Getting Started

While a datasphere is quite simple to use, understanding a few simple concepts will greatly enhance the datasphere experience for an end user. The basic concepts are explained in this section.

What Is a Property?

A property is a physical location that could contain equipment or other assets.

What Are Property Levels?

A datasphere organizes properties into a directory using the following levels:

Enterprise — a group of properties that are very geographically diverse, such as a corporation with properties located across the nation or globe.

Region — a group of properties that are somewhat geographically diverse, such as properties located in an area of the country, a particular state, or a metropolitan area.

Complex — a group of properties that share a geographical location, such as an apartment complex, a mall, or a college or corporate campus.

Wing — a section of a building that may contain multiple floors, such as the north wing or east tower.

Building/Structure — a property that is a stand-alone structure, such as an office building or cell phone tower.

Floor — a level or a floor of a structure, such as the basement of a building or the 175-foot level of a cell tower.

Apartment/Suite/Segment — a segment of a level or floor, such as a single apartment on the third floor.

Room — a single room within an apartment or office suite, such as the bathroom

What Are Specifications?

A Specification is a descriptive attribute of a property such as a floor finish. As an example, the specification items which describe the floor finishes may include Manufacturer, Color, Pattern, etc.

What Are Systems?

A System is a group of interrelated equipment types (equipment) which comprise a whole unit servicing a common purpose or operation. The standard systems cataloged within a datasphere are Conveyance, Electrical, Life Safety, Mechanical, Plumbing and Thermal/Moisture Protection (Roof). An example is the Electrical System which would be comprised of equipment such as transformers, panels, switchgear and generators.

What is Equipment?

Equipment are the physical resources used in the operation of a system or the building. A datasphere can contain information about a piece of equipment or resource such as the manufacturer, model number, serial number and specifications.

What Are Contacts?

Contacts are references to people or companies that are associated with the properties or equipment contained in a datasphere. Contact data may include, names, phone numbers, email addresses, etc... Each individual contact is classified by Type and maybe further classified by Scope. For example a contact could have a type of manufacturer and a scope of electrical equipment.

What Are Documents?

Documents are references to specific paper or electronic information such as drawings, an Adobe PDF file or a digital photograph that are associated with a specific property, individual piece of equipment or specific model. Each document reference contains a description, category and subcategory data.