Work Orders & Asset Management
RDP's "Work Order and Asset Management" module is designed to automate the process of entering and
completing a work order request, as well as track all fixed
assets. The Work Order Monitor
screen is the core element of the module. It displays the current status
of all work orders, and auto-refreshes as work orders are added, edited or closed. The work order module is fully integrated into
the RDP
property management system. Features described in this document
include:
Database Access

Work Order Flow
of Events
The Work Order and Asset Management module can be installed on your existing Windows
2000 or 2003 network. It is designed to function with all current RDP
programs. No new hardware is required.

To illustrate the functions of this module, let
us look at an example. Assume a guest
checks in, and when they arrive at their room, they discover that the
toilet is broken and will not flush.
The flow of events for a work order is as
follows:
-
When the guest calls the front desk to report the
broken toilet, the front desk clerk enters the work order on
their workstation using the Windows based "Add Work Order" screen (see
example below). The front desk
clerk can assign a priority to the work order; in this case, "high."
-
This new work order immediately appears on the Monitor Work
Orders screen as a "high-priority" work order request
to "Fix the toilet in Room 101." The Maintenance Department
can now assign this work order to a third party vendor (for example,
Bob's Plumbing) or to an internal maintenance employee.
Alternatively the front desk clerk or front desk supervisor could assign a
person to the work order when it was first added to the system to eliminate this step.
-
Assume the work order was assigned to an internal
maintenance employee Tom. The work order system can
automatically notify Tom about the new work order in one of the following
methods:
- A notification can be sent to a wireless PDA (Personal
Digital Assistant) carried by Tom. Tom can view the
complete detail of the work order on the PDA.
- A text-only e-mail can be sent to Tom's cell phone or to Tom's
PDA.
-
The work order monitor screen tracks the "open,
assigned" work order. Any workstation can access the Monitor Work
Orders screen to track the progress of all work orders.
-
Since this example work order was marked
with a high priority, the system can automatically send a warning
notification to one or more other employees if the work order is not
completed by the assigned completion time. For example, the general
manager and manager on duty could both receive a notification that the
"toilet in Room 101 has not been fixed yet and over 3 hours have
elapsed." This notification can be sent to the workstation that the
manager is currently logged into, a cell phone, or wireless PDA.
-
When the assigned Contact (Tom) completes the work order, he
marks it as "closed" and can enter comments. This can be
done using a wireless PDA or any workstation. The work order is then
closed, and no longer appears as a high priority open work
order on the monitor screen.
-
Work order history is maintained. For example, you can
view all closed work orders for the day or any range of past days. A
wide variety of reports are available (i.e. Work Sheet report displays Open
work orders sorted by Vendor, as well as Contacts within the Vendor.)
-
The cost of a work order can be charged to a guest, group,
or condominium owner. Assume the $75 cost of repairing the
toilet should be charged to the guest in Room 101. These charges can
be applied from the work order directly to the Guest Folio, along with a
"markup" (i.e., you may charge the guest $95 for the $75
repair.). If using RDP's
Condominium Owner Module, these charges can be applied to the owner
statement.
-
A complete history of all repairs for each "fixed
asset" is available. For example, you could enter the pool
heater as an asset, along with the serial number, description, what
vendor to call for repair, and other asset-specific information. Each time a work
order is generated for the pool heater, the vendor can be automatically
notified by e-mail. The history of all repairs to the pool heater is
available. The system allows up to 999,999 different assets to be tracked.
Overview
- Work Order Monitor Screen
What Is The
Monitor
Work Orders Screen? |
The Monitor Work Orders screen is used by the Maintenance
Department to view the status of work orders. A sample of this
screen appears below. |
| Monitor Work
Orders Options
New
Open
Closed
High-Priority Sorting
All or One Vendor and By Contact Within Vendor
|
This screen has a variety of ways to display information.
| Options |
Description |
| New |
Displays all work order requests
entered that have not yet been assigned to a Vendor
for completion. By double-clicking on any new work
order, you can view and edit the current status. |
| Open |
Displays work orders
that have been assigned to a Vendor,
but are still pending. By double-clicking on any open work
order you can view and edit the current status, including the
requested completion date. |
| Closed |
Displays only work
orders that have been completed. The grid information can be
grouped and sorted for reporting purposes. |
|
High-Priority Sorting |
The
"high-priority" work orders can be sorted to display
them at the top (or
the bottom) of the Monitor screen by using the sort option in the priority column. The system can automatically notify one or more
employees when high priority work orders are not completed within
their allotted time. |
|
All or One
Vendor and By Contact Within Vendor |
The Monitor Work Orders
screen can be filtered to display work orders assigned to one or
all Vendors (including the Contacts for each Vendor) based on New, Open, or Closed. For example, a
work order can be assigned to a Vendor (the Maintenance
Department)
and Contact for that Vendor (Bob). You can then view
all open work orders for Bob, as well as sort the high-priority
work orders to the top. |
|
| Monitor Screen
and
Auto Refresh |
The Monitor Work Orders screen can be used by the
Maintenance Department to
show a current snapshot of work orders. This screen automatically
refreshes, based on resort level configuration, as work orders are completed and work orders
are added. |
Work Order Monitor Screen
A sample of the Monitor Work Orders screen is shown
below and set up to display Open work orders only. Open work
orders are defined as those that have already been assigned to a
Vendor and optionally a contact person.
