EqMARS^TM helps companies and academic institutions save valuable time, money, and resources by solving many typical equipment challenges.

Challenges

• Equipment cannot be located.
• Reservations are not guaranteed.
• Overhead for tracking overdue items is very high.
• Status of equipment is not known (avaialble or not?)
• Purchasing new equipment is based on "best guess". 

Solution: Medium/Large Company
At medium and large companies, each department (or a group of departments) maintains equipment for employee use. Examples of equipment include projectors, computers, cameras, tripods, etc.

Typically the loan system includes a sign-up sheet or a calendar that sits on the Administrative Assistant's desk or inside the cabinet where the equipment is kept. The borrower jots down his/her name and phone number ahead of time or at the time of checkout. When he/she returns the equipment, a "time of return" is logged (but not always). Many companies allow "self-service", where employees can take equipment after signing the sign-up sheet.

Occasionally, equipment is not returned, whether accidentally or intentionally. The Administrative Assistant will realize that a piece of equipment is missing. He/she will send a company-wide email that reads something like this: "If you have checked out the projector please return it as soon as possible".

Solution: Higher Education
Academic institutions are frequently more complex than companies because:

1. The number of departments and administrators is usually larger.
2. They may choose to loan the equipment not only to staff and faculty, but also to students and community organizations.

With the increased number of departments and borrowers, the percentage of lost and overdue equipment increases.

In both these scenarios, tracking of equipment history is performed manually - if the records are accurate and archived. It can be difficult to know the location of a particular piece of equipment, who took it (especially with "self-service"), or when it will be returned. It can also be difficult to determine whether or not equipment has been stolen.

EqMARS^TM solves all these problems by providing an easy way to track equipment inventory, enables borrowers to reserve or request equipment, reminds borrowers of approaching due times, and helps the administrators track maintenance or upgrades. The history tracking feature enables administrators to perform complete audit trail, including borrowing history. EqMARSTM is web-based, therefore it is accessible from any internet-enabled computer.