This is a unique mobile application that allows you to track all of your HVAC equipment, upload it to the "cloud" (click here for more info), and SAFELY share information about this equipment with other technicians within your company.

It actually consists of two components:

1. The HVAC Equipment Locator Mobile App: Described below
2. The HVAC Equipment Server: This is the website that displays all of the information that you uploaded from the mobile app. Click here for more details.

Overview
When you first open the HVAC Equipment Locator application, you will see 3 tabs at the bottom of your screen:

1. The "Equipment Locator" tab is the first screen that appears when you start up the application. It displays the link that takes you to the equipment list.
2. The "Global Settings" tab allows you to specify global settings such as syncronization login information. Read the "Global Settings" section below for more details.
3. The "Help" tab displays this help screen.

Equipment Locator
When you first start the app, the "Equipment Locator" link will appear. Click it to go to the screen that displays the list of equipment. The following describes how to create, edit, and delete individual pieces of equipment:

1. Create a New Equipment: To create a new piece of equipment, click the "+" button located in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. A new form will appear allowing you to enter a new equipment name. The "_Default" is always used as the basis for creating a new piece of equipment Also, you can copy from an existing piece of equipment by pressing the button labelled "Copy from existing equipment >>". A list of all existing pieces of equipment will appear allowing you to select from one. When you return to the "Add Equipment" screen, type in a new equipment name.
2. Edit an Existing Equipment: To edit an existing piece of equipment, select the equipment name with your finger and the next form will slide onto the screen allowing you to input information about it.
3. Delete an Existing Equipment: Swipe your finger across the name of the piece of equipment that you wish to delete. A "delete" button will appear allowing you to press it to delete the equipment.

Sort By
Within the "Equipment List" form, you can sort the list of equipment in three different ways:

1. Equipment Name: Select this option to sort by the equipment name, itself.
2. Closest to Me: Select this option to sort by the equipment that is closest to where you are currently located. You may be asked for permission by the app to determine your GPS coordinates.
3. Building Name: Select this option to sort by the name of the building that the equipment is located in.

Equipment Properties
The following describes the equipment information that first appears when you select an equipment name:

1. Equipment name: This is the name that you originally inputted when you created the equipment. You can change the equipment name in this text box. To do so, tap your finger within the text box and the standard iPhone keyboard will pop up allowing you to type in a new name. This keyboard will appear anytime you tap your finger within any of the textboxes in this app.
2. Equipment description: Input a general description of the equipment.
3. Make: Input the name of the equipment manufacturer (i.e. - Carrier, Trane, York, etc.)
4. Model #: Input the model number of the equipment
5. Serial #: Input the serial number of the equpiment
6. Unit #: Input the assigned unit number, if any
7. Volts/Phase: Input the number of volts and phase for the equipment
8. Age: Input the age of the equipment
9. Unit type: Select the button on the far right of this input to display a picker list of different unit types including RTU, condensor, A/H (for air handler), VAV, and other.
10. Compressor type: Select the button on the far right of this input to display a picker list of different compressor types including tin can, cast iron, and other.

Maintenance List: Select this option to display the list of equipment maintenance items (See below for more information).

Equipment Location
To access the screen below, swipe your finger from right to left on the Equipment Properties screen described above.

1. Building name: Input the name of the building that the equipment is located in or on.
2. Address: Input the building street address
3. City: Input the building city
4. State: Input the building state
5. Country: Input the building country
6. GPS coordinates: Select the button located on the right-hand side of this input to display the GPS coordinates screen:
   
   
   This screen allows you to specify the exact location of the equipment based upon your location. Press the "Start Updating Current Location" button to instruct the app to begin retrieving your exact GPS coordinates. You will notice that the map will zoom in on your approximate location. After a couple of seconds, press the button again to stop the app from updating your location. If the app did not find your precise location, you can either manually input the exact latitude and longitude coordinates in the input boxes provided, or you can press the up/down and left/right arrows to move the map pushpin 20 feet any way to your exact position.
   
   You can zoom into your exact location by pinching the map with your fingers. In addition, you can select either "Standard", "Satellite", or "Hybrid" map views. Once you have completed retrieving your GPS coordinates, press the button in the upper left-hand corner of the screen to return to the previous screen.

Sync Settings
The bottom portion of the current screen allows you to specify whether to synchronize this piece of equipment with the remote web server (click here for more information on the Carmel Equipment Server).

1. Sync this equipment?: Press "Yes" to sync this equipment the next time you press the sync button on the Equipment List screen. Press "No" to skip syncing this piece of equipment. After you do sync this equipment, the button will automatically reset to "No".
2. Last sync date: This displays the last date and time the equipment was synced.
3. Own this equipment?: This displays either "Yes" or "No". If "Yes", then you currently "own" this equipment, meaning you are the only one that can make updates to the equipment. Even other techs who may have downloaded this equipment information to their mobile device will not be able to make any updates. If "No" is displayed, then someone else owns the equipment and you cannot make updates to it.

