Reasons to move to FM:Interact 8.4 include the new FMx5 viewer, WSA module, and enhanced configurability
Last year with the release of FM:Interact 8.3, I posted about my five favorite FM:Interact 8.3 features and why they made FM:Interact 8.3 our best release yet. I’m back again, but this time I’ll give you a sneak peek into the most powerful features released with FM:Interact 8.4, our latest and greatest FM:Interact version.
Facilities managers who are in charge of maintaining accurate and up-to-date space data are tasked with making updates efficiently while not compromising data integrity. FM:Systems has responded to these needs by enhancing the powerfully simple FM:Interact suite with new time-saving features. With 8.3, my favorite features revolved around meeting the needs of mobile workers. With 8.4, my favorite features revolve around the intuitive tools provided to help facilities managers manage their facilities data with greater ease, increased speed, and streamlined data entry and manipulation. Read on to learn a little bit about the top reasons to move to FM:Interact 8.4 and how they can give you better control over your facilities data.
FMx5 Viewer
The FMx5 viewer receives the number one spot because it’s more than just a floor plan viewer–it includes viewer-specific functionality that will make your life as a facilities manager much easier. Beyond being able to interact with floor plans at an increased speed without needing to install a plugin, you can do the following from within the FMx5 viewer:
- Multi-select, multi-edit, and multi-vacate spaces: Did an internal move occur that resulted in spaces changing departmental ownership? Need to update the capacity information of 30 spaces? Should a group of spaces be vacated in preparation for renovations? Now, instead of needing to update these spaces individually, facilities managers can multi-select spaces on the floor plan, right-click, and make data changes that will apply to all selected spaces.
- Drag-and-drop room assignment: While looking at occupancy data on a floor plan, facilities managers can now update room assignments and remediate discrepancies simply by dragging and dropping the occupant from one space to another. Have a new employee that needs a workspace? Search for that employee, look on the floor plan for the appropriate unoccupied space, and place the employee in that space, seeing the graphic view update instantly to reflect the changes.
Workplace Survey Application (WSA)
This module-application combination takes the guesswork out of reporting on space utilization, giving facilities managers greater insight and control over the utilization of their real estate. Using the standard FM:Interact platform, create surveys that surveyors can complete on their tablet devices while walking through the facilities without being connected to a network, enabling accurate data collection regardless of network connectivity. With WSA, you can gather accurate utilization data over a designated period of time and employ greater control over space utilization decisions.
Enhanced Configurability
FM:Interact 8.4 includes a multitude of features designed to optimize data entry and give you control over your data. The following are just a few examples of such enhancements:
- Child view enhancements: We acknowledge that performance hits during data load can turn data entry and modification into a frustrating task, so we’ve taken an extra step to help eliminate some of this pain and integrate child views more seamlessly into our existing product. In FM:Interact 8.4, options exist to enable in child views the pagination that exists in standard views and to allow add/edit/delete privileges to cascade from the parent view to child views. With these new features, you can set up your views and child views more quickly and effortlessly and load hundreds of child records without experiencing a performance hit, allowing you to spend your time in places it really matters.
- Calendar restriction extensions: Save time by eliminating the back-and-forth that occurs when someone submits a move, service, or room request for a day that can’t be booked. Maybe people on floor 1 should only be able to submit move and service requests on Mondays and Wednesdays, while people on floor 2 should be able to submit these requests on Tuesdays and Thursdays. With the calendar restriction extension in FM:Interact 8.4, this is easily configurable. Administrators can define calendar restrictions on a view-by-view basis, giving them greater flexibility and control over when groups of people can request certain activities.
- Auto refresh: Keep your facilities personnel updated with the latest data additions and changes by enabling auto refresh on a view. When auto refresh is enabled, the data grid refreshes at a given interval, giving users greater visibility into the most current facilities data.
You can learn more about the new features on the “New Features of FM:Interact 8.4” page of our website.
