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Alright... here's praying this is the right place for this question. Frankly, I think it straddles the border between a number of different categories, but maybe ServerFault will embrace it as their own? I've already asked it on StackOverflow and was directed to SuperUser where I didn't get a very complete solution and was again asked to take a hike.

Anyway, here goes.

Our company develops for iPhone, Android, etc, and we're getting to the point where "the drawer" approach is becoming a problem for storing and tracking our test devices.

We have about 20 different devices, and 20-30 people who use them for testing.

Does anyone know of a good physical solution for this? Something better than a sign out sheet next to a row of chargers? I'm envisioning some sort of charging station product with either a built in system for "checking out" a device, or an add-on solution of some sort for that part. Ideally it should be relatively secure (not the pentagon, but something).

I've read the FAQ and, while a specific product would be great, if you feel like that goes against the guidelines, a description of the system you have in place to manage this situation would be great too.

Thanks

Community
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DougW
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No-one's voted to close, so I'll make my comment into an answer:

Why not run the check-out on the devices? Since you write apps, write one that locks the device until a user logs in. I wouldn't think it needs to be very secure, since it's being used in-house. To check a device out, the user simply takes it, logs in, and the app can transmit the fact that the device is in use and who's got it.

Ward - Reinstate Monica
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  • Thanks, that's an interesting thought. Unfortunately it wouldn't work for devices like iPhones without jailbreaking them, since they have a hardware button that will exit any running application. – DougW Dec 20 '11 at 18:13