quick form asks for three things:
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Name | "Engine 3", "Rescue Rope #5", "Handheld 12" |
| Type | The chips under it show what the type tracks |
| Where is it? | Pick a storage location or a person, or Unassigned if it is not placed yet. Setting this is part of adding the asset, so Create assets is enough |
- Create & open saves and opens the new asset.
- Save & add another saves and keeps the type and place, so entering ten radios into one bin takes ten names.
- Advanced opens a step-by-step wizard with every field, including purchase details, compliance, contents, and attachments.
Everything else (serial number, purchase price, specs) lives on the asset once it exists.
Opening and editing an asset
Select a row to open the asset. The page shows the asset's picture, its QR code with the asset ID underneath, and three views:
| View | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Overview | Location and assignment, compliance, the type's spec sections, storage (if the type is storage capable), and contents (if it holds any) |
| Usage | The usage log |
| Service History | Every inspection, repair, calibration, and service |
Select Edit (or the pencil on a row) for the full-page editor. A rail down the left lists the sections; which ones you see depends on the asset's type:
| Section | Holds |
|---|---|
| Identity | Name, type, ID, serial number, manufacturer, model, description, notes |
| Status & Condition | Condition and status |
| Financial | Purchase date and price, current value, warranty |
| The type's spec sections | Vehicle, watercraft, trailer, medical, or communication specs; Life-Safety Specs; Rope Information |
| Compliance Tracking | Inspection interval and dates, maintenance and calibration due dates |
| Service History | The service log |
| Usage Logs | The usage log |
| Documents | Manuals, specs, and other supporting files |
| Current Location | Where it is, and who has it |
| Internal Storage | For storage-capable assets |
| Registration and Insurance | For types that track them |
| Contents | For kits |
Condition and status
Condition says what shape the asset is in: New, Excellent, Good, Fair, Poor, Damaged, or Needs Repair.
Status says what it is doing: Active, Inactive, Out of Service, Retired, Lost, Stolen, or Disposed. On the list you will also see lifecycle labels such as Available, In Use, and Maintenance, which follow from assignments.
Assigning and moving assets
Select Asset Actions on a row (or from an open asset). A side panel opens with these choices:
| Choice | Use it to |
|---|---|
| Person | Give the asset to a member |
| Storage | Put it in a facility, area, section, or bin. Labels show the full path |
| Mobile | Load it onto a truck, boat, trailer, or other storage-capable asset, down to a specific bin |
| Maintenance | Send it for service |
| Retire | Take it out of service |
Pick a reason (Operational, Deployment, Training, Maintenance, Storage, Inspection, Repair, Retirement, or Other), an expected return date if there's one, and notes. Every move is recorded in the asset's assignment history.
A choice you aren't allowed to make is unavailable, with a note saying what is missing. Agency Admins and members with Edit assets can make every choice. Everyone else is limited by where the asset is now:
| Choice | Situation | You need |
|---|---|---|
| Person | The asset is in storage or has no location | Check out assets |
| Person | The asset is with another person (move it to someone else) | Transfer assets |
| Storage | Returning an asset a person is holding | Check out assets, Transfer assets, or be the member holding it |
| Storage | Moving it from one location to another | Transfer assets |
| Mobile | Loading it onto a truck, boat, or trailer | Transfer assets |
| Maintenance and Retire | Any asset | Edit assets |
An asset that's under maintenance or retired can be brought back only by someone with Edit assets.
Return. Returning an asset that's signed out follows the Storage row above. A member can always return what is signed out to them, from the Return button under Agency Gear Held on My Assets, or from the asset itself. Others need Check out assets.
Everything else on the Assets page has its own permission (Agency Admins have them all):
| Action | You need |
|---|---|
| New Asset, quick add, and the wizard | Create assets |
| Edit (details, photo, documents, contents) | Edit assets, or Create assets for an asset the member added themselves |
| Archive | Archive assets |
| Asset Settings | Edit assets |
| Import Assets | Create assets and Edit assets |
| Add a Service History entry | Create log entries for any asset or Edit assets |
| Add a usage log entry, change or delete any log entry | Edit assets |
| Compliance tab | View asset compliance |
| Compliance report PDF | Export asset compliance |
| Export Asset Template and Export Assets (CSV) | Export assets for any member |
| Asset Valuation Report (PDF) | View assets |
A member with Create assets but not Edit assets keeps editing the assets they added and nobody else's. Edit assets alone doesn't add or archive. See Roles & Permissions.
Where members see it
A member's assigned agency gear shows under My Assets in a panel called Agency Gear Held, with the date it was signed out and when it's due back. Each item has a Return button.
QR codes
Every asset has a QR code, shown at the top of its page. Print it and attach it to the asset. Scanning opens the asset in RAM.
Usage logs and what they keep track of
The Usage view (also Usage Logs in the editor) records each time an asset is used. Each entry has a date, type of use (Training, Emergency Response, Maintenance, Inspection, Testing, Transport, or Other), operator, duration, location, and notes. What else the entry asks for depends on the asset's type:
| Asset type | The entry also keeps track of |
|---|---|
| Vehicle | Starting and ending mileage. The odometer reading follows the newest entry. A reading lower than the one before is flagged |
| Watercraft | Starting and ending engine hours |
| Rope | Falls taken, fall severity, exposure (edge, abrasion, heat), contamination, and whether the rope was wet. Falls add to the rope's fall count, which is checked against its maximum |
| Supply (Medical Specs) | What the entry did to the shelf: Used some, Restocked, Counted what is there, or Did not touch the stock |
| Kit (Contents) | What came out of the bag: for each item, how many were Used, Expired, or Damaged. The counts on the kit follow from this. Nothing is typed on the item itself |
Rope usage entries, and entries for an asset marked as a controlled substance, are audit records. They cannot be edited or deleted. To fix a mistake, add a new entry that corrects it. Both stay on the record and only the correction counts.
