Scan it, do not type it
Every item gets a printable QR label. Point a phone at it and it is booked out. A barcode gun plugged into a tablet works too, because it behaves like a keyboard that types very fast.
KitDesk
KitDesk
Except when it doesn't. KitDesk keeps track of what left the building, who has it and when it is due, so the answer to "where is the projector" is a screen rather than a group email that nobody replies to.
Runs in a browser, installs on a phone, works on a shared tablet.
iPhone and iPadComing soon
Every item gets a printable QR label. Point a phone at it and it is booked out. A barcode gun plugged into a tablet works too, because it behaves like a keyboard that types very fast.
Kiosk mode takes a four digit PIN. No email, no password, nothing to forget on a shared screen by the store cupboard, and it keeps taking bookings when the wifi drops and syncs them when the network comes back.
Reminders go the day before something is due. Chases go daily after that. Nobody has to be the person emailing a colleague about a tripod, which is the real reason tripods stay out for months.
Hold PAT and service dates against each item. Anything past its date is blocked outright rather than flagged, because a warning nobody reads is not a control.
A signature when kit changes hands. Photographs of the damage on the way back. Anything returned broken goes to the repair list instead of quietly back on the shelf for the next person to find.
Utilisation per item, and a list of everything nobody has touched in a year sorted by what it cost. That second list is usually the one that pays for the software.
This is the whole loop. In the real thing you point a phone camera at the label instead of clicking it, and the rest happens exactly like this.
Laptops, iPads, cameras, PA gear. Borrowed by staff who cannot remember which cupboard it came from.
Customers, charges, signatures on collection, a depot each.
Volunteers taking kit out for an event on Friday and bringing it back on Sunday, mostly.
Shared equipment that walks, and a finance team who would like to know what it is all worth.
The words change to suit. A hire firm sees Depots, Assets and Hires, a church sees Groups, Kit and Loans, and a school sees Sites, Items and Bookings. Same software.
The kiosk queues checkouts and returns locally when the connection dies, then replays them once it's back. Here is what that actually covers, and what it does not.
Booking a standing Tuesday for the rest of term makes one request but not one booking. Here's what actually gets built behind it, and where approval catches people out.
A camera and a printed tag do not stop kit going missing by themselves. Here is what changes, what does not, and where the paper sheet was never the real problem.
KitDesk is equipment booking and inventory software. Organisations use it to record what equipment they own, who has borrowed it, when it is due back, and whether it is still safe to lend. It suits schools, hire companies, churches, clubs, offices and anywhere else that lends shared kit to its own people.
Three plans: Starter at £19 a month for one site and up to 150 items, Standard at £39 a month for up to three sites and 750 items, and Unlimited at £79 a month with no limits and hire charging included. Every new organisation gets seven days free first, and no card is needed to start.
Yes. Every organisation that signs up gets seven days with everything switched on, and no payment details are asked for. When the trial ends your data stays exactly as it was and you can still export it, whether or not you decide to pay.
No. KitDesk prints QR labels and a phone camera reads them, so no extra hardware is needed. A USB barcode scanner does work if you already own one, because it behaves like a keyboard, and you can always type an item reference by hand.
Yes. Each item can hold a PAT test date, a service date and when each is next due. Anything past its due date is blocked from being booked out rather than merely flagged, so equipment cannot leave the building on a lapsed test.
The kiosk does. A tablet by the store cupboard keeps accepting check-outs and returns while the network is down, holds them locally with the time they actually happened, and sends them up when the connection returns.
Yes. An organisation can run several sites, and staff only ever see the one they belong to. Data is separated on the server rather than hidden in the interface, so a user cannot reach another site by changing what their browser sends.
Yes. KitDesk imports a CSV file of your existing equipment on the first day, and exports one at any time. Nothing traps your data inside the product.
It stays where it is. Once a plan ends you can no longer add or change records, but you can still read everything and download a full CSV export of your inventory. Nothing is deleted for non-payment.
Alpha IT Solutions Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales, number 15837037. Support is by email at info@alphaitsolutions.uk or by phone on 020 3411 1886.
Create a site, confirm your email, and it is yours. Nobody else can see it, and there is a demo already loaded with kit if you would rather poke at that first.
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