Work Order (Add) Screen
New work orders can be entered from a variety of
locations at the property. For example:
-
The head housekeeper can generate a work order request as
part of the Housekeeping
Scheduling module. For example, a housekeeper may report a broken
window.
-
The front desk can enter work orders as guests call. These
can be major items, such as a broken TV, or minor requests, such as
"check faucet after departure."
-
Work orders can be generated by the Maintenance Department. Work orders that require the room to be closed can automatically remove the room from availability until the work
order is complete.
A sample of the Work Order (Add) screen is
below. This example contains the default fields. It is possible to
add additional fields to this screen, if required for your application.
For detail on the fields in this screen, see table below.
| Field |
Description |
Field |
Description |
| Request
Type |
Select from a
user-defined list |
Closed By |
Assigned by the system |
| Request Taken From |
Select from a
user-defined list |
Vendor/Supplier |
Stamped with name of
original Vendor upon entry of asset into RDPWin. |
| Reservation Number |
The reservation number
generating the work order (optional) |
Assign (button) |
Will stamp Vendor field
with original Vendor/Supplier information.. |
| Location |
The location is the
room number or area, such as "lobby". |
Vendor |
Select from a
user-defined list of Vendors, including property maintenance personnel. |
| Location Asset: |
The location asset
defines which asset at the location, such as the "TV in Room 101" |
Assigned To |
Select from a
user-defined list of Contacts. |
| Access to Unit |
Indicates if the guest
will allow access to the room. |
Assigned Date and Time |
Assigned by the system
once Assigned To field is completed. |
| Priority |
User-defined table. For
example, high, normal and low. |
Requested
Start Date and Time |
Select from a drop-down
calendar or enter directly. |
| Reported |
User-defined table, for
example, check-in, checkout, etc. |
Requested End Date |
Select from a drop-down
calendar or enter directly. |
| Entry
Date and Time |
Automatically generated |
Date
Started |
Select from a drop-down
calendar or enter directly (must be on/after Assigned Date). |
| Entered By |
Automatically generated |
Completion Date/Time |
Assigned by the system
upon closing. |
| Description |
Free form note |
Allotted Time |
Enter using keyboard. |
| More
Fields |
You can add more fields
to this screen, if needed. |
Time
Spent (field) |
Assigned by the system
upon closing. |
Change Work Order
Screen
-
Work orders can be added and edited from various departments. For
example, the guest may call the front desk to report a stained carpet.
The front desk clerk then adds a work order. See Work Order Flow of Events at the top of this document.
-
When the user selects the Monitor
screen, the system refreshes to show any "New" work orders.
-
The Maintenance Department then assigns a Vendor using the
Work Order (Change) screen, which upon saving, will change the status of the
work order to Open. Alternatively the person entering the work order
can also assign it to someone to eliminate this step; however, this is best
handled by the Maintenance Department for accuracy. See sample of
"Closed" work order in Work Order (Edit) screen below.
Asset Tracking Screen
The work order module is designed to track all assets at the
property. For example you can track all mini-refrigerators in all rooms,
along with the make, model, serial number, and vendor to call for repair, etc.
All work orders for that particular asset can be viewed to provide a repair and
maintenance history for every asset. A sample of the Resort Asset screen appears below.
|
Resort Assets Monitor Screen - Control Columns, Filters, and Sorting
|
|
| Field |
Description |
| Vendor |
The Vendor defines what vendor is called to repair the
asset. The system can track individual contacts at each
vendor. For example, at Colgate Carpet you could start the
Email and Cell phone of Tom, Bob, Sue, Sally, etc. |
| Asset Type |
Select from a user-defined list, such as TV's, sinks, etc. |
| Location |
The location of the asset
currently, such as:
- Room Number
- "In Inventory"
- Pool
- Conference Room 13
|
| Serial # |
Serial number of the asset |
| Description |
Free Form Description of the Asset |
| Property |
Location on property such as Tower 1, west wing,
etc. |
| Status |
Select from a user-defined list, such as installed, broken, etc. |
| Part Number |
Displays the Part Number placed (entered when asset is loaded
into inventory) for easy identification. |
A number of other fields are stored on each asset and are not shown
in the example above. Additional fields can be defined and added to the
asset definition, if necessary.
|
Other fields Available for the Asset Not
Shown Above |
| Product Cost |
Cost of the Asset.