Equipment Photo
Swipe your finger from right to left on the screen to display the equipment photo screen. This screen allows you to upload and/or take a photo of the piece of equipment. Press the "Equipment Photo" button to display the option to either choose an existing photo on your mobile device or to take a photo. Once you have selected either option and selected or taken a photo, you will return to this screen and the photo will display.



Maintenance List
Press the "Maintenance List" button on either of the first two input screens to display the list of maintenance events. You can create, edit, or delete individual maintenance events using this screen:

1. Create a New Maintenance Event: To create a new maintenance event, click the "+" button located in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. A new form will appear allowing you to enter a new maintenance name. You can copy from an existing maintenance event by pressing the button labelled "Copy from existing maintenance >>". A list of all existing maintenance events will appear allowing you to select from one. When you return to the "Add Maintenance" screen, type in a new maintenance event name.
2. Edit an Existing Maintenance Event: To edit an existing maintenance event, select the maintenance event name with your finger and the next form will slide onto the screen allowing you to input information about it.
3. Delete an Existing Maintenance Event: Swipe your finger across the name of the maintenance event that you wish to delete. A "delete" button will appear allowing you to press it to delete the maintenance event.

Maintenance Inputs
The following describes the maintenance inputs:

1. Date: This is the date of the maintenance event. This date was automatically set to the current date that the maintenance event was created. If you wish to override this date, press the button located in the input cell and a picker control will appear allowing you to select another date.
2. Time: This is the time of the maintenance event. This time was automatically set to the current time that the maintenance event was created. If you wish to override this time, press the button located in the input cell and a picker control will appear allowing you to select another time.
3. Number of hours worked: Input the total number of hours worked on this maintenance event.
4. Description: Input a description of the work performed during this maintenance event.

At the bottom of this screen, you can add one or more photos to this specific maintenance event (i.e. - before and after photos and more). To add photos, press the "Add Photo" button to display options to either select an existing photo from your mobile device or take a new photo. Once completed, a thumbnail of the photo will display on the form. Press the "View All Photos" to display thumbnails of all of the photos. You can then select to view a larger version of each photo by clicking the thumbnail, itself.

Sync
After you have completed entering information for one or more pieces of equipment, you can synchronize the information to the Carmel Equipment Server. This is a web-based interface where you and your office personnel can view the information on the web. Just press the "Sync" button located on the Equipment List form to begin. Depending upon how many pieces of equipment and how many pictures have been assigned to the equipment, it may take a while to sync. Also, if any equipment have been assigned to you from the Carmel Equipment Server portal, you will receive that equipment information.


You may get an error after pressing the sync button saying "Login Error: Please enter a login email and password in global settings.". This means you have not inputted your unique login and password under the "Global Settings" tab (see below).

Global Settings
This tab allows you to specify global settings for the HVAC Equipment Locator App:



Settings
Select either IP (English) or SI (Metric) units. This only affects the Locator Radius input (See below).

Web Login Information
This section allows you to input the login and password credentials to synchronize to the Carmel Equipment Server website. If this is the first time you are inputting this information, then new login credentials will be created on the Equipment Server. You cannot update this information after you have synced. The only way to do so, is to update it using the web portal.

1. Email Login: Input a unique and valid login email address.
2. Password: Input a unique password
3. Company Id: This is a unique id that is generated on the Equipment Server website. Techs with the same company id can download and view the same equipment.
4. Locator Radius: Select this option to specify a distance from your current location of equipment that should be synced to your mobile device. This is appropriate if you are in a densely populated area and wish to only download equipment information within your immediate vicinity.
5. My Company Info: Select this option to input information about you and your company. It is not currently used at this time, but will be utilized in future versions.

Security
The HVAC Equipment Locator and the accompanying Carmel Equipment Server utilize the following security measures to ensure that your equipment information is safe and secure, including:

1. User Authentication: To synchronize information to and from the web portal and also to log into the web portal, you must input proper login and password information.
2. Encryption: All information is transmitted from the mobile app to and from the web server using 512-bit SSL encryption. This means that the information is wirelessly transmitted without any risk of hackers intercepting this data.
3. Secure server w/Backup: The server(s) that host the Carmel Equipment Server are located at a highly secure colocation facility in downtown San Francisco. In addition, the server(s) contain the latest antivirus and firewall software, and are periodically backed up to ensure data continuity.

Copyright 2011. Carmel Software Corporation. All rights reserved.