Managing assets on floor maps

BMC Helix Digital Workplace provides an intuitive experience for users to search for locations and assets such as conference rooms, offices, printers, and other resources that they need. BMC Helix Digital Workplace is context- and location-aware, enabling users to find nearby resources, follow resource status updates, and update resource status to help other users.

Before you begin

• Read the use case for finding places and assets.
• Because assets are located on floor maps, first add a location to BMC Helix Digital Workplace, and then add floor maps to the location.
• Add new asset types or modify existing types, as needed.

Adding assets

When you create floor maps, you can add assets that users can act on. For example, you might add a Printer/Copier asset so that a user can tap the icon and submit a request for toner.  

You can add assets individually to a floor map when you create or edit it. Changes to assets on maps are automatically saved. When you save a new asset, its icon appears on the floor map, and it is visible in the BMC Helix Digital Workplace end user console.

You can also add multiple assets by using a CSV file or by performing a CMDB import. For more information, see these procedures below.

To add assets from a floor map

1. In the BMC Helix Digital Workplace Admin console, click Location Management.
2. Click Floor Maps.
3. Select a floor map, and click Edit Floor Map.
4. Click Edit Floor Map Info, and scroll down to view the Assets table.
5. Click Add Asset.

6. Scroll down the page, and complete the fields:

   Field	Description
   Name	Name of the asset.
   Type	Asset type. From asset types, each asset inherits actions, status values, and the asset's icon on the map. This icon appears in the asset's profile. Asset types are defined in the Types Library. For more information, see Managing asset types.
   Status	The initial status for the asset. This status appears in the asset's profile. Status labels are defined with the type in the Types Library. For more information, see Managing asset types.
   Email	A valid email address that is assigned to an asset. To enable reservations, enter a Microsoft Exchange email address.
   QR Code Data	The asset's QR code. If an asset has a QR code, users can scan the asset to find its profile in BMC Helix Digital Workplace. With asset actions, you can create buttons on the profile that link to self-help resources or to enable users to report that the asset has a problem. BMC Helix Digital Workplace can use any type of code that mobile devices recognize. For example, iOS devices can detect the following codes: UPC-A, UPC-E, Code 39, Code 39 mod 43, Code 93, Code 128, EAN-8, EAN-13, Aztec, PDF417, QR. In BMC Helix Digital Workplace 21.05 and later, QR code scanning is not supported on mobile devices running Android OS versions 8 or 9. The following video (4:42) demonstrates: How administrators configure locations and assets by using BMC Helix Digital Workplace. How self-service users can scan an asset having a QR code, find its profile in BMC Helix Digital Workplace, and report an issue.  https://youtu.be/LvE9uZN_gZc
   Tag	Additional metadata for an asset. Using tags, you can select specific assets that have particular actions. For example, if an action has the tag 5635 and is associated with the Printer/Copier type, only assets with the 5638 tag have that action.
   Parent Asset	The asset to which a new asset is related or subordinated. For example, a conference room can be a parent asset of a specific printer or video device.
   Source	The source for the asset. The options are: Official if an administrator creates the asset by using the BMC Helix Digital Workplace Admin console. User-created if a business user adds the asset in BMC Helix Digital Workplace. Business users can create assets if Crowd source assets feature is enabled in the BMC Helix Digital Workplace Admin console. For more information, see To enable crowd-sourced assets below.
   Owner	The user who owns the asset.
   Profile Image	An image to use in the asset's profile. Images must be 320x200 pixels, 640x400 pixels, or another size with the same aspect ratio. The profile image supports .gif, .jpg, .png, and .bmp file types.

7. Click Save Asset.
8. If you want to add extra properties to an asset:
   1. Select the asset from the Assets table.
   2. Under Extra Properties in the Edit asset "Asset Name" area, click New Property, and complete the fields.
      
      For example, you might want to add extra properties if an asset is associated with a URL through an action. Then, you can add parameters to the URL with extra properties. In the example below, an asset of the Printer/Copier type has an action associated with the URL http://files.support.epson.com/pdf/{model}/{language}.pdf, and model and language are defined as Extra Properties.
      

      

9. Click Save Asset.

To add multiple assets by importing CSV files

1. Prepare a comma-separated values (CSV) file in the following format:

   CSV file example

   #ExternalId,name,xPos,yPos,assetTypeId,assetStatus,desc,desc2,desc3,phone,tag,metaData,qrCodeData,locationDesc,metaDataJson A1,A1,110,577,Office room (compact icon),1,,,,,,,,,, A1,A1,110,577,Office room (compact icon),1,,,,,,,,, A2,A2,201,583,Office room (compact icon),1,,,,,,,,, A3,A3,252,583,Office room (compact icon),1,,,,,,,,,

   The assets CSV file must meet the following requirements:

   • The file must be in MS-DOS, comma-delimited format.
   • Fields with asterisks (for example, ExternalId* and name*) must contain an entry. (The ExternalId field is used for API integration updates.)
   • The field names in the file must match the field names in BMC Helix Digital Workplace.
   • If an entry in a field contains spaces, the entry must be enclosed in quotation marks.

   •  The assetTypeId value must match a corresponding asset type in BMC Helix Digital Workplace.
     Here is an example of a CSV file in Microsoft Excel:
     
     

2. In the BMC Helix Digital Workplace Admin console, click Location Management.
3. Under Assets, click CSV Import.
4. Select a location into which to import the assets.
5. Click Choose File, and select the CSV file.
6. Click Import.
   After the import, your assets are available in the Assets > View All window.

To enable crowd-sourced assets

As a BMC Helix Digital Workplace administrator, you can allow users to create assets based on asset type, as follows:

1. From Configuration > Application Features, select Crowd Sourced Assets.
2. From Location Management > Assets > Types Library, select the asset type and select User can create.

As a BMC Helix Digital Workplace administrator, you can also allow users to update asset status, as follows:

1. From Configuration > Application Features, select Crowd Sourced Assets.
2. From Location Management > Assets > Types Library, select the asset type and select User can update status. Then, specify the status labels that users can select.
3. Create the Report equipment outage action, and add the action to the asset type.

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