You can view the total cost of all assets in a room. |
| Mark-Up |
Percentage of mark-up placed on a
specific asset for replacement billing purposes. |
| Mark-Up Cost |
The mark-up can be used
when charging individual condominium owners for a replacement
asset. |
Work Order
Notification Via E-Mail or Wireless PDA
One of the major problems at many properties is how to notify the Maintenance
Department that there is something in need of maintenance on property, and how
to track the
completion of the repair. A sample is shown below:

At many properties this is done by radio, which
can still be used with RDP's Work Orders and Asset Management module. However,
there are some new technologies available that can also be used to automate
the process, as follows:
| Technology |
Overview |
Private
Wireless Network
with Handheld
Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) |
Wireless technology has come of age and is relatively inexpensive.
It is now possible to extend Ethernet connectivity over the entire
property, including outside, by installation of one or more Access
points. These access points broadcast a wireless signal that can
be used by a portable computer with a wireless card or by hand held
Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs).
A wireless PDA is now less expensive than most radios that have
traditionally been used to notify maintenance personnel or housekeepers of
tasks. RDP's Work Order and Asset Management system is
fully integrated with wireless PDAs.
Think of a wireless PDA as a handheld computer that allows virtually any
information to be viewed or entered.
For example, when the front desk enters and assigns a work order to
"fix the toilet in Room 101",
- This request can immediately appear on the wireless PDA of the
maintenance person assigned to the task.
- The PDA can "beep" to indicate the arrival of a new, high-priority
work order.
- When the work order is complete, the Vendor can indicate this with one touch of the PDA screen.
- The information is immediately transferred to the RDP system, so
that all workstations at the property are aware the work order has
been
closed. The Wireless PDA was the only data input device needed to
close the work order or enter comments.
|
| Cell Phone
E-Mail Notification |
Some properties do not yet wish to invest in their own
private wireless network to allow wireless PDAs to function. Almost all
cell phones today have the ability to receive text messages via e-mail.
For example, when the front desk enters the work order request to "fix the
toilet in Room 101", the system can:
- Automatically send a text e-mail to one or more e-mail addresses.
- The message immediately appears on the cell phone of the assigned
maintenance person.
- The cell phone can "beep" that a new message has arrived.
- The maintenance person can view the text "repair the toilet in
Room 101" on their cell phone, and send an e-mail reply back to the
front desk to indicate the request is in "in process.”
- When the work is complete, the maintenance person can use a cell
phone, or the phone in the room, to tell the front desk (or other
employee) that the work is complete. This other person can close
the work order on ANY workstation.
|
Monitor Tasks for
Non-Maintenance Personnel
The Work Order and Asset Management module can also be used to monitor tasks and
assignments for non-maintenance personnel. For example:
- Each employee of the property can be entered as a Vendor. For example,
the accountant can be entered as "Sally" or as "accounting department."
- Tasks can be assigned to each employee in the form of work orders. For
example, you can assign the task of "finish payroll by Monday" to Sally.
- The work order monitor screen can monitor all tasks for all vendors, or
all tasks for one vendor. For example you can use the monitor to view all
"open tasks assigned to Sally.” You can then track if she actually finished
the payroll on time.
- The system tracks performance. You can view how long it was supposed to
take Sally to finish the task, and compare it to when it was actually finished. Various
performance reports are available.
Integrated
with Owner Billing System to Charge Owner for Repair
RDP
sells our hospitality system to the Vacation Rental, Condominium Resort, and
Timeshare Resort markets. These markets require that individual owners are
billed for repairs generated by work orders.
Click here for details on the RDP Owner Billing module. Work order
related features include:
- Each work order can be assigned to a
specific house/condominium owner;
- All work orders for each owner are retained in
history;
- Reports are available for Owners with multiple
units to show all work orders for all units;
- Each asset in each unit can have an
individual repair history;
- Fully integrated with RDP's Owner Billing
system (click here for details.);
- When the work order is entered, the owner can be billed from the same
screen;
- Repairs can be "passed through" or "marked up" for each owner (See table below.);
- Details of each repair can be printed on
the owner statement; and
- Recurring items can be entered for each
owner ("Check fish tank Monday and Thursday").
| Owner Number |
Name |
Markup |
Repair Cost |
Markup |
Owner Billed
Amount |
| 101 |
Clint Eastwood |
0% |
$200 |
$0 |
$200 |
| 102 |
Tom Jones |
20% |
$200 |
$40 |
$240 |
| 103 |
Susan Smith |
10% |
$200 |
$20 |
$220 |
| 104 |
Tom Cruise |
$25 Flat Fee |
$200 |
$25 |
$225 |
| 105 |
Michelle Pfeiffer |
$25 Flat + 10% |
$200 |
$45 |
$245 |
- Note: Many other markup amounts are possible.
- Sample of Closed Work Order with details of work performed, time spent,
amounts marked up and charged (including to whom).

Purchase Work Order
and Asset Management Module
Please call for pricing on this
module using our direct contact numbers on our
Contact page. We will be glad to arrange for a demonstration and answer any
questions you might have.
Other New RDP Modules
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