Streamlining Maintenance Logging and Tracking Repairs Across the District

One of the many challenges for small rural districts is managing assets with a small team. Maintenance departments are no exception to this and have more of a challenge given the wide variety of equipment they manage. Recognizing this need within our district, I worked to develop a PowerApp specifically designed to address the unique challenges faced by our maintenance department. This blog post aims to share insights into the development process, the features of the app, and the potential impact it will have on our operations.

The Genesis of the PowerApp

The idea for the PowerApp stemmed from numerous conversations with our maintenance team, who expressed frustration with the existing methods of logging maintenance work and tracking repairs. Traditional paper-based systems and disparate digital tools often lead to delays, inaccuracies, and inefficiencies. We decided a mobile app would help organize and track the wide range of equipment and the work being done.

Identifying Key Requirements

Before diving into development, it was crucial to gather detailed requirements from the maintenance department. The director of the department wrote down a list of key requirements and information his department needed to track for each piece of equipment. With his list of data to track, I came up with a set of key requirements needed to develop the app.

• A simple and intuitive interface for logging maintenance work
• The ability to track repairs and maintenance history for each piece of equipment
• Integration with existing systems for seamless data flow
• Real-time updates and notifications to keep the team informed
• Offline capabilities for use in remote locations
• Support for mobile devices such as iPad and iPhone

Designing the PowerApp

With the requirements in mind, I began designing the PowerApp, focusing on creating a user-centric interface that would be easy for the maintenance team to adopt. The design process involved several iterations, incorporating feedback from the team to ensure the app met their expectations.

User Interface and Experience

The user interface was designed to be clean and intuitive, minimizing the learning curve for the maintenance team.

The landing page of the app is a list of equipment items that can be searched using key terms or by a barcode. There are two dropdown boxes that allow the user to sort by equipment category, including HVAC, kitchen equipment, and miscellaneous items. The section dropdown allows the user to filter by site, so the list can be narrowed to just one school. For example, a user could search a list filtered to only HVAC equipment at “example elementary”.

The barcode search box also has the built-in barcode reader integrated, making it very efficient for a user to approach the equipment they are working on and find it by scanning a barcode on the unit.

Each record for equipment items has various properties such as the serial number, brand, voltage, and location. The user of the app can easily add or modify these details all form within the app.

The system also has the ability to log actions related to this equipment item. This is a one to many relationship in the app, so an equipment item can have many associated logs. Each record in the logs can note a title, description, and the type of action. The user and the date is automatically attached to the record, giving the team a timeline of events.

Users can again easily add and edit the logs all from within the app.

Backend and Integration

The data this app is built on is simply two tables in SharePoint. One table has records of all the equipment items. The other table contains all the records. As mentioned earlier, there is a one-to-many relationship between equipment and log items.

Offline Capabilities

Our maintenance team is often working on top of buildings and other areas where network connectivity may be intermittent. Because of these conditions, we knew that this app would need to have some offline capabilities. To achieve this, I explored a few options, one option being to implement the built-in offline capabilities of the Dataverse platform. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the best fit for us. The licensing for Dataverse is complicated and very expensive for our situation. Because of this, I went on a different route. I focused on what components of the app are needed the most in the offline environments and designed the app to support those needs.

To achieve this goal, I designed the app to load all equipment items, and logs upon first launch. This data is saved locally on the device. If the device goes offline, then the option to add new view and add new logs is retained, while edits are restricted. I decided to do this so that we would avoid version conflicts when the users sync back up with the database. If all records going into the database are new, then there should never be conflicts.

The app has logic to enable or disable features when a connection is present or lost. The user is given an offline icon, to help them know why certain features are temporarily disabled. The user simply needs to return to an area of connectivity to regain full functionality.

Deployment and Impact

With a small team, the deployment process will be fairly simple. We are deploying the app to one iPad, and I will communicate with the team to troubleshoot any issues while they learn the new system.

