What’s new in the Facilities Suite

When annotating a drawing, you can now use AI beta to auto-populate fields on assets (such as make, model, and serial number) directly from a scanned image.

Learn more about annotating a drawing.

Spaces now includes more fields, such as ceiling type and paint color. You can also select the order in which fields appear, or set a default field order from the Actions menu.

On the Manage Spaces page, an icon appears next to spaces with customized modal fields ( ) and tooltip fields ().

Learn more about spaces.

You can now choose to use a new form when making a request. On the Make A Request page, turn on the Use New Version toggle.

The new request form lets you select a specific space, or any space that fits your criteria.

Learn more about making a request with the new form.

Several calendar enhancements make it more efficient to use.

• When viewing a multiple occurrence, multi-space request, you can now see which spaces have been canceled for a specific occurrence.

  

• Creation Date and Creator are now available as optional columns on the Manage Calendar Information page and Manage Blocked Date page. These columns are hidden by default.

  

• There have been updates to calendar filtering:

  

  • Filter your calendar to show events with a status of On Hold.
  • Use the new Search button.

Learn more about managing your calendar.

Several updates make payments more convenient:

• An updated Integrations Settings tab lets districts select multiple payment options, and view only the fields for the options selected.

  

• When paying with Stripe, users can now select from Pay Deposit or Pay Remaining Balance.

  

• You can now set up payments with Authorize.net.

  

Learn more about payment integrations.

Gallery View has a cleaner, more consistent appearance, with standardized image sizing.

Images in Gallery View no longer stretch to fill the full browser width. Instead, they are centered, display at a fixed height of 500 pixels, and automatically adjust in width to maintain their aspect ratio.

Portrait and square images are no longer allowed. If you try to upload one, the upload is blocked and you are prompted to choose a landscape image instead.

Learn more about Gallery View images.

Groups can now view their past insurance information. To see previously uploaded insurance files, click View Old Files next to Insurance Information.

When uploading a new file, if a file with the same name already exists, the new file is now saved with a time stamp.

Learn more about uploading insurance forms.

There are several enhancements to invoicing:

• You can now edit invoice dates.
  • Users with the Manage District Settings user permission can change the Invoice Date (date when an invoice is sent).
  • Users with the Can Send Invoices role permission can change the invoice Due Date.

  These changes appear in the invoice Change History.

  

  Learn more about draft invoices.

• You can now enter negative dollar amounts on an invoice under Actions > Refund. When a negative amount is entered, Schedules adjusts the invoice balance, processes a refund, and logs the refund in the invoice history.

  

  Learn more about refunding or crediting a group.

• You can now recalculate costs on an invoice in Draft status.

  

  Learn more about recalculating costs on an invoice.

The following reports have been updated:

• On the Fields report, there is a new Request Files column that shows the names of files attached when the request was submitted. This column is optional and must be selected to appear.
• On the Calendar Report, the timeline view now shows an event in every space where it is scheduled, not just the first space. All scheduled spaces now appear as Unavailable.

• On the Summary Dashboard, the Date field is now based on the event date instead of the create date.

Learn more about reports.

Additional email templates are available for status changes. Users can customize the message content in existing templates, but cannot create new ones. There are new templates for the following statuses:

• Submitted
• Awaiting Your Approval
• Approved
• On Hold
• Hold Removed
• Canceled
• Declined
• Modified

You can also revert a template to the default.

Learn more about email templates.

Mass approval is now more flexible and efficient:

• Administrators can now control who can mass-approve requests by assigning a user permission. If this permission is not enabled, Space Approvers will not see the Mass Approve option.

  

• When a Space Approver mass-approves multiple requests, the system now sends one consolidated email for each unique combination of Approval Path, Step, and Schedule ID. Each email lists all requests in that group.

Learn more about mass approval.

