Asset Tracking

Table of Contents

Asset Tracking Software

What is Asset Tracking Software?

Asset tracking software is a system designed to keep track of the usage of assets in your company such as vehicles, computers, and hardware. It enables you to keep a proper record of each asset location and how it is being used.

Asset tracking technologies put your resources in good shape, cut down losses caused by mismanagement or theft, and ensure that asset efficiency is achieved.

Types of Asset Tracking Software

Fleet Asset Tracking Software

This category of software is built to monitor a fleet of vehicles alongside their locations and other associated factors such as driver’s performance, respect for traffic rules, and fuel consumption.

Warehouse Asset Tracking Software

This asset management tool helps to keep an effective record of inventory in your store or any other facility where you stock your goods. It also facilitates order management, tracking shipments, and the generation of reports on the locations of the assets.

Fixed Asset Tracking Software

This is the perfect solution for asset managers with a large number of pricey assets like furniture, heavy-duty equipment, and vehicles. The asset tracking solution helps to keep in touch with these items and offers comprehensive details on them.

Network Asset Tracking Software

This software deals with IT and IP (intellectual property) professionals by tracking their network devices and vetting the data passing through them. This data can be used for the evaluation of possible security risks or troubleshooting.

Mobile Asset Tracking Software

This type of asset tracking technologies focuses on asset efficiency and monitoring of mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops. Even when they are not connected to the company’s network, mobile asset tracking software always works as it also gives actionable insights into who has access to the targeted devices and whether it has been stolen or compromised.

RFID Asset Tracking Software

It uses radio frequency identification tags (RFID) installed in assets in order to gather data about these items in the company’s database. Hence, businesses can easily pinpoint the location of an asset without having to search for it by hand.

Benefits of Asset Tracking Software

Better Decision Making

Asset tracking technologies help organizations easily locate, evaluate, and give detailed reports on assets. Thus, helping the company to make more informed decisions on how your company assets can be further protected and preserved.

Integrated Business Processes

Asset tracking process unifies and automated all your business operations associated with asset management. This includes inventory control, auditing, software inventory management, hardware inventory management, depreciation, network inventory management, and advanced reports.

Higher Asset Visibility

The software offers a detailed and reliable view of your company’s assets at all times. This enables organizations to monitor their assets, whether or not they are in use. It also helps companies discover problems before they aggravate or affect the entire business operations.

Improved Security

Asset management program is a powerful solution against asset theft, virtual assets included,  by ensuring that all operations associated with the movement of assets are monitored in real time.

Minimized Losses

With asset management systems, companies can closely keep track of their equipment and be alerted once any of them goes missing, gets compromised, or falls into the hands of unauthorized third parties.

Advanced Features of Asset Tracking Software

Features Descriptions
GPS Tracking Asset tracking software uses Global Positioning System technology to track and pinpoint the location of an asset or collection of assets.
Cellular Connection Asset tracking systems use cellular networks in order to monitor your vehicle or other assets, especially when you’re not connected to wired connections such as WiFi.
Notification and Alerts Asset tracking software features alerts and reminders that can update you once an item moves from one spot to another, when it arrives at its destination, and if it develops any mechanical fault.
Predictive Maintenance and Analysis Asset tracking systems have predictive maintenance and analysis capacities that can help you discover potential problems before they happen: thereby offering you enough time frame to take preventive measures against irreparable breakdowns.
Data Collection and Sensors A reliable asset tracking software gives room for custom-made sensor integrations for you to gather more comprehensive updates about the status and usage of the targeted assets.
Monitor Assets Asset tracking solutions are built to monitor different areas of a company’s assets like vibrations, temperature, pressure, and other conditions whose problems may become severe if not nipped in the bud.

Costs of Asset Tracking Software

The financial costs of asset tracking software depend on the features you require. Generally, the most basic plans for asset tracking start around $10/ month while more sophisticated and enterprise-level systems will be hundreds of dollars.