Enhanced Efficiency and Accuracy

The PowerApp has potential to significantly streamline the process of logging maintenance work and tracking repairs. The centralized system ensures that all data is accurately recorded and easily accessible, reducing the likelihood of errors and delays.

Future Enhancements

Future updates will focus on incorporating additional features based on user feedback, we may explore features like notifications for units that may need attention and trends in problematic equipment.

Conclusion

Developing the PowerApp for our maintenance department has been a rewarding experience, and it is exciting to see the potential it has in helping our district be more efficient. By leveraging technology to streamline maintenance logging and repair tracking, we have created a more efficient and accurate system that ultimately contributes to the overall success of our district. As we continue to refine and enhance the app, I am confident that it will remain an invaluable tool for our maintenance team for years to come.

Please look at the consulting services I offer to get help with your PowerApps project.

The post Developing a PowerApp for Our Maintenance Department appeared first on Brent Thrasher.

As an educator, you may have faced situations where you wished you had a custom app that could help you with your tasks, such as managing inventory, tracking volunteers, conducting surveys, etc. However, creating an app from scratch can be daunting, especially if you don’t have any coding or app development skills.

That’s where PowerApps copilot comes in. PowerApps copilot is a new feature that allows you to create custom apps by simply describing what you want the app to do. You can use natural language to specify the app’s name, data sources, screens, and actions. The copilot will then generate a working app that you can test and refine. You can also use the PowerApps studio to further customize the app’s design, logic, and functionality.

In this blog post, I will share my experience of using PowerApps copilot to create a parent volunteer app. I will also highlight some of the advantages of using this feature and how it can help educators create custom apps that can help their district save time and money.

Creating a Parent Volunteer App with PowerApps Copilot

One of the challenges a small school can face is managing and coordinating parent volunteers for various school events and activities. I thought it would be helpful to have an app that could help track and manage parent volunteers, such as their availability, preferences, assignments, feedback, etc.

PowerApps copilot is a great tool to create such an app. Here are the steps that I followed and was able to create a working app in under an hour:

1. I opened PowerApps and clicked on the Create tab. I then selected the Copilot option.
2. I typed the following prompt in the text box: “I want to create a parent volunteer app that can help me track and manage parent volunteers for my school. The app should have a screen where I can see the list of parent volunteers, their contact information, and their availability.“

1. Next the copilot built a table to represent the data structure. Here I could continue to provide inputs to the copilot to add columns, rename, or other manipulations to the data structure. For example, I could have prompted the copilot to add a column to not whether the volunteer has had a background check or not. The copilot would not only create the column but would select the appropriate data type. In this case it would be Boolean to mark either true or false.

1. After clicking create app, the copilot went to work creating the app.

1. Once complete, the app opens in the PowerApps studio. This is where you can further refine the app to meet your needs.

As you can see, the copilot built a nice app that is organized into a list on the left and a main body that shows a details card. The list is searchable and has a button to add a new contact. The main card for each contact has the options to edit and delete the currently selected contact. Amazingly, this app has a lot of functionality right out of the box, and all I had to do is state what kind of app I wanted. Of course, this app isn’t complete, but this foundation has given me a great start to build the app out for more functionality. This also give me a functioning app that I can explore to see how things work and learn about how to build apps in PowerApps.

Advantages of Using PowerApps Copilot

I was very impressed by how easy and fast it was to create a custom app with PowerApps copilot. Some of the advantages of using this feature are:

• Ease of use: You don’t need to have any coding or app development skills to use the copilot. You can just type or speak your app idea and get a prototype in minutes.
• Flexibility: You can create apps for various scenarios and purposes, such as managing inventory, tracking volunteers, conducting surveys, etc. You can also connect to different data sources, such as Excel, SharePoint, SQL, etc.
• Efficiency: You can save time and money by creating apps that can automate tasks, streamline workflows, and improve productivity. You can also share your apps with others and collaborate on them.

I know from experience that educators have limited time, and developing an app seems nearly impossible – even if you know that the app will save time in the long run. With copilot you can get a functioning app that might even be good enough for problem that needs to be solved.