Groups now have a better registration experience with the following updates:

• When a group registers with a name that already exists in the system, the group manager receives an email explaining the situation. The group can then choose a new name or request to be added as a group manager for the existing group. The email now includes:
  • Name
  • Email
  • Phone number
  • Group name
  • Group phone number
  • Group address, city, state, and zip code
  • Reason for registration (if shown and filled out)

• On the Groups page, the Notes and Group File columns have been enlarged for better visibility.

Learn more about managing groups.

The Work Orders integration includes several enhancements:

• A new user permission, Create Work Orders, is now required to create work orders manually. This lets users see the Create Work Orders option on the request details page.

  

• You can now export the list of mapped spaces between Schedules to Work Orders. The Link Spaces button has moved to the Actions menu, which now also includes Export List.

  

• When generating one work order per field, each work order now has a unique description.

  

• When multiple work orders are associated with a single request, the request details page now includes a clickable link that opens all related work order requests in a pop-up.

  

Learn more about integrating with Work Orders.

If your district uses Event Registration, you can now link spaces so courses appear in Schedules automatically.

The integration adds a default group and email for Event Registration requests, making it easier to organize imported requests and respond when the requested space is unavailable.

Requests created through this integration are managed in Event Registration. In Schedules, users can only view the request and add notes.

Learn more about Event Registration.

Approval paths improvements are as follows:

• A new Approval Path report lets you export the number of requests and spaces using each path from a new Actions button.

  

• Unused approval paths are now hidden. You can see hidden approval paths by selecting Inactive Approval Paths from a new filter.

  

Learn more about approval paths.

There have been a number of general enhancements to Schedules:

• The Notifications tab on the Manage Field page has a modern new look. Sites now appear one per row, with all additionally notified users listed. You can also add or remove users more easily.

  

• You can now inactivate and reactivate documents.

  

• A new internal setting for admin users improves Enterprise load time by reducing the number of columns loaded on the following pages:
  • Awaiting My Approval
  • View All Requests
  • All Pending Requests
  • On Hold Requests
  • Upcoming Events
  • Future Conflicts

• On the View All Occurrences page for recurring , multiple, and multi-recurring events, users with the Can Delete Requests user permission can bulk delete requests that have not been invoiced by selecting Actions > Delete.

With AI email ticketing, when an active Work Orders user submits a request by email, AI populates the following request fields based on the email content:

• Request Category
• Problem Type
• Purpose
• Priority

With those fields populated, any configured approval paths, auto assignments, auto-notifications, and SLAs apply to the applicable request types.

AI-generated fields are identified by this icon: . You can manually update any field as needed.

If a description exceeds 500 characters, regardless of whether a request is sent by email or through the app (web or Follett Software Ops), AI can generate a concise summary of the problem.

The request's History tab shows if fields were set by AI.

New request type settings that must be enabled to allow AI to complete fields and generate a description summary are:

• Use AI to fill missing fields for requests created via email
• Enable AI Description Summary

Learn more about AI email ticketing and setting up AI request type options.

Work Orders now includes an internal documentation hub where IT teams can document solutions, standard procedures, and troubleshooting guides. Articles support rich-text formatting, images, and various file types. A new Manage Article Types page lets administrators add, edit, and delete the article types used to organize content.

Two new role permissions are included for Knowledge Base access:

• View Knowledge Base Articles: Browse and read published articles based on the assigned asset type and request type restrictions.
• Manage Knowledge Base Articles: Create, edit, delete, and update article status.

Learn more about the Knowledge Base.

You can now create circulation rules to automate your asset checkout policies. Rules define when assets are due and related overdue charges. Set up rules based on asset type, user role, and/or building.

Learn more about creating circulation rules.

You can now add additional email addresses to the Manage Users page for asset circulation notifications. The addresses will receive asset check-in and check-out receipts, due date reminders, and overdue notices.

Learn more about managing users.

To make navigation more predictable and reduce tab clutter, Dashboard actions, asset transfer IDs, and Dashboard reports now open in the same tab from which they were launched.

