Service and Support - Frequently Ask Questions

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)
Service and Support

FAQ We have collected some of the most commonly asked questions that potential customers ask about our services. If you would like more information or would like to see the EvidenceOnQ™ solution in action then schedule a free online demo. You will then be able to evaluate the product in real time along with asking any question you may have.

1) Does your system have some way to keep track of when it is time to dispose of property?

Yes. We have a retention module that allows the user to input what type of offense the property is associated with. The system will then input a review date which will show up on the Retention Review Report. If the agency will run this report routinely, every week, or every month and clean out the items that can be disposed of, nothing will ever fall through the cracks and be forgotten. Retention classifications are assigned by each department, for example: Felony, Misdemeanor, and Found Property should be set up with different age retention, and may vary from state to state.

2) How do I know if something has been added to the system, but was never received into evidence?

After the evidence technician removes all property from the temporary lockers, scans it, and stores it into its new locations, they may run a Query by Location. Because the default location is set for Temporary Locker when the item is first saved into the system, any property still showing the location of Temporary Locker indicates that the evidence technician has not pulled or processed that item. It would be appropriate to verify that no lockers or substations were missed, and to notify the officer having made the entry that the item had not yet been received.

3) What if an entry was cloned or added by mistake? For example, what if the officer had 2 bicycles, but accidentally entered 3 bicycle records, how would this be deleted from the system?

As a rule, nothing entered into the system should be deleted or purged. If an entry is made in error the record should be updated to reflect this. The item should show a location of ERROR, and the circumstances of its existence should be properly notated in comments. This way auditors can account for every bar code # used in sequence. If the agency had chosen to delete the item, auditors could discover a missing sequential number and demand to know what had been deleted. Some agencies may choose to print out a report of all items in ERROR and then purge the items from the system. They must however, keep this report available permanently (or until they no longer use the EvidenceOnQ™ system).

4) If my 50 officers can add their evidence into the EvidenceOnQ™, does that mean that they can get into the system and make changes too?

No. User rights are determined by each agency. Ideally, the officers are given the rights to Add and View data into the EvidenceOnQ™. Those assigned to control and manage the property and evidence, your evidence custodians may additionally be given Edit privileges. This ensures that changes to records in the system are minimized.

5) What if we decide that we need to add another field 6 months after we have purchased EvidenceOnQ™? How much would it cost?

It would cost you nothing. Changes, such as adding a field are completely up to your agency. When you receive EvidenceOnQ™ your department also receives the necessary tools to make these changes to your system. This tool is called the ProFiler™.

6) My department is planning on moving to a new (or different) facility. How will EvidenceOnQ help me with this task?

EvidenceOnQ will help you with your move in two ways. The first thing EvidenceOnQ can do is assist with organizing and purging. The sooner you have EvidenceOnQ™ in place the more property you will be able to dispose of. Let’s face it, the less you have to move – the less work you will have to do, and the more space you will have available in your new facility. More space also means more room to get more organized.

The second way EvidenceOnQ will help you in your move is the ability to capture the new location of each item merely by scanning it. Location is Everything! If you do not know where something is – it is almost equivalent to not having it, and no one wants to go to his or her Chief and say, “We can’t find it.” Try explaining "...it is not lost, it is here somewhere – I just don’t know where". This isn’t a good position to be in. With EvidenceOnQ™’s keyless barcoding, scan the new location, and then scan everything that has been stored on that shelf. The system is updated immediately reflecting the new location. Now you can always know WHERE evidence is.