The Equipment Agent lets ONE handle the Purchase equipment task on an onboarding ticket: it works out what the new hire should get, agrees it with them by email and orders once you approve. Use it when you want equipment for new hires chosen and ordered from your policies without running the intake yourself.
Feature/Functionality
Overview
Each onboarding ticket includes a Purchase equipment task. You can complete it yourself, or hand it to ONE from start to finish. ONE then:
- Works out what the new hire is entitled to.
- Looks at your stock.
- Agrees the setup with the new hire by email.
- Places the order after you approve it.
This article only covers the Purchase equipment step. For the onboarding ticket and its other tasks, see Understand onboarding settings. To set up the remaining steps, see Automate your onboardings.
Availability: the Automatic option is being rolled out gradually. If the step only offers Manual, agentic onboarding is not yet switched on for your organisation; contact your Factorial IT representative.
What you need
ONE works only from two published policies and the new hire's own record. It never fills a gap with a default of its own.
- Equipment policy, published. It decides what the new hire can have, by role, team, seniority and country.
- Purchasing policy, published. It decides how an order is authorised: approvals, delivery destination, which billing profile pays, which suppliers to use, and when equipment work begins (for example, "handle equipment 30 days before the start date").
- A personal email address on the employee, synced from your HR system. ONE uses it to contact the new hire.
- A start date, plus the new hire's work location, employment type, job and country on their profile.
Both policies are in Global purchasing > Settings. Until both are published you cannot save Automatic: the step shows a warning and Save stays greyed out.
How to use
- Go to People > Settings, open the Onboarding tab and click the Purchase equipment row.
- Decide whether to keep Include this step in onboarding on. Switch it off if new hires bring their own device: the row then shows Skip and onboarding tickets get no equipment task.
- Choose the autonomy:
- Automatic: ONE runs the task from start to finish, following your policies.
- Manual: you handle the intake and the order; Factorial IT only creates the task.
- Pick the Default assignee. This person owns the task and answers whenever a decision is needed on this step. It is always a human admin; ONE never owns it.
- With Manual only, set the timing. Scheduling is the default date suggested when you run the step from the ticket, and Due date is how many days before the start date the task is due. With Automatic, timing comes from your Purchasing policy.
- Click Save. With Automatic, the step also shows a What it reads block with the live status of both policies and a shortcut to edit them.
The label on the step row shows how the next onboarding will be handled:
| Chip | What it means |
|---|---|
| ONE | The step is included, set to Automatic, and both policies are published. |
| Manual | The step is included, and a person runs it. While a policy is unpublished, you can't switch the step to Automatic (Save stays disabled), so it stays on Manual. |
| Skip | The step is excluded. No equipment task is created on the ticket. |
How ONE runs the step
On each onboarding ticket, ONE is added as the agent on the Purchase equipment task. The task has no due date and the Default assignee remains its owner: your policy decides when ONE acts, not a deadline. The onboarding stepper leaves out the equipment step, because the work happens on the ticket.
- Wait for the purchasing window. Your Purchasing policy sets when equipment work begins, and ONE does nothing on the step before that date. If no timing rule exists anywhere, it starts immediately. If keeping to the window would make on-time delivery impossible, it says so rather than starting quietly.
- Check the step is not already done. If an order is already linked to the ticket, or a device is already assigned, the run stops.
- Read the policies and the new hire's record. ONE asks the owner for anything missing: a profile field, a personal email address, or a case the policy does not cover.
- Look at stock first. Unassigned devices and accessories that really suit this new hire under the Equipment policy come before buying new ones. Suitability comes before cost: a poorly matched device from stock is not a saving.
- Prepare a single proposal. It only includes what the Equipment policy allows, with every option already chosen: memory, storage, colour and the local keyboard layout. ONE only proposes items that can actually ship, and ranks them by arrival before the start date, then zero-touch support, then price.
- Agree the setup with the new hire. The proposal is posted as a public comment on the ticket, which reaches the new hire by email at their personal address. They can accept it or say what they would prefer.
- Ask you to approve. This always happens before anything is bought or assigned. ONE posts one internal comment to the owner with the product, its options, the price, the destination and the delivery time, and clearly flags anything outside policy. No reply is never treated as approval.