Dashboard actions: Add asset, Check in, New request, and Check out

Transfer ID in Assets > Manage Asset Transfers

Reports

• Summary Dashboard
• Labor Dashboard
• Facilities Asset Dashboard
• Technology Asset Dashboard
• Total Cost Dashboard

When updating a request to On Hold from the Requests page, you are now prompted to select an on-hold reason and an off-hold date, matching the behavior on the request details page.

Learn more about putting requests on hold.

On asset and request list pages, you can now specify whether to select all items on a page or all items across all pages.

A new icon () appears at the top of the 'Select all' column. After choosing an option, a banner at the top of the page indicates the number of items selected. To remove the selection, click Clear in the banner.

If you perform one of the following actions, the selected items are included:

• Asset pages:
  • Mass Update
  • Transfer Assets
  • Print Details
  • QR Report
  • Perform Audit
• Request pages:
  • Mass Update
  • Merge Requests
  • Print Details
  • Delete

With the View User Details Administrative permission, you can now see a user's barcode on the User View page (Users > Manage Users, select a user).

Learn more about managing users.

When you set filters for the 'Open requests' and Requests widgets, the filters persist when you log out. The next time you log in, the filters remain. They stay set until you clear or update them.

Learn more about the Dashboard.

Asset Import now supports additional fields that appear in the import template and the column-mapping step of the import wizard.

When you download the import template, the Condition, Funding Source, and Instructional Classification fields include drop-down values based on what is set up in Manage Custom Fields. The Excel file also includes a Dropdown Values sheet that lists the available values for those fields, along with an Asset Type column that shows all asset types that exist in Work Orders at the time the template is downloaded.

Learn more about importing assets.

Work Orders now supports automatic student inactivation through OneRoster. During the nightly OneRoster sync, students are inactivated if they are marked inactive or 'to be deleted' in the district's student information system (SIS).

Learn more about OneRoster.

Spaces now includes more fields, making it easier to track room information, maintenance context, and assigned staff in one place. These fields continue to be shared with Facilities Drawings.

On the Spaces list page, the space name now links to the space's detail page. You can also add external notes and edit space details from that page. All new fields are available as optional columns on the Spaces list page.

Learn more about spaces.

Asset audits are now easier to manage while they are in progress.

Updates include the following:

• The Perform Audit page has been renamed 'Audit assets'.
• The audit name and date appear in a collapsible 'Audit details' section and can be updated anytime before the audit is completed.
• The status indicator is more prominent and updates in real time.
• A bulk action toolbar lets you assign a status or confirm multiple assets at once.
• Columns in the asset table were rearranged, have new labels, and include a row-select checkbox; and the Confirmed checkbox is now a toggle.
• When an asset is confirmed, that row is updated with the user and audit date. A row cannot be selected for bulk actions unless it is unconfirmed.
• You can edit an asset and update its Location, Status, and/or Condition using a drop-down.
• To save Notes, you now click 'Back to Manage Audits'.
• When you submit an audit with unconfirmed assets, a warning appears that lets you proceed or return to confirm remaining assets.

Learn more about asset audits.

The Follett Software Ops app includes several updates that make it more efficient to use. You can now do the following:

• Log in using single sign-on with SAML for Google, Microsoft, or Okta.
• Edit the Description, Notes, Priority, Complete By, Budget Code, and Project fields on a request's details.
  
• Add purchases, inventory, assets, and files to a request.
  
• View an asset's details and edit the asset, check out or check in, and view the history.
  

Learn more about the Follett Software Ops app.

Event Registration is the newest solution in the Follett Facilities Suites. It connects community education catalogs, real-time facility scheduling, online payments, and audit-ready reporting. This helps districts reduce the administrative burden, and recover operational costs.

Learn more about Event Registration.

Now you can lock annotations to prevent the creation and editing of space polygons. Annotations are unlocked by default.

Find out more about annotations.

Users with the Manage Site Settings permission can now set the heatmap opacity level for space polygons. This defaults to 50%, but you can choose 25%, 50%, 75%, or 100%.

Learn more about General Settings.

The Drawing menu has been updated for users with the View Drawing or View Markup Drawing permission. They will now see View Drawing, indicating view-only permission.