Even if you have lower budgets, there are some open-source and charge-free asset tracking systems you can opt for. For example, there are some basic versions built by software vendors. However, they may not have substantial functionality that aligns with all your business needs.

  • EZOfficeInventory’s pricing plan has a free 15-day trial with Essential plan for $35 with unlimited users and 250 items, Advanced for $45 with unlimited users and 250 items, $55 for a Premium plan with unlimited users and 250 items (it has a free trial), and Custom plan where you have to contact the sales department for the monthly billing.
  • Fieldmagic’s monthly billing plan has a free offer for sole traders with one user per time, Starters for $25, Advanced for $49, and Enterprise for $79. Meanwhile, you can also enjoy a free 30-day trial.
  • Tigerpaw One charges $120 per month for each user and its plans have a minimum of 6 users.
  • ShareMyToolBox’s pricing plan has a free 14-day free trial with no credit card required followed by Trial Starter Package for $115 per month for 5 users, Team Access for $50 per month for each block of users (admin & employee), and Enterprise Platform for $65 per month with one admin plus mobile and web portal.

Popular Asset Tracking Software Providers

EZOfficeInventory

Here is the world-leading mobile-first workflow management platform that helps you manage the circulation of your personal and company assets, right from the point of purchase to retirement. That is, you get to stay ahead of the curve and get real-time data from any device wherever you are and at any time on the assets.

You can also maintain asset performance and a proper record of stock by closely monitoring assets at different locations. It also comes with preventive maintenance to make your resources more durable.

Fieldmagic

Fieldmagic is an asset tracking system designed to grow your business and prevent asset theft. The innovative features this software offers can reposition your customer server and make your clients your best advocates.

Other than asset performance and inspection, Fieldmagic can also help you evaluate servicing and maintenance, consolidate all your sales and quotings, and centralize all your activities and other documents for easy access.

LinxUp

Linxup is quite easy to use and a powerful asset tracking and GPS fleet solution for different sizes of fleets. It can easily keep track of both non-powered and powered assets and equipment and it has a dashboard camera powered by AI for monitoring.

It helps asset managers gather coordinates of locations in real time, monitor the logs of the electronic drivers, ensure preventive maintenance, minimize fuel usage, and analyze the behavioral patterns of your drivers and other asset operators.

Tigerpaw One

You can also trust Tigerpaw One to take your company to the next level with its positive user reviews. It helps you know the items that are in your warehouse, on your shelves, shipped for delivery, awaiting dispatching, and the ones at the customer’s end.

Especially when the assets have serial numbers, you can track them from requisition to retirement, receive real-time data and gain access, and know the latest stock levels despite your different locations.

All your profits can be boosted by tasks automation and productivity increased with Tigerpaw One.

ShareMyToolBox

ShareMyToolBox is an asset management program that exposes your business to possibilities of inventory visibility, trust and accountability, team coordination and management, and employee efficiency.

It is quite affordable, easy to use, easy to install, and accommodates up to thousands of users. Field personnel can also use this A-class product to manage their equipment and ensure there is accountability as the equipment’s locations change.

Important Asset Tracking Software Integrations

Asset management systems can be integrated with varieties of software to further give you a premium and effective user experience while monitoring your assets. For example, warehouse management software, customer relationship management (CRM), inventory management software, accounting software, enterprise resource planning (ERP), and apps for E-commerce websites such as Apple and Shopify.

Incorporating asset tracking systems into these software can provide your business with a more automated method of tracking your resources from purchase to disposal and offering actionable insights into the lifespan of the assets.

The integration will also help your company unify all its asset-tracking procedures and make room for efficiency among all the cadres of workers – warehouse attendants, drivers, delivery men, maintenance teams, and other stakeholders.

Most importantly, integrating asset management strategy with other systems makes it easier for your clients to view real time updates and the condition of the goods online: thereby paving the way for reliable ordering and inventory management.