- Order and close the step. Just before acting, ONE checks again that the item can still be bought for the delivery time it announced. It then places the order or assigns the stock device, links it to the ticket and marks the task done.
Who sees what
- Public comments are meant for the new hire and reach them by email. They never contain prices.
- Internal comments are meant for the owner: approvals, prices, policy gaps and blockers.
- Reminders follow a single rhythm: one reminder two working days after a question goes unanswered, then the ticket's assignee is informed. ONE never chases the same question twice.
What ONE never does
- Order or assign anything without a clear go-ahead from the owner on the ticket, even when the item is fully within policy or is a free stock device.
- Order outside your policies, or make up a rule where a policy says nothing.
- Place a second order for the same onboarding.
- Mention a price in a message to the new hire.
- Suggest something that is out of stock, coming soon or discontinued.
- Send the new hire a draft. Anything still open with the owner is resolved before the new hire hears from ONE.
When the step comes back to you
| Situation | What ONE does |
|---|---|
| Equipment or Purchasing policy not published | Comments naming the missing policy, points to Global purchasing > Settings, and stops the step |
| No rule for the hire's role | Asks the owner rather than choosing a device |
| Missing data on the employee record | Lists each missing field and what it blocks |
| Employment type is Contractor | Asks the owner first: buy, assign from stock, or nothing |
| Nothing sourceable in stock or the catalogue | Escalates so you can order manually within the cap |
| The hire asks for a device outside policy | Escalates to the owner, then tells the hire the outcome |
| The hire doesn't answer | Reminds once, then hands the step to the owner at the order deadline |
| Delivery address or billing profile can't be resolved | Asks the owner, and orders nothing |
Whatever the case, the step comes back to you with the diagnosis already on the ticket, so you do not start from scratch.
Run the step yourself
Set the autonomy to Manual. Each onboarding ticket then gets a Purchase equipment task with the owner, scheduling and due date you set, and the equipment step stays in the onboarding stepper. Open the task and click Go to stepper (→) to choose the equipment and order it. Finishing the step marks the task as done.
Tips and Best Practices
- Publish both policies first. Automatic cannot be saved until the Equipment and Purchasing policies are both published.
- Put the timing rule in the Purchasing policy. With Automatic, that is the only place ONE looks for when to start.
- Make sure the HR sync brings a personal email. Without it, ONE cannot agree the setup with the new hire.
- Fill in the profile fields. Work location, employment type, job and country decide what ONE can propose.
- Choose a default assignee who reads the ticket. Nothing is bought until they approve, and silence never counts as a yes.
- Use Skip for bring-your-own-device teams. It avoids an empty equipment task on every ticket.
Troubleshooting and FAQ
Troubleshooting
- The step only offers Manual. Agentic onboarding is not enabled for your organisation yet. Contact your Factorial IT representative.
- Save stays greyed out when you pick Automatic. At least one policy is not published. Publish both in Global purchasing > Settings.
- ONE has not started on the task. The purchasing window in your Purchasing policy has not opened yet, or the step is already done (an order is linked or a device is assigned).
- ONE asked the owner instead of proposing a device. A rule is missing for the new hire's role, a profile field is empty, or the employment type is Contractor. Read the internal comment: it lists what is blocking the step.
- Nothing was ordered after the new hire accepted. ONE still needs the owner's approval in an internal comment. Approve it on the ticket.
FAQ
-
Does ONE order without my approval?
No. It always asks the owner to approve on the ticket first, even for stock items or orders fully within policy.
-
Will the new hire see prices?
No. Prices only appear in internal comments for the owner.
-
Does ONE prefer stock or new equipment?
Stock, when an unassigned device genuinely suits the new hire under the Equipment policy. Fit comes before saving money.
-
What if the new hire does not reply?
ONE sends one reminder after two working days, then hands the step to the owner at the order deadline.
-
Who owns the Purchase equipment task?
Always the Default assignee, a human admin. ONE is only added as the agent.
-
What happens if we switch the step off?
The row shows Skip and onboarding tickets get no equipment task at all.