Automation

Automation profiles are used to set up automated data collection for your devices. You can also use them to define important criteria for this automated data collection.

You can access the automation profiles via the menu items More -> Admin -> Devices -> Automation.

Click the +Profile button in the top-right corner of the page to create a new automation profile.

The following input form will open.

General

In the General section, you assign a name to the profile. Directly below that, you assign the desired devices that should be associated with this profile.

Movements

In the Movements section, you can specify whether device movements should be recorded from project to project:

Below that, you’ll find the same setting for a device’s performance tracking and can determine whether performance data should be recorded automatically.

If you select "Active" here, the input form expands to include the reference value, where you can choose between operating hours and kilometers.

Operating Hours

Select Operating Hours, and the input mask expands as follows.

In the Rounding section, you specify how the recorded performance should be rounded.

If services are recorded outside of projects, you have two options for processing them.

"Assign to a specific project" means that the work can be posted to any project. This project can be created and set up specifically for such cases, e.g., as an "Archive Project" or similar.

This allows recorded work to be tracked and assigned later.

"Discard" means that the recorded work is not documented but is deleted.

Note: A discarded service cannot be restored later!

You specify how the services should be posted when the equipment service is split across multiple projects and the assignment is not clear in the Post Services section. Here, you have the following options:

Case study: Distribute evenly across all projects - 4 hours of work were recorded; 2 hours are allocated to Project A and 2 hours to Project B, each receiving an equal share.

Case study: Distribute proportionally based on time spent on projects - 4 hours of work were recorded. The device was active for 6 hours on Project A and 2 hours on Project B. Thus, 3 hours are posted to Project A (= ¾ proportion) and 1 hour to Project B (¼ proportion).

Case Study: Allocating Entirely to the Last Project - 4 hours of work were recorded. All 4 hours are posted entirely to Project B. Additionally, after the thresholds are set, the system checks for delayed work reports and posts any work not assigned to a project under "Work Without Assignment" according to the settings.

It may happen that a delayed transfer of equipment activity is recorded shortly after midnight, and the activity was performed the previous day or on several previous days. It is now possible to configure how activity recorded over multiple days should be allocated.

First, you must configure how a service spanning multiple days is allocated.

Case Study: A service report for 4 hours is transmitted on February 17, 2021, at 12:30 a.m. You have the following options:

Date of receipt of service data: The service is posted in full to the day on which it was transmitted. Case study: All 4 hours are posted to February 17, 2021.

Distribute across all days. Case study: 2 hours are posted to February 16, 2021, and 2 hours are posted to February 17, 2021.

Distribute proportionally based on time of entry. Example: 3.5 hours are posted to February 16, 2021, and 0.5 hours are posted to February 17, 2021.

Additionally, you can configure how far back services are booked retroactively if no service was recorded over an extended period and the recorded service must be split across multiple days. Under "Upper Limit for Service Period," you can select the number of days a service should be considered and split retroactively. The service excluded from consideration due to this setting can then:

Be assigned to a specific project. This project can also be created and set up specifically for such cases, e.g., as an “Archive Project” or similar. (Create a project under the Projects menu item, then New.) This allows work recorded here to be tracked and assigned retroactively.

Be discarded. This means that the calculated work is not documented but deleted. Discarded work cannot be restored later.

Kilometers

Select Kilometers and the following input screen will open:

Here you can set how the kilometers are to be recorded. You have these two options:

Post to the last project: Kilometers are always posted to the last project you were in

Post to the next project: The kilometers are always posted to the next project.

In the quantity query, specify whether it should be gross or net, and select the unit in the box next to it.

Project Assignment

It may happen that a performance transfer reaches the system late, after a device has left a project. In this case, the performance must be assigned to a specific project.

If service recording is enabled in the Automation: Automation Profile menu, a threshold value can be set. In the "Maximum Outside Project" setting, you can specify whether the performance that is transferred later should still be posted to the last project. Example: The device provides 3 hours of performance and leaves the project at 2:00 PM. A performance report is recorded at 2:20 PM.

• If a threshold value of 00:30 hours is specified, the work is fully allocated to the project. The 3 hours are posted to the project.
• If a threshold of 00:10 hours is specified, the work is allocated to the project on a pro-rata basis. The 3 hours are split. For information on splitting work, see Work Without Assignments.

Signal Loss Indicator

Here you set the threshold at which a device should indicate signal loss: