A system is a named group of equipment at one property — a walk-in cooler with its condenser and two evaporators, a rooftop package with its stages, "Building B" at an apartment complex. Group units under a system and Run a Call rolls their repair history and spend up to the group, so you can talk about "Cooler A" the way your customer does.
Systems are optional. A single-furnace home never needs one — ungrouped equipment works everywhere it always has.
When systems earn their keep
| Situation | What grouping gets you |
|---|---|
| Commercial refrigeration | 70 walk-ins at one site stop being a flat list of 300 units. Each cooler shows its own spend and roster. |
| Multi-building properties | "Building A" vs "Building B" — techs find the right unit faster, owners see spend per building. |
| Shared costs | Bill compressor oil or a refrigerant charge to the whole system instead of guessing which unit to pin it on. See Assigning job and invoice items to equipment. |
Creating a system
- Open the customer, then the property.
- In the equipment area, click Add system.
- Fill in the dialog:
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Name | What everyone on-site calls it — Cooler A, Rooftop 3. Required. |
| Short code | An optional abbreviation, e.g. COOL-A. Shows on cards and reports. |
| Category | Refrigeration, HVAC, Plumbing, Electrical, or Other. |
| Notes | Location on-site, access notes — anything you'd want a new tech to know. |
Putting equipment into a system
On the equipment form there's a System dropdown. Pick a system, leave it Ungrouped, or hit + Create new system right from the dropdown — no need to go back to the property page first.
Existing units can be moved into a system at any time by editing them. History comes along; nothing resets.
What the property page shows
The property page splits equipment into two areas:
- Grouped equipment — one card per system showing the name, short code, category, active unit count, and lifetime spend for the whole group.
- Ungrouped — everything not assigned to a system, in its own collapsible section.
The system page
Click a system card to open its page:
- Active units, Lifetime spend (billed invoices only), Repairs, and Last serviced at the top.
- The Equipment roster — every unit in the system, with an Add unit button to grow it.
- A Print PDF button that produces a customer-facing history for the whole system — see Printing an equipment history for a customer.
Importing a fleet? The equipment CSV import accepts a system_name column — systems are created automatically on first use, so you can bring in "70 coolers, 380 units" pre-grouped. Email your list to admin@runacall.com and we'll handle the import for you, free.