Lipscomb University
“The software is very easy to use. You can quote me on that.”
Matt Huesmann is a filmmaker who also works on documentaries and different television shows. He likes to share his love for filmmaking, as he is also a part-time teacher in the cinematic arts department at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee. At the beginning of 2020, he picked up the responsibility for the film department’s equipment room.
I don’t know how many schools are using Cheqroom. But if they are not, they should.
Cheqroom makes people accountable
“When I walked in to take over heqroom duties within the university, they were not yet utilizing the full aspects of Cheqroom. Together with the students, we started adding serial codes, printing QR tags, and got all the equipment inventoried. This is really helpful for two reasons: one is differentiating between equipment when it gets turned in for a lease. You know exactly which piece of equipment you need because it’s tagged. It’s just easier to find stuff.”
“On the other hand, a rental firm has workers all day, who are able to look over a piece of gear when it gets returned. They have the necessary technical expertise to do so. We don’t have that technical expertise with students, and we don’t have the time. As a result of doing the QR codes and inventory, we can easily go back and address the situation when there is something wrong,” says Matt.
The software is very easy to use. You can quote me on that.
Buying vs. leasing: “I could easily make a 30k decision with running reports.”
According to Matt, leasing is more interesting when you’re just starting a new program. You can have more equipment at your disposal for less money. But after a while, you notice that some equipment is used more than others. So running reports helped Matt make the right decisions.
“I was able to pull a report and look at how many times that light had been checked out. I could see if we really use it. And that helped me make all the financial decisions.”
Now he can prove with data which equipment the university should invest in. Lipscomb is now moving away from leases, and they are buying more equipment.
The SMS feature helps to keep students safe
Matt prepared two areas where the students can pick up and drop off equipment. He added a shelving system for the students to know where they can find the gear. The students are now picking up the equipment on the predetermined locations.
“We don’t want two or three people all piling in our equipment room at the same time with all their gear. We call it the touch-free ordering system like you have at restaurants.”
The student workers use the comment section on a booking to indicate when the equipment is ready to be picked up and where you can find it. That comment automatically triggers an SMS notification to the student. That way, they prevent people from going to the pick-up area all at the same time, which minimizes the interaction.
Besides that, Matt also likes the SMS feature to keep students accountable and let them know when their equipment is overdue.
Having equipment management software in place is a no-brainer
“If you don’t have any organization system for managing equipment, or you’re doing it by paper, you definitely need to have one. You’re going to quickly outgrow the chaos. Cheqroom does so many things right. I haven’t really run across anything that I wanted the software to do that it couldn’t. The software alleviates the pressure of time because it handles so much. That’s really valuable for us.”
“I don’t know how many schools are using Cheqroom. But if they are not, they should”
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