Member Avatar for nitin1

Hi everyone,

How are you? Starting some thread after long time :)

Actually, I have a group of 25 people. I have 20-25 mobile devices in my group. So, I have assigned 1-2 device on each person's name(as an owner). But, people in the group ask each other for the device for some help and promise to return it too. They may need specific device for some work which is a genuine thing. But, they forget to return it & person who gave has to ask on emails or each person where his/her device is.

Problem:
Asking on emails is very cumbersome. It is a like a spam everyday. people are asking where my XYZ device, if someone has please return etc.
Also, it delays the work which the person has to do using that device.
Also, it gives birth to a frusrattion too which is not good for a group.

What I want:
There should be some mechanism in which we have a list of all the devices & the curent person name with whom that device is right now.

possible solutions:

  • Have an excel sheet which the person who takes the device should update. No! People don't take that much pain.
  • Have an excel sheet & person who is giving the device should update. No! it will be too much work for him/her. Everyone is asking for some device & updating like this will be an overhead for the complete team.

As we all might have faced this type of issue in every group similar to this. What's ur take? What initiative can I take to solve this for the grouo & ease this thing? Technology can do anything today, isn't it? ;-)

Thanks in advance.

Edited by Reverend Jim because: moved to hardware/mobile forum
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  • Latest Post Latest Post by Agilemind

Dani AI

Generated

As described, the real issue is friction: borrowing happens frequently but updating a central record does not. pointed toward tracking who logged in or a sign-out sheet, which highlights two requirements: an authoritative timestamped record and near-zero overhead for the borrower. The following is a practical, low-cost approach that meets both requirements and can be trialed in a week.

  1. Give every device a short durable asset ID (DEV-01, DEV-02, ...). Affix a small printed sticker plus a QR or NFC sticker that encodes that ID.
  2. Create a single, tiny checkout system (a simple web form works fine) with fields: Asset ID (prefilled by the QR), Borrower name (or login), Action (checkout/return), and optional expected-return time. The form must record the timestamp automatically.
  3. Generate a QR for each device that opens the form with the asset ID prefilled (one QR can handle checkout and return if the form asks the action). Stick it on the device where it is obvious. Borrowers scan, tap their name, and submit — the whole process takes under 30 seconds.
  4. Keep one person as a steward to do weekly reconciliations and handle overdue items. If the group needs stronger control later, move to a lightweight asset-management tool or MDM.

Benefits: minimal behavior change, an auditable history (who, when, how long), and fewer email spams. Troubleshooting: if a device is missing, consult the latest form entry for the last borrower and contact them; if the device is online and permitted, use the platform’s device-location feature as a last resort. A one-week pilot will reveal any tweaks (labels, form fields, or enforcement) needed before full rollout.

Member Avatar for Agilemind

Can you set up user accounts on each device for each person in the group, then have the devices automatically update a spreadsheet with who was the last person to log in to the device?

Alternatively, have a central location for all devices, where they must be placed when not in use and then have the excel spread sheet always available at the same location so people have to sign-out each device when they remove it? - that way if they already have a device out it is convienent to return the device whenever they need a new device. Plus no body has to ask where the device is as they just look in the central location and if not there check the spreadsheet that is there to ID who should have it. Course there will have to be some kind of repercussion for not returning devices when they are done or trading directly with other group members.

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