Asset Tracking Dashboard: What Each View Should Show

What is an asset tracking dashboard?

An asset tracking dashboard is one screen that shows every tracked unit on a map, with the time each position was reported. You open it to find a unit, to see where one went, or to act on an alert.

You will also see it called an asset monitoring dashboard or a tracking dashboard. The location views are the same under any of these names. Each view answers one question: where a unit is, where it has been, which one needs attention, or what you can hand over as proof.

What an asset tracking dashboard should show

Four views do most of the work: the map, the history, the alerts and the export. Pick each view in the figure to see the question it answers.

A few more tools sit around those four views. An activity feed lists each entry, exit and move, with no setup. Geofences can be drawn on the map, or imported from a spreadsheet when you have many sites.

Alerts work best when they land in an app people already watch, such as email or a team chat. The alerts guide covers when to use each type.

A movement heatmap shows where a unit spends its time, and a satellite map helps in a large yard. History playback replays any day, with a time range you choose.

Put every unit on the dashboard, not only the big ones

A dashboard can only show units that carry a tracker. Tracking used to stop at the most expensive machines, because each GPS tracker needs wiring or regular charging, and its own data plan. Generators, trailers and tool boxes stayed off the map.

A crowdsourced tag has no wiring and no data plan. Any phone that passes reports where it heard the tag. These networks are large (Apple counts over a billion iPhone, iPad and Mac devices, and Google over a billion Android devices). A tag's battery lasts up to six years, depending on its size.

With no data plan per unit, the rest of the fleet can join the big machines on the same map. The asset tracking tags guide covers which tag suits which unit.

When to use the map and when to use the list

Use the map to see where things are, and the list to work through many units at once. Both show the same units and the same report times.

The map is best for finding where a unit is now. It also shows at a glance which units sit on which site. The list suits a morning check, with each unit's place and last report in one column.

Sharing the dashboard with your team

Give each colleague their own login rather than sharing one. You can then set what each person may do: view or change, for all tags or only selected ones.

For someone outside the company, a share link is simpler. It shows the unit without a login, can expire, and can be revoked at any time. The multi-user tracking page covers logins and access.

Using the record after the fact

Every location report stays on the record, with its time. That record is what you hand over when someone asks where a unit was.

Export it as a CSV or JSON file with route points and timestamps. Or create a one page proof of location report as a PDF. Both serve audits, insurance claims and proof of delivery.

Keep an ID list beside it. The National Equipment Register's 2016 theft report counted 11,574 equipment thefts and 2,442 recoveries. It names missing ownership records as one reason so few were recovered. It advises keeping every PIN or serial number ready for police and insurers.

The same record can feed other software. The API returns every report, and signed webhooks push each alert to the systems you already use.

What to expect from an asset tracking dashboard built on tags

Tags give the dashboard a dated position for every unit.

• Updates come from passing phones. Units on busy sites and roads update often. A unit in a remote spot updates when someone comes by, and the map shows when it last reported.
• Building-level position. The map shows which site, yard or stretch of road a unit is on. The unit's name tells you which one to walk to.
• Location, not engine data. A tag reports where a unit is and when it came and went, not its hours or fuel.
• Where, not who. The dashboard shows where a unit went. An equipment sign-out sheet records who had it.