We know how important it is to keep track of and manage your fleet of Kontakt.io devices - from knowing if they are deployed and in use, on a shelf available for use, or if they have been retired and taken out of inventory. Well, setting the Deployment Status of your devices can help with this.
In this article, we'll explore the Deployment Status setting in more detail, from its benefits, what each status indicates, and to how update and manage your the Deployment Status of your devices.
Note
Effective May 2023, a Kontakt.io device category terminology change was introduced. Prior to this change, Kontakt.io devices were categorized as Beacons or Gateways.
Now, when you access the Kio Cloud apps, you will notice that devices are categorized as Tags or Infrastructure.
-
Tags refer to devices that are moving and being tracked by some kind of infrastructure. These devices are not assigned to a location within Smart Location. For example, Asset Tags, Smart Badges, Nano Tags, .
-
Infrastructure refers to devices that are stationary and remain in a fixed location. They are assigned to a room within Smart Location. For example, Portal Lights, Portal Beams, and Anchor Beacons. You may also notice that Portal Beams are also referred to as room sensors and Anchor Beacons may be referred to as reference beacons.
Using the Deployment Status can provide a range of benefits to manage and monitor the lifecycle of your devices.
Here are some of the key benefits:
-
Improved inventory management. By keeping the Deployment Status of your device up-to-date, you can get a clearer picture of which devices are in use, which ones are waiting to be deployed, and which ones have been retired or have been RMA'd. This can help to manage your inventory more effectively and avoid wasting resources on unnecessary devices.
For those that manage the deployment and installation of devices, you can use this setting to keep track of devices that are currently installed and which are waiting to be installed.
-
More informed decision-making. When you have up-to-date information on lifecycle of your devices, you can make more informed decisions about which devices to deploy where, when to retire devices, and when to order replacements. This can help you make the most of your Kontakt.io devices.
-
Easier device retirement and replacement. When a device reaches the end of its useful life, you need to retire it and replace it with a new device. By updating your devices to an End of life status, you can keep track of which devices are retired.
The Deployment Status setting has three options designed to provide a clear indicator of the state of a device in its lifecycle.
-
To be deployed: this status indicates that the device is waiting to be installed and is not currently in use.
When this setting was released, all devices were set to To be deployed as the default value. And when you add devices by claiming a Kontakt.io Order ID, the devices are all set to To be deployed.
-
Deployed: this status indicates that the device has been installed and is currently in use.
-
End of life: this status indicates that the device has reached the end of its useful life and should be retired or replaced.
From the Tags and Infrastructure list views, with the Customize Table feature, you can add the Deployment Status column to the list view.
The first-time you are adding this column, you'll need to click Restore Default to display the Deployment Status setting.
Click on image to view in full screen.
When you want to view your devices by a specific Deployment status, set the Search & Filter Criteria to Deployment Status and from the filter select a status. The same filtering options are available from both the Tags and Infrastructure menus.
The Deployment Status is available from the profile of a device from its General tab.
To update the Deployment Status of a Tag device, go to Tags and select the ID of the device. Its Deployment Status is available from its General tab.
You can do the same for Infrastructure devices. From the left menu, select Infrastructure > select the ID of device and update its Deployment Status from its General tab.
When you need to update the Deployment Status for a handful to hundreds of devices, be sure to use the Export (Download CSV) and Import CSV features. For detailed instructions, see Update the settings for multiple devices at the same time.
When updating a CSV file to be imported, the Deployment Status is required to be supplied in the following formats:
TO_BE_DEPLOYED
DEPLOYED
END_OF_LIFE
