Scanning Assets

The Forager app records asset locations as a side effect of your existing work. You do not need to run a dedicated audit — just scan barcodes when you’re already near equipment.

​

When to use Presence Confirmation

• Daily rounds — Techs scan assets during their normal floor walks as part of regular IT or biomedical work. Each scan creates a compliance record without any dedicated audit activity.
• Pre-audit sweep — The week before a JCAHO or similar inspection, the team does a structured walk of every floor to maximize record freshness. Presence Confirmation handles the logging automatically.
• After an equipment move — A device was relocated. Scanning it at the new location updates the CMDB record and closes the gap in the audit trail.
• Biomedical PMI rounds — Biomedical engineers walk through ORs and patient floors scanning infusion pumps and ventilators before scheduled maintenance. Each scan contributes to PMI compliance as a side effect.
• New asset discovery — A tech encounters a device with no barcode in the system. Scanning it creates a new record at that location — admin fills in the details later from the dashboard.
• Covering another tech’s floor — A team member is out. Their colleague covers the area and the attestation record captures who actually performed each scan.

---

​

Hardware barcode scanners

If you’re on a Zebra or Honeywell device, the hardware trigger works automatically — no setup needed. The app detects the scanner at startup and switches to hardware mode. In hardware mode, you will see “Waiting for scan…” instead of a camera preview. Pull the trigger to scan as usual. The match/mismatch result appears exactly the same as it would after a camera scan. If your admin has enabled the camera fallback option, you will also see a “Use camera instead” button. Tap it if you need to scan a barcode the hardware scanner is struggling with. If your device has a hardware scanner but the app is showing a camera preview, check with your admin — the input mode may be set to Camera. The first time you open the app in hardware scanner mode, a one-time notification appears at the bottom of the home screen confirming that hardware mode is active. It dismisses automatically after a few seconds.

​

Text Scanning (OCR)

Not all facilities use barcodes or QR codes. If your organization relies on plain text labels (like Brother P-Touch labels or handwritten asset tags), you can use the built-in Optical Character Recognition (OCR) feature. To scan text instead of a barcode:

1. Tap the Text Label toggle at the top of the camera preview to switch out of Barcode mode.
2. Aim the camera at the text label. The app reads the text, confirms the asset, and — if photo attestation is enabled — automatically crops and saves a photo of the tag.

​

Filtering by prefix

If your facility uses location-coded asset tags (for example F3-00142 on Floor 3, or WH-A009 in the warehouse), you can filter the scanner to only pick up tags that start with a specific prefix. This prevents the camera from mistakenly reading unrelated text in the background. To add a prefix filter:

1. Switch to Text Label mode — a text input appears below the toggle.
2. Type your prefix (e.g. F3-) and press Done on the keyboard, or tap the checkmark icon.
3. A chip appears showing your active prefix. The scanner now only confirms assets that start with that prefix.
4. Add more prefixes for additional tag formats in the same area (e.g. [F3-] [MED-]).
5. Tap any chip to remove it.

This process works identically to barcode scanning and generates the same photo attestation proof (if enabled).

​

Torch (flashlight)

When scanning in dim environments — equipment closets, under desks, behind server racks — tap the flashlight icon in the top-right corner of the camera preview to turn on the torch. Tap again to turn it off. The torch works in both Barcode and Text Label modes. It resets to off each time you leave the scan screen.

​

Haptic feedback

Forager taps your phone to confirm each scan result — no need to look at the screen: Haptics are on by default. To turn them off, go to Profile → Preferences → Haptic feedback.

​

Photo attestation

If your company has photo attestation enabled, Forager automatically captures a photo of the asset tag at the moment the barcode is detected. You do not need to do anything — the photo is taken silently in the background and attached to the attestation record. Your admin can review these photos in the Attestation Log on the web dashboard. The photos serve as physical proof of presence for compliance audits.

​

Before you start

• Your location must be surveyed. If the app cannot determine your current room, it will tell you.
• You need a line-of-sight to the asset’s barcode label.

​

How to scan

​

Handling a mismatch

A mismatch means the asset’s recorded location does not match the room you’re currently in. When a mismatch appears, you have two options: Update location — confirm the asset is actually here now. Forager updates the recorded location and writes a mismatch_confirmed attestation. Use this when the device has genuinely been moved. Dismiss — leave the recorded location unchanged. Forager writes a mismatch_dismissed attestation. Use this when you picked up the device to service it and will return it to its original location, or when you believe the current room classification is incorrect.

​

Overriding your detected room

If the app shows the wrong room in the location chip, you can manually select your actual room before scanning:

1. Tap the room chip at the top of the Presence Confirmation screen
2. A room picker sheet opens — select the correct room
3. The chip updates and all subsequent scans use your selected room

Use this when RF detection is uncertain (low confidence, wrong room shown) or when surveying hasn’t been completed for your area. Your manual selection is not saved after you leave the screen.

​

Tips for accurate scanning

• Stand still when the app is determining your location — walking between rooms while scanning can cause the app to classify you in the wrong room
• Scan assets in the room they live in, not from a hallway or doorway
• If you moved a device for repair, scan it again when you return it

​

Points earned sheet

After each successful confirmation, a sheet pops up showing what you earned: Tap Done to return to scanning mode. Tap Next in queue → to jump to the Most Wanted list and pick the next target without losing your momentum.

​

Offline scanning

Forager can record scans without an internet connection. Attestations are queued locally and synced when connectivity is restored. The room classification still works offline since it uses local RF fingerprints.