Users with the Add Drawing, Edit Drawing Properties, Delete Drawing, and Edit Markup Drawing permissions will still see Edit/Markup.

Users with the Additionally Notified or Manage Site Settings permission can customize email notifications in their profile by selecting which notifications they want to receive.

Learn more about customizing email notifications.

The Manage Classifications page now has a new Admin Only setting.

• Select Yes for the selected classification to be restricted to group classification managers.
• Select No for this classification to appear as an option for all users when they register or add a group.

Learn more about managing classifications.

When you generate an iCal link from a site or space, you can now enter a custom date range.

Learn more about managing sites and spaces.

When an insurance file is uploaded to a group profile, Schedules now sends an automatic confirmation email to the user who uploaded that file. The insurance file is included as an attachment.

Learn more about the uploading insurance information.

You can now choose whether to include pending events when syncing to Google Calendar.

Learn more about integration settings.

You can now export a space rate report as a PDF.

Learn more about space rate reports.

If group contacts were selected to be notified on a request, their names now appear in a new section called Group Contacts under Event Information when the request is printed to PDF. If multiple group contacts are selected, they will all appear.

Learn more about request details.

Users with the Manage Site Settings permission can now leverage the Schedules API.

Contact Follett Software for more information.

More changes have been made to the Dashboard page since its redesign in the 25.6 release. It now includes:

• Service level agreements in the 'Open requests' widget.
• A Requests widget showing the average time to request resolution.
• The option to filter in the 'Open requests' and Requests widgets.
• An interactive Assets widget showing asset status via a pie chart.

Learn more about the Dashboard.

The Manage assets page has several updates, including the following:

• Pagination, number of items, and number of assets now appear at the top and bottom of the table.
  
• The Active column shows Yes or No instead of a checkbox.
• To inactivate an asset, access the asset's details page instead of using an icon on the Manage assets page.
• When you do not select any assets and try to perform Actions > Mass Update, Transfer Assets, QR Report, or Perform Audit, a message informs you to select one or more assets and try again.

Learn more about managing assets.

When you perform an audit, you can now scan asset barcodes. If the assets are part of the audit, they are confirmed. If an asset is not part of the audit, it is added automatically.

When you perform an audit, you will see the following changes related to the Scan Barcode option:

• A new Location drop-down appears below the Scan Barcode field. A selection is required when you scan or enter a barcode.
• When you scan an asset barcode that is part of the audit, if the location is different than the one you selected, the location is updated. If the asset is not part of the audit, it is added to the audit and the location is updated to what was selected.
• If you have a carriage return setting for your scanner, the scan is done automatically. Otherwise, you can click Scan.
• The table now shows a Barcode column instead of ID.
• If a scanned device has a status of In Use, Lost, or Stolen, a message asks if you want to update the status to Available.
• Assets with a status of In Use can be checked in when adding them to the audit.

Learn more about managing asset audits.

The Quick Circulation page has several updates to help you when circulating assets, including the following:

• On both Check Out and Check In, there is text above the Scan Barcode field to remind you to scan a user barcode and then the asset barcode.
• If an asset cannot be checked out, a message appears letting you know the reason, such as the asset is already in use, lost, stolen, or the barcode is not found.
  
• After checking out or in an asset, the table at the bottom of the page shows both the user name and barcode, along with the asset name and barcode.
  
• Administrators can now require a due date when checking out assets. If this option is set to yes, a due date is required wherever you check out assets, except Mass Circulate.
  

Learn more about Quick Circulation and General Settings.

You can now create a Work Orders request anywhere on a drawing with a Work Orders stamp. The request does not have to be tied to an asset.

Learn more about adding work orders.

Users with the Manage Site Settings permission can now create heat maps. This lets you set colors as visual priorities for defined space polygons. Colors appear automatically based the number of open requests in each area.

Based on the screenshot above, if you have five open requests within a defined space polygon, that area will appear in yellow, indicating Medium priority.

Learn more about general settings.

