Bundles In AssetSonar
By: Assetsonar Team
Tags: Itam, Hardware Asset Management, Support, It Asset Management

Bundle IT Assets together to reserve and check out with ease and speed. A Bundle is a flexible combination of items. It acts as a check out list. It is used to optimize checkouts based on the characteristics and availability of IT Assets. Enable Bundles from Settings → Add Ons → Bundles.

Contents

1. When to use Bundles

Bundles are used to combine different IT Assets that are regularly checked out together. For example, if two Macbooks, two chargers, two headsets, and a webcam need to be assigned on a ‘video conference’ engagement, then having this as a Bundle will serve both as a checklist and a quick one-step process for their checkout. You need to have a Cart enabled to use Bundles. Enable Cart from Settings → Add Ons → Cart Module.

2. Creating a new Bundle

You can create a new Bundle from Bundles → Add New Bundle. Fill in the data fields for Bundle Name, Description, and Location. See image below:

3. Adding Bundle Lines

A Bundle can have multiple line items based on the types of IT Assets needed; based on their Name, their association to a Group, or a number of flexible options presented in the dropdown when choosing the type of Bundle line (Asset, Asset Stock, Inventory). Bundle Line Items explain what a Bundle contains and they can be changed as needed (discussed later).

Let’s create a ‘2P Video Conference’ Bundle that consists of two Macbooks, two chargers, two headsets, and a webcam!

a. Two Macbook Pros — We’ve set up our IT Assets such that there is a Group called Macbooks and all Macbook Pros are associated with it. We’ll use the ‘Advanced (Assets)’ in the type.

b. Two Macbook Chargers from Asset Stock — We’ll use the ‘Asset Stock’ in the type:

c. Two headphones from Assets — We’ll use ‘Assets’ in the type:

d. A webcam from Assets — We’ll use ‘Assets’ in the type:

While adding items to a Bunde, you can also select the option ‘Pick items only from this location’. This ensures that you’re picking items from one specified location.

Once done, our Bundle Details page shows a summary of the associated IT Assets. See image below:

Note: When a Bundle is added to a Cart, and some of its items are not added along with it due to unavailability, then the Bundle is called a Partial Bundle.

4. Editing a Bundle

You can edit a Bundle from its Details page. To do this, go to ‘Bundles’. Select the relevant Bundle and click the ‘Edit’ button.

Here, you can make changes to a Bundle. You can edit a Bundle’s Name, Description, Identification Number, or Location. You can also add/delete Bundle line items.

You can also retire, delete and clone a Bundle from its Details page. If you are adding a Bundle to a Cart, the ability to delete it will not be available.

5. Adding Bundle to a new Cart

Now that the Bundle has been created, we can add it to a Cart from the Bundle Details page by clicking on the ‘Add to Cart’ button.

This action will identify the available Assets from this Bundle and add them to your Cart. Now whenever there is a Two-person Video Conference scheduled, simply add the Bundle to the Cart to checkout or reserve.

Specified quantities will be pulled up from available items with a single click to be checked out or reserved for a Video Conference(see image below).

Hit the ‘Add to Cart’ button. You will be redirected to the Cart Details page, where you can either add more items OR you can also add a Bundle to a reserved Cart. Once done adding items/bundles, the Cart is now ready for getting reserved or checked out for a later date. See image below:

Once a Bundle is added to a Cart, you can toggle between the Bundle View and the Item View.

Here’s what the Bundle View looks like:

Here’s what the Item View looks like:

Reserved Carts can be edited on the fly. Items (also Bundles) can be removed/added, giving IT Admins more control over their equipment. You can enable this setting from the Settings → Add Ons → Cart Module.

You can now reserve more IT Assets at the last minute and update the Cart. Say you reserved a Cart for Steven Hyde that consists of a Macbook Pro for a video conference call but then you realized you forgot to add the webcam. Simply click on ‘Add More Items’ and add the webcam as illustrated.

You can print the Cart by clicking on the ‘Print Cart’ button after you have finalized the items/Bundles in your Cart.

6. Bundles in reserved Carts

Once a Bundle has been added to a reserved Cart, you can take different actions on it. Note that these actions do not apply to Carts that have been checked out.

6.1. Adding more Bundles to a reserved Cart

Let’s say after you reserved a Cart for the video conference call, you were notified that two more of your employees are to attend it. You can add another ‘2P Video Conference’ Bundle to the same Cart and check it out for the event when needed.

Here’s how to go about it!

On your Cart Details page, click on ‘Add More Items’ and add the Bundle as shown.

Once added, the two Bundles will show up in the Bundle Lines like this:

6.2. Removing Bundle from a reserved Cart

You can also remove a Bundle from a reserved Cart. There are two ways to do this. You can either remove the entire Bundle or remove items individually from the Bundle.

Select on a Bundle and click on the ‘Delete’ icon on the top left corner of the Bundle Lines section.

Choose the relevant option.

‘Delete Whole Bundle’ deletes the entire Bundle and its constituent IT Assets whereas ‘Delete Individual Items’ removes the association between the Bundle and its constituent IT Assets so that the items are left in the Cart. These items are not part of the Bundle anymore and you can remove them individually as needed.

6.3. Editing a Bundle in a reserved Cart

You can also edit the items in a Bundle after you’ve added it to a reserved Cart. Simply go to the Bundles tab and click on the relevant Bundle. From the Bundle Details page, click ‘Edit’, make the appropriate changes, and hit ‘Update’. That’s it, you’re done!

However, note that the relevant changes do not apply to the current reserved Cart but the subsequent Carts the Bundle is added to.

7. View Bundle history

AssetSonar keeps a snapshot of the changes made to a Bundle. To access a Bundle’s edit history, simply go to the Bundles tab and click on the relevant Bundle. From the Bundle Details page, click on the ‘History’ button on the right.

This opens up a dialog box showcasing all the actions taken on the Bundle:

8. Bundles Versus Packages

Bundles differ from a related feature, Packages.

Read more: Carts in AssetSonar: ITAM for Jobs and Events

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For more assistance, drop us an email at support@assetsonar.com. You can also visit our blog for detailed support posts.

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