Conclusion

PowerApps copilot is a powerful and innovative feature that can help educators create custom apps that can help their district save time and money. I encourage you to try it out and see what kind of apps you can create with it. You can also check out the PowerApps copilot documentation for more information and guidance.

The post How PowerApps Copilot Can Help Educators Create Custom Apps appeared first on Brent Thrasher.

I have found the most efficient method is using the First and Filter functions. These are built-in functions in power apps that allow you to return the first record or an empty table based on a filter condition. For example, if you have a data source called Customers, and you want to check if there is a customer with the name “John Smith”, you can use the following formula:

First(Filter(Customers, Name = “John Smith”))

This formula will return the first record from the Customers data source that matches the filter condition, or an empty table if no record matches. You can then use an If statement to check if the result is blank or not, and return a true or false value accordingly. For example:

If(IsBlank(First(Filter(Customers, Name = “John Smith”))), false, true)

This formula will return false if there is no customer with the name “John Smith”, or true if there is one.

One of the advantages of using this method is that it is convenient and intuitive for power apps. You can easily use the First and Filter functions with any data source that supports delegation, such as SharePoint lists, Excel tables, or SQL databases. You can also use complex filter conditions with multiple criteria, such as:

First(Filter(Customers, Name = “John Smith” && Age > 30 && City = “New York”))

In my own app, I have utilized these concepts to display conditional content based on the existence of a record. A formula similar to the one above will show or hide a checkmark beside items in a list of inventory items, indicating whether or not the item has been checked off this year.

I used the following formula to show or hide the checkmark icon based on the existence of a record in another data source called Inventory Check:

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This formula checks if there is a record in the Inventory Check data source that matches the current item ID and a creation date greater than the one selected in the on screen date picker. If there is no record, it returns false and hides the checkmark icon. If there is a record, it returns true and shows the checkmark icon.

This simple indicator can show the user if the item has been checked or not, which is much more efficient than requiring the user to look up each item one by one.

One of the downsides of using this method is that it can be costly and inefficient as it requires calling out to the data source for each item. This can affect the performance and responsiveness of your app, especially if you have a large number of items or a complex filter condition. To avoid this issue, you should try to limit the number of items you display in your app or use other methods that are more efficient. In my implementation, the list is filtered by the custodian of the inventory items. This filter shortens lists to no more than 100 items in most situations.

I have found that checking for records is very useful in providing dynamic UI. I hope this either helps you develop your own app or shows how dynamic Power Apps can be in creating custom apps.

The post How to Check If a Record Exists in a Database for Power Apps appeared first on Brent Thrasher.

Inventory Scanner – A Companion App for My Inventory Management PowerAppnagement PowerApp that allows administrative staff in my district to manage inventory records. In a previous post, I described how I added a feature of the PowerApp to delete records, that also created an approval process. The delete button also streamlined a process for decommissioning equipment that is no longer needed.

In this post, I wanted to share how another feature of the Inventory Management app helped to streamline our processes and reduce the workload on our staff. This feature is a companion app for my PowerApp, Inventory Management, that is designed for mobile devices and uses the barcode scanner feature of PowerApps. This simple companion app is easy to use and can be customized by the user to quickly input repetitive information, which dramatically increases efficiency.

Benefits of the Companion App

The companion app is very simple and easy to use. All the user must do is open the app on a mobile device, enter purchase information, scan the barcode of the new equipment, and the app will automatically read the serial number, adding the item to the Microsoft List. This is the same Microsoft List that is the SharePoint database for the Inventory Management app.

The app allows the user to save and apply repetitive information, such as the PO number or source of funds, to every item scanned. The only data entry required for each item is the serial number and the board of education (BOE) number. The BOE number is a local asset tag number that we use to track equipment. We put a yellow sticker with this number on each item. When the user starts scanning a group of items, they just enter the first BOE number in the series of stickers. Our BOE stickers are in numerical order on a roll, so the app automatically adds 1 to the BOE number for each item. In the same way I created a field to add a CTE number. This is an optional field that is only used by our district’s CTE department.

The companion app has improved the productivity and accuracy of my IT staff. Users can input the order information and scan each item, attaching the BOE sticker to the device. This reduces the processing time per item from about 5 minutes to just seconds. We have completed many large orders (over 500 devices) in just a few days with the app. We can have multiple people working on scanning items at the same time with the app, which also helps improve efficiency.

The app also ensures the reliability and quality of our inventory data. Since a barcode reader is entering the long serial numbers, we can worry less about human error. I know that I have made plenty of typing errors or simply misreading a label when entering inventory, so this helps with accuracy. As you can see in the image capture from my phone, I was easily able to capture the long serial number of a device.

Using the scanner also helps with fatigue. I have entered large sets of items manually, and I would get tired quickly. With the companion app for scanning inventory, PowerApps once again has helped our school system to reduce the workload and save resources.

The post Inventory Scanner – A Companion App for My Inventory Management PowerApp appeared first on Brent Thrasher.

The Problem

Our school district has a large inventory of various items, such as computers, furniture, books, and supplies. These items are distributed among different schools and locations, and they need to be tracked and managed properly. We use a power app that I built to manage our inventory system. The app allows users to add, edit, view, and search for items in inventory.

However, there was no easy way to delete items from the inventory. Sometimes, items get lost, damaged, or obsolete, and they need to be removed from the system. But we did not want to allow users to delete items without any oversight or documentation. We wanted to keep track of the reasons and dates for the deletions, and who requested and approved them.

The Solution

To address this problem, I created a new system to track deletions in our inventory management system. The system consists of two main features: a deletion request button and a deletion review process.

Deletion Request Button

The first feature is a deletion request button that allows users to request the deletion of an item from the inventory. The button is located on the item detail screen, next to the edit button. When a user clicks on the button, a pop-up window appears, asking the user to enter the reason for the deletion request and confirm it.

The deletion request is then sent to the central office staff, who are responsible for reviewing and processing the requests. The request also creates a record in a separate table, called the deletion log, which stores the information about the request, such as the item ID, the requester name, the reason, the date, and the status.

Deletion Review Process

The second feature is a deletion review process that allows the central office staff to review and process the deletion requests. When a deletion request is submitted, an email is sent to the central office staff. The request email contains the unique ID of the record in the database. The central office staff will also see the comments or reasons for the deletion request. When the power app sends the deletion request email, it also records this information into a separate database to record the request.

With the information in the email, the central office staff can use the unique ID to locate and process the deletion request. This action is also recorded in the same database with the requests. Requests and deletions can be filtered if the database is pulled for review.

The names of users are recorded in the database as well, which helps to track who requested the deletion and when. In the same way the central office staff is also recorded for the deletion event.

Additional Feature: Decommissioning Documentation

As an additional feature, I also integrated the ability to document the decommissioning of old equipment. Decommissioning is the process of removing equipment from service and disposing of it properly. Decommissioning is important for environmental and security reasons, as well as for compliance with regulations and policies.

The decommissioning documentation feature works as follows: when a user requests the deletion of an item, they have the option to mark the request as decommissioning the equipment. The user then continues by submitting the request. The decommissioning information is then stored in the deletion log, along with the deletion request. The power app then sends an email to central office staff where they can review the decommissioning information and approve or reject the request accordingly. The approved requests are then marked as decommissioned in the inventory, and the deleted items are removed from the system.

By integrating the decommissioning process into this new system, we can eliminate paper forms and the workload of passing these forms through email to the central office. This improvement has increased efficiency and reduced the use of resources such as paper, toner, and time.

Conclusion

By implementing this new system to track deletions in our inventory management system, I was able to achieve the following benefits:

• Improved the accuracy and integrity of the inventory data, by preventing unauthorized or accidental deletions.
• Enhanced the oversight and accountability of the deletion process, by requiring approval and documentation for each deletion request.
• Simplified the workflow and user experience, by providing a user-friendly and intuitive interface for requesting and reviewing deletions.
• Streamlined the compliance and reporting, by integrating the decommissioning documentation feature for old equipment.

