Tech Forum

The other day I came across some demos
of Maintenance Magament Software.
Basically one was to keep track of a
fleet of vehicles - gas mileage, repairs, etc.
The other was more general purpose and
covered air conditioners, elevators, and
lawn care to name a few.
The software was definitely geared to
businesses; and business with money
from the cost of it. Does anyone know
of any good open-source alternatives ?

The reason I ask is because, it seems,
that the Facilities people in the Church
might really benefit from software like
this. And if nothing currently exisits
this could be something we could develop
for them. If they are currently using
software that fullfills this function,
can you tell us what it is ?

One more question - regarding Facilities -
where does the line get drawn between
Calling and Profession ?
I seem to remember hearing we had a
Physical Facilities Rep - but never heard
if it was non-paying calling or a job for him.
Or is it some sort of hybrid like Seminary Teacher.

Thanks,
Atticus Ewig

atticusewig wrote:The other day I came across some demos
of Maintenance Magament Software.
Basically one was to keep track of a
fleet of vehicles - gas mileage, repairs, etc.
The other was more general purpose and
covered air conditioners, elevators, and
lawn care to name a few.
The software was definitely geared to
businesses; and business with money
from the cost of it. Does anyone know
of any good open-source alternatives ?

The reason I ask is because, it seems,
that the Facilities people in the Church
might really benefit from software like
this. And if nothing currently exisits
this could be something we could develop
for them. If they are currently using
software that fullfills this function,
can you tell us what it is ?

The Church definitely has software that we use to track and maintain all of our equipment and facilities. I don't know what it is called or much about it, however.

Tom

atticusewig wrote: One more question - regarding Facilities -
where does the line get drawn between
Calling and Profession ?
I seem to remember hearing we had a
Physical Facilities Rep - but never heard
if it was non-paying calling or a job for him.
Or is it some sort of hybrid like Seminary Teacher.

It is a paying job. There is someone who is in charge of all facilities within a certain radius and they have maintenance crews that rove around fixing things. They also have part-time paid custodial people that clean the buildings. Usually this is not enough so, in the case of our ward, we have members perform light cleaning every Saturday.

I remember when the church cut the facilities budget. At least for our stake and the Stake President started the member cleanup program where ward families would go to the church and do the janitorial work.

And from what I gathered as a office elder, the software that manages the church's resources is an in-house application.

atticusewig wrote:One more question - regarding Facilities -
where does the line get drawn between
Calling and Profession ?
I seem to remember hearing we had a
Physical Facilities Rep - but never heard
if it was non-paying calling or a job for him.
Or is it some sort of hybrid like Seminary Teacher.

Thanks,
Atticus Ewig

In my previous stake the Stake PFR was a member of the stake high council whose assignment was to be the liason between the PM/FM group and the eccliastical leaders. It was not paid for that as far as I was aware, and it was just part of his calling. (I talked with him often, because I informed him of a large number of the things that needed fixing around the building.)

In my current stake, the stake executive secretary seems to be the one doing that level of coordination with the FM group, and my understanding is it's part of his calling and he is not paid for it.

rmrichesjr wrote:In my previous stake the Stake PFR was a member of the stake high council whose assignment was to be the liason between the PM/FM group and the eccliastical leaders. It was not paid for that as far as I was aware, and it was just part of his calling. (I talked with him often, because I informed him of a large number of the things that needed fixing around the building.)

In my current stake, the stake executive secretary seems to be the one doing that level of coordination with the FM group, and my understanding is it's part of his calling and he is not paid for it.

Your comments got me doubting my earlier answer so I emailed with our FM contact. Like yourself, I talk to him often (almost weekly) about requests. Here is his response:

It is a full-time payed position with the church. It involves the maintenance and remodeling of buildings in the Oklahoma City, Stillwater and Tulsa Stakes; the Tulsa Mission, the CES buildings in Tulsa, Oklahoma City and Stillwater and the OKC temple. I get involved with new buildings only in a limited way.

bhofmann wrote:Your comments got me doubting my earlier answer so I emailed with our FM contact. Like yourself, I talk to him often (almost weekly) about requests. Here is his response:

If your quoted response is regarding a position called a PFR, it would seem there are at least two entirely different definitions of the term.

rmrichesjr wrote:If your quoted response is regarding a position called a PFR, it would seem there are at least two entirely different definitions of the term.

I was referring to the actual FM manager.

bhofmann wrote:I was referring to the actual FM manager.

Okay, that explains the difference in definitions. I had been basing on the term the first posting had used.

atticusewig wrote:...One more question - regarding Facilities -
where does the line get drawn between
Calling and Profession ?
I seem to remember hearing we had a
Physical Facilities Rep - but never heard
if it was non-paying calling or a job for him.
Or is it some sort of hybrid like Seminary Teacher.

Thanks,
Atticus Ewig

So the Physical Facilities Rep is basically an
unpaid middle-man between the local leaders(unpaid)
and the Facilities Management Contact person (paid)...

From talking to your "Rep", do they have
enough requests to justify using software
to keep track of it all ? Or is it a less
intensive calling ?

- Atticus