Potential Issues of Asset Tracking Software

Human Errors

Humans are susceptible to errors – this deficiency is inevitable. Thus, in a company that deploys a whopping number of heavy-duty assets, errors may occur from the site supervisor or his agents while locally saving data using a spreadsheet to monitor the assets and other devices.

Hence, a spreadsheet is prone to errors while tracking assets and this may impair entire efficiency and output.

Wrong Inventory Estimation

Stocking up a specific item can be a bit tricky, especially while trying to arrive at the right amount. For industries like healthcare, overstock or out-of-stock can pose some threats where some drugs expire and can be harmful to patients and the hospital’s procedures.

Resource Wastage

Missing equipment and assets can impair the smooth running of a company’s organization because of work stoppages, unutilized labor hours, and delays in deliveries. Hence, if an asset is not properly tracked, it may not be found when needed most and operations can be incapacitated or delayed as workers have to wait until the arrival of a substitute asset.

Relevant Trends in Asset Tracking Software

Barcode Scanners

The barcode system started its trajectory in the 1970s and is one of the most popular choices for industries using asset tracking software. Although it is one of the most antiquated tracking tools, barcodes have been regularly updated to be useful in today’s technologically evolving economy.

Since they are affordable, top corporations now buy them in large quantities to track small and medium-sized assets with low value. Now, barcode labels can be read by both smartphone apps and portable scanners.

Blockchain Data Records

Companies with heavy data are fast embracing blockchain technology to divide real time updates into smaller units and connect them with key and relevant deals already closed in the past through “chains”.

Thus, your data can be consolidated digitally without the need for a central server or authority. Although it can be accessible to everyone, it cannot be altered and it not only preserves the latest records but also the previous ones.

Mobile Computing

Almost every sector of the global marketplace requires that their workers work off-premises, especially with the COVID-19 pandemic of late 2019 into 2020. Therefore, it is no longer feasible that employees show up physically at their respective workplaces to track their assets.

Rather, most industries are fast switching to mobile computing through which asset management software can be installed on mobile apps. So wherever you are and at any time, you can track assets hundreds of miles away from you.

Software and Other Services Related to Asset Tracking Software

Preventive Maintenance Software

This is a computer program that saves maintenance updates on a remote server or a cloud-based database to closely monitor all inspections and repairs.

Call Tracking Software

Call tracking software is a computer program that helps marketers gather and save data via phone conversations with their clients in order to further expand marketing campaigns that are customer-centric and will attract higher sales.

Inventory Control Software

Here is a software program designed to monitor inventory levels, sales, orders, and deliveries. Inventory control software is also relevant in the manufacturing sector to build records of materials and other documents associated with production.

Employee Monitoring Software

This software keeps track of your employees and enables the key administrators to monitor, manage, and coordinate all the computer-related activities of their workers from a centralized location usually deployed over a company network.

Order Entry Software

Order entry software, simply put, is the point where orders received are captured and forwarded to an entry system where all the relevant users or stakeholders can view information on the orders and make alterations if need be.  It also monitors audit trails.

Frequently Asked Questions On Asset Tracking Software

  • Which Technology is Most Suitable for Asset Tracking?
    Generally, Bluetooth is the most suitable technology for asset tracking and management. However, other technologies like UWB and RFID are also relevant.
  • How Does Asset Tracking Software Work?
    Asset tracking software operates by enabling its users to update information on your assets onsite, then coordinate, and report them remotely. Coupled with automated reporting capabilities, asset management strategy saves you more money and time.
  • What is Another Word for Asset Tracking?
    Asset tracking is also referred to as asset management and both names represent the ability to track the location of an asset or a group of assets.
  • What is the Difference Between Asset Management and Inventory Tracking?
    Inventory tracking monitors the stocks received by your company and sent out from the warehouse. On the other hand, asset management solutions keep track of individual assets or items that your organization uses to run its operations.