The post Implementing a New System to Track Deletions in Our School District’s Inventory Management System appeared first on Brent Thrasher.

That’s why I was excited when I discovered PowerApps, a low-code platform that allows anyone to build custom apps without writing code. PowerApps lets me digitize processes that were traditionally paper-based, such as inventory management, maintenance tracking, lunch reporting, and more. With PowerApps, I can create apps that connect to various data sources, such as Excel, SharePoint, and OneDrive. I can also use PowerApps to integrate with other Microsoft services, such as Teams, Outlook, and Power Automate.

PowerApps has made a huge difference in my work and the work of our teachers and staff. Here are some of the benefits I have seen from using PowerApps:

• Increased efficiency and accuracy: With PowerApps, I can automate workflows and reduce manual tasks. For example, I have created an inventory app that helps the district track assets at the school level. This saves me time and eliminates the risk of human error.
• Improved communication and collaboration: With PowerApps, I can share information and data with my colleagues and stakeholders in real time. For example, I created a PowerApp that allows teachers to report the lunch counts to the cafeteria manger. This simple app helped reduce the workload on the cafeteria staff and streamlined the morning workflow for the teacher. With the online interface, the teachers typically bring up the PowerApp on their interactive display and allow students to select their lunch choice. The PowerApp provides a total count for each lunch option by grade level.
• Enhanced creativity and innovation: With PowerApps, I was able to create a solution for our school resource officers that allow them to easily check and document that school exterior doors are locked and secure.

PowerApps has also saved our district time and money by reducing the amount of work needed to complete tasks.

PowerApps is not only a powerful solution for rural education, but also a fun and easy way to learn new skills. Anyone can learn how to use PowerApps with the help of online tutorials, community forums, and sample apps. You don’t need any prior coding experience or technical knowledge to get started.

If you are interested in trying out PowerApps for yourself, you can sign up for a free trial. You can also check out some of the apps I have created for our district under the consulting tab on this site. I hope you find PowerApps as useful and enjoyable as I do.

The post PowerApps: A Powerful Solution for Rural Education appeared first on Brent Thrasher.

While scheduling a meeting you can enter the e-mail of all participants, however if you are doing a grade level meeting this could be a lot and you probably don’t have the parent emails yet.

Here is a quick way to set up a public meeting and let parents join on their own without an account.

First, go to the calendar section of Teams. Select the time block for which you want to schedule your grade level meeting.

As you can see above, in the calendar in Teams to get started creating an event you just click in a block.

Now you will see the meeting details page. Add in all of the teachers in your grade level and any other school staff that needs to participate. Also set the meeting date and time. There is no need to add a team channel or location. Finally, click “Send”

The meeting will take a few seconds to fully populate. Once it is finished, click on the meeting from the calendar to view the meeting details. We need to make one other settings change to make it easy for parents to join the meeting. To do this click on “meeting options”

This will open a browser window and you should see the options below. The setting we need to change is “Who can bypass the lobby?” Set it to “Everyone”

If you do not make this change, the teachers in the meeting will need to admit each parent as they join the meeting. You may also want to restrict presenting to just you. Click save once you have the options you like for the meeting.

Now back over in Teams, what you need to do is copy the link that was generated for your meeting.. You can do this by right-clicking on the “Join Microsoft Teams Meeting” and select “copy link”

Now you can copy and past the link to where ever you want. You could post this link to your website or school Facebook page.

Parents will not be required to sign in, but they will need the teams app if accessing the meeting on a phone or iPad. There is a link to get the Teams apps on our district website.

When parents use your link, they will see a webpage like the one below. They should use “continue on the browser” to join the meeting.

Next they need to Allow access to the camera and microphone of their computer

Finally, they need to enter their name and click “join now”

While in the call, teachers can mute or remove participants if needed. This can be done from the participants window. Click the button to the left of the red hang up button.

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