Kits and supplies
Kits (Contents)
A kit's Contents list each item with its quantity, minimum quantity, lot or batch number, and expiration, and shows a status chip: In Stock, Low, Out of Stock, Expiring Soon, or Expired. Medical kits also flag Controlled and Rx items.
- Items are used up through the usage log (What came out of the bag), so the counts always match what was recorded.
- A kit is out of compliance when an item has expired or stock is short. The Overview and the Compliance tab show how many items are short.
Supplies
A single medication or consumable (an asset with Medical Specs) keeps its own stock on hand against a minimum quantity. Stock below the minimum shows as Low Stock on Compliance and is included in the asset compliance email. At the minimum is fine, and a blank minimum never warns.
Service History
Every asset has a Service History: the record of what was done to it.
To add an entry, open the asset, choose Service History, and select Add Entry.
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Maintenance Type | Inspection, Preventive Maintenance, Corrective Maintenance, Repair, Calibration, Cleaning, Service, Overhaul, Part Replacement, or Other |
| Performed By | A member, or an outside technician's name |
| Result | Pass, Pass with minor issues, Fail, Repaired, Part(s) replaced, Deferred, or Asset retired |
| Description of Work, Findings, Parts Replaced, Notes | Free text |
| Service Provider, Certificate / Reference Number | For outside work |
| Labor Cost, Parts Cost | Total cost fills in for you |
| Next due date | And a checkbox to write it back to the asset's schedule |
| Document | A photo, certificate, receipt, or service report |
A Saving will update the asset preview at the bottom lists exactly which schedule dates the entry will change. Cleaning and Other entries are record-only and never change the schedule.
The history table has filters for type, result, and date range. Each row has a Print icon that opens a printable inspection or service record with signature lines.
Compliance
👉 Assets → Compliance
A single view of what is overdue or coming due across the agency. It covers inspection, maintenance, calibration, and other tracked dates.
| Tile | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Overdue | The date has passed |
| Due in 30 | Due in the next 30 days |
| Due in 90 | Due in 31 to 90 days |
| On Track | More than 90 days away |
| No Schedule | Nothing scheduled |
Select a tile or use the filters to narrow the list. The list is sorted with the most urgent first, and each row shows which schedule the headline number is about. If more than one is overdue, it shows how many others need attention too.
Viewing compliance needs View asset compliance. See Roles & Permissions.
Documents
The Documents section on an asset holds manuals, specs, and supporting files. Registration and Insurance sections take their own documents, so a registration certificate stays with the registration record. Upload from the asset's edit page.
Import, export, and reports
All of these are in the ⋮ More menu on the Agency Assets bar.
| Item | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| Export Asset Template | A spreadsheet of your assets, one tab per kind of asset, in the same format Import reads. Edit it and upload it back to update assets in bulk |
| Export Assets (CSV) | A flat report for spreadsheets. It can't be re-imported |
| Asset Valuation Report (PDF) (needs View assets) | Every active asset with status, location, and value, under your agency's name. Useful for insurers |
| Import Assets (needs Create assets and Edit assets) | Upload an edited template. You see a summary of what will be added and changed, and nothing is saved until you confirm |
To edit many assets at once, export the template first, change it, and import it. Rows with an existing Asset ID update that asset.
Archiving an asset
Select Archive (on the row or in ⋮ More). You need Archive assets. Archive means kept for good, read-only. The asset leaves the inventory list, but its usage logs, assignments, insurance records, and files are kept. Nothing is deleted.
Archived assets are under Archives → Assets, where someone with Manage archived assets can restore one. A restored asset comes back as Available with no location, so place it again. View archived assets lets a member look but not restore. See Archives and Roles & Permissions.
Notifications
Set these under Agency → Agency Settings → Notifications. See Agency Notification Settings.
- Asset compliance report. A scheduled email summarizing what is overdue or coming due (inspections, service, certifications, registrations, warranties, expirations, low stock). Choose on or off, how often, which day and time, and who receives it.
- Individual asset alerts. Members with Edit assets start with these on (see Personal alert defaults).
Troubleshooting
| Problem | What to check |
|---|---|
| Cannot add an asset | You need Create assets. Confirm the asset type you want exists |
| Cannot archive an asset | You need Archive assets. Edit assets alone is not enough |
| The type I need is missing | Create a custom type in Agency → Agency Settings → Assets → Asset Types |
| A field I expect is not on the asset | The asset's type does not turn it on. Edit the custom type, or choose another type |
| An Asset Actions choice is unavailable | The note says which permission is missing. See Assigning and moving assets |
| Cannot assign an asset | It may be retired or in maintenance, which only Edit assets can change |
| Cannot archive a truck or trailer | Something is still stored in it. Move that gear out first |
| Cannot delete a custom type | Assets still use it. Move or archive them first |
| QR code will not scan | Check lighting, try another scanner app, and confirm the asset is not archived |
Related Documentation
- Working with Assets: the member view, including My Assets
- Agency Notification Settings: asset report schedule and recipients
- Roles & Permissions: who can view, edit, assign, and archive
- Agency Settings
- Agency Setup Guide