Users with the Space Approver user permission can mass approve all requests on the Awaiting My Approval page.

Learn more about mass approving requests.

Users with the Manage District Settings user permission can now set up the Work Orders integration to create one work order per field. This allows multiple work orders to be created per request. For example, if you have a field asking for the number of tables needed, and another field asking if microphones are needed, two work orders will be created: one for tables, and one for microphones.

Learn more about integrating with Work Orders.

Users with the Manage District Settings user permission can now add sections to the request form. You can also drag and drop sections into a new order.

Learn more about managing request forms.

You can now export a custom report as a PDF.

Learn more about custom reports.

When you save an edited request, all 'Send Update e-mail to' checkboxes are now selected by default.

Learn more about notifications after editing a request.

Users with the Manage District Settings user permission can bulk update approval paths by classification for all spaces within a site.

Learn more about managing sites.

You can now see external events on the Request Summary Report and Request Details Report. External events are events brought into (Undefined variable: MyVariables.ML Schedules) from an integration, such as Google Calendar or EventLink.

Learn more about the Request Summary Report and Request Details Report.

You can now include canceled events on contracts.

Learn more about contract settings.

The Import Wizard has a new, updated look.

Learn more about the Import Wizard.

Users with the Manage District Settings user permission can now see the change history of a blocked date.

Learn more about managing blocked dates.

When you print a request's details, the creator's name now appears, if it is different from the requestor's name.

Learn more about the Request Details page.

The Payments Dashboard now has a widget with the dollar amount of payments received by group, instead of the number of payments received by group.

Learn more about the Payments Dashboard.

The newest Follett Software product is IT Asset Manager. Use it to manage all your technology devices. Students and staff can create support requests, while IT staff can assign and track them. Administrators can run reports to view the number of requests, labor costs, purchase costs, inventory, request response times, and more.

Learn more about IT Asset Manager.

The new Follett Software Ops app lets you create and view requests on the go. Based on your permissions in the web app, you can also change a request status, view assets, add notes and labor, and scan assets.

Learn more about the Work Orders Ops mobile app.

The redesigned Dashboard gives you a comprehensive view of your requests and assets at a glance:

• See open requests organized by priority and assignment.
• View recent notifications with improved formatting.
• Access quick actions for common tasks.
• Track request trends with visual charts.

Learn more about the Dashboard.

Two new columns make it easier to manage users.

Create Date column

When a user is created, whether manually or through a sync, a Create Date is stored in (Undefined variable: General.ML Work Orders). Create Date is now an available optional column on the Manage Users page. The date and time appears in the column when selected.

Create Method column

To make troubleshooting easier, when a user is added to (Undefined variable: General.ML Work Orders), how the user was created is logged. You can add Create Method as a column to the Manage Users page.

The column will log when a user is created in any of the following ways:

• Manually on the Manage Users page and the Check-Out Assets page, using the + Add User button
• Via a custom form, email, or import
• Google SSO or Destiny SSO
• Active Directory
• SAML Azure, SAML Classlink, SAML Google, or SAML Okta
• OneRoster
• A user is created in FacilitiesDrawings and synced

You can sort and filter on both the Create Date and Create Method columns.

Learn more about managing users.

There are many new fields on the Manage Users page. You can't add these fields as columns to the Manage Users page, and they won't appear on a user's details page.

New fields on the Manage Users page include: 

• Middle Name
• Mobile Phone Number
• Name Suffix
• Secondary Phone
• Secondary Mobile Phone
• Secondary E-Mail
• Alt ID
• State ID
• District ID
• Grade Level
• Graduation Year
• Birthdate
• Locker

Address is in a separate collapsible section. You can add primary and secondary addresses. Address fields include:

• Address 1
• Address 2
• City
• State
• Zip

Learn more about managing users.

You can now bulk assign charges to users on the Manage Users page. This will help you quickly assign charges, such as for insurance or tech fees, to many users at once.

Learn more about managing users.

