The Permit Search tool is a central hub for finding, managing, and reporting on all parking permits. Its primary purpose is to provide administrators with detailed search capabilities and a suite of actions for managing permit visibility, user assignments, and communications. This article is intended for OPS-COM administrators.
## Setup and Configuration This tool is a standard administrative feature and utilizes existing permit and user data within the system. It does not require any specific initial configuration. **Admin Side:** Administrators do not need to configure any settings. The search page automatically populates based on your active permit inventory and user assignments. ## Using this Feature Administrators can use the following instructions to find specific groups of permits and perform a variety of bulk and individual management actions. ### Performing a Permit Search 1. Hover over **Parking Management** and click **Permit Search**. 2. Enter your search criteria into the designated fields. 3. Click the **Toggle More Options** button to expand additional filters. 4. Check the **Archived Permit Data** or **Include Only Active Permits** checkboxes under the expanded options to refine your search further. 5. Click the **Retrieve** button to generate your results. ### Visual Cues and Status Indicators At the top of the search results, a legend provides a quick overview of the permits found based on their status: - **Total**: The total number of permits found by your specific search criteria. - **Requested**: A user is associated with the permit, but no payment has been initiated. - **Rented/Reserved**: A payment is associated with the permit, but it may not be fully processed yet. - **Visible To User**: The permit is available for purchase and has no user associated with it. - **Visible to Admins**: The permit is explicitly hidden from users and has no user associated with it. - **Unavailable**: The permit's state is not set to Good, Valid, or Usable. ### Available Actions and Buttons Administrators can perform actions on both a bulk and individual level directly from the search results page. **Bulk Actions:** 1. Select a report or action from the drop-down menu at the top of the results (e.g., **Generate Mailing List**, **Generate User Usage Report**, **Send Email to Permit Users**, **Generate Status Report**, **Generate Permits for Printing**). 2. Click the **Perform Selected Action** button to proceed and apply the action to all permits in the current list. **Individual Actions:** - **Permit Number**: Click the link in this column to open the **Parking Permit Information** screen, where you can manage the **Permit State** and view associated user and payment details. - **Clock Icon (History)**: Click this icon to view the permit's complete transaction and user rental history. - **Reserved/Rented**: Click the user's name in this column to view their details, with links to navigate to their profile or send an email. - **Toggle Availability**: Enable or disable the checkbox in this column to control if a permit is visible to users for purchase. Use the **Mark all Available** or **Mark all Not Available** buttons for bulk changes, then click the **Update Records** button to save. - **Release**: Click this link to disassociate the permit from its current user, making it available for resale. - **Switch**: Click this link to initiate a [Permit Switch](https://opscom.wiki/books/the-opscom-admin-portal/page/permit-switch) and change the permit number associated with the current user. --- ## Best Practices and Considerations ### - **Process refunds separately:** **Releasing a permit does not automatically refund the user.** This action only disassociates the permit from the user. If a financial refund is required, you must also perform a separate financial adjustment on the user's profile. - **Understand the difference between permit statuses:** **Requested** means a user has selected an item but has not yet chosen a payment method. **Reserved** means there is an associated unprocessed payment (such as a promise to pay via cheque). **Rented** means the payment is fully processed and finalized. - **Customize your workspace:** **Use the Toggle More Options button to pin frequently used search filters to your default view.** This simple step saves time and customizes the search page to better fit your daily administrative workflow.