There is a new option in General Settings to show a warning when checking out assets to a student who has unpaid charges. With this option turned on, you will see a pop-up that lets you cancel, override, or complete the checkout. The pop-up will appear in all areas of the system where you can check out assets, except for bulk circulation.

Learn more about General Settings.

You can now use an Add Charge button to assess a fee or fine for an asset upon check-in on the following pages:

• Assets > Check-In Assets. Search for the asset to check in, and then click Check-In & Add Charge.
• Assets > View All Assets. After the asset's Details page is accessed, click Check-In. On the pop-up, make updates and click Check-In & Add Charge.
  
• Assets > Quick Circulation. After scanning an item, click Add Charge.
  

When you click to add charges, an Add Charge page appears with the Asset and User fields pre-populated.

Learn more about checking in assets.

There have been a couple of charge-related enhancements

Charge Type categorization

The Manage Charge Type page now includes a Category field to group charges as fees or fines.

Charges Report

Category is also an available column on the Charges Report.

Another update: When you group this report by any field (except the dollar amount), you will see subtotals for the dollar amount fields.

Learn more about managing charge types and the Charges Report.

Before seeing data on the View All Requests and View All Assets pages, you now need to search or apply a filter. This update will load data quicker.

In addition, the following updates were made to buttons and links on all request and asset pages:

• If you filter on a column, a filter icon appears in the column header. To sort a filtered column, click the filter icon to see the sort icon.
• Clear filters sets the page back to showing no data.
• The Columns button is now a link called Add, re-order, or remove table columns.
• The delete icon is red.
• Inactive requests or assets are now gray instead of red.

When filters are set, the next time you access that page, the filters will continue to be applied.

Funding Source and Instructional Classification are now single-select drop-down fields that can be added to asset records of a specific type. Users with the Manage Site Settings permission can customize these fields, creating unique category names and linking them to specific asset types. For example, maybe you want the PTO funding source linked to iPads.

There are also new EFR standard fields in asset records:

• Condition: Track if an asset is new, good, fair, poor, usable, damaged, or unusable.
• Date Last Accounted For: Manually enter the date you accounted for an asset.
• Depreciation Convention: Determine how much an asset depreciates over the course of its life. This is based on IRS depreciation conventions of annual, half-year, mid-month, and mid-quarter.

Learn more about managing custom fields.

Administrators can enable a new 'Auto Generate Barcode for New Assets' field in General Settings > Assets tab. When an asset is created – either manually or via an asset import – Work Orders will automatically generate a barcode if that field is blank.

Barcodes will use Code 39 Generic format. They will be 10 characters, start with a 5, and can contain numbers, uppercase letters, and the following characters: minus (-), plus (+), period (.), dollar sign ($), slash (/), and percent (%).

Learn more about general settings and managing assets.

There has been an enhancement to barcode scanning when you scan an asset that doesn't exist or can't be circulated. If the 'No results found' message appears and you backspace on the barcode to delete it, a drop-down of assets you can circulate appears – with the top one selected. Previously, when you scanned another asset, it would select the top asset in the drop-down, along with the scanned asset. Now, when you scan another barcode, only the scanned asset is selected.

Duplicate barcodes are now supported in (Undefined variable: General.ML Work Orders). When duplicate barcodes are found, you are required to select the correct asset from a pop-up. This pop-up will appear on pages where you can search for assets, such as Check In, Check Out, Quick Circulation, when adding an asset to a request, and when creating a request.

During mass circulation, the checkout is not completed and a note is added to the error log.

Learn more about assets.

Previously, if an asset had a status of In Use and was checked out in (Undefined variable: General.ML Work Orders) and then synced with Google, the status changed to Available. Now, when an asset is checked out, the status is not updated to Available until the asset is checked in.

Learn more about status of synced assets.

You can now create a work orders stamp in Facilities Drawings. This lets you create a request from anywhere on a drawing. You must set up this integration in Work Orders.

Learn more about integrating with Facilities Drawings.

The LDAP Authentication option when adding a new user has been removed.

Learn more about adding a new user.