Site work without signal
In basements, plant rooms and remote sites the technician keeps working in the app. Check-in and check-out, the checklist, photos, the signature, the timer, time, parts and notes are saved on the phone. They are sent later with the time they really happened.
PLANSScale only
Built and tested on our test systems with signal switched off. It has not yet run on a real phone at a customer site and not in the app stores yet.
The problem it solves
- The plant room has no signal, so the checklist is filled in on paper and typed in later, or never.
- Check-in is pressed in the car park after the job, and the arrival time on the report is wrong.
- A signature taken offline is lost when the app closes.
- The office changes a visit while the technician is offline, and nobody knows which version is right.
How it works
- When the technician opens the SmartMy Desk app with signal, it saves a copy of their work on the phone. That is visits from yesterday to tomorrow with their checklists, and the tickets of those visits. It also keeps up to 50 other open tickets of theirs, the work types and the parts list.
- On site without signal, a bar says "No signal: showing the copy saved on the phone." The Queue (Mine) and Visits open from that copy.
- Each action is saved on the phone at once and shown on screen: "Saved on the phone: it is sent when there is signal."
- When signal is back, the app sends the actions in the order they were done, by itself; Send now sends them at once. The office records each at the time it happened, not the time it arrived.
- If the office changed the ticket meanwhile, for example cancelled the visit, the office refuses that action and sending stops there. What changed? shows what is on the phone and what is at the office, with Try again, Discard this change or Discard all.
Everything it does
What works without signal
- On the way, Check in, Check out and No access on a visit
- Checklist answers, checklist photos, and before and after photos
- The customer's signature on the visit or the ticket
- Start and stop the timer, and add time with a work type
- Add parts from the parts list saved on the phone, and return unused parts
- Replies to the customer and internal notes
What needs signal
- Take it, Solve, sending or checking the happy code, planning a visit, the waiting actions and Resume work
- Deleting a line, and AI help
- The app says "This needs signal. Pull down to try again once you are back in coverage."
How the office keeps it right
- Each action carries its own reference, so a resend is applied once and gets the first answer back
- Actions are applied at the time they happened on the phone; a phone clock that runs ahead is ignored
- A note written on site more than 10 minutes before it arrives says "written on site at" with the time
- Actions done more than 7 days earlier are refused, to be entered in the back office
- The record of applied actions is cleared after 30 days by a daily job
The parts list on the phone
- The first 300 parts come with the saved copy; the rest follow 500 at a time while there is signal
- Search by name or barcode works on the saved list
Who uses it
TechnicianOpens the app with signal before leaving, works on site without it, and checks the bar when back in coverage.
Office or team leadSees the work arrive with its real times, and phones the technician if a change of theirs was refused.
Where you use it
- The SmartMy Desk app for Android and iPhone: built and in testing, not in the app stores yet
- Not for requesters or subcontractors: their screens need signal
- Not on the web: the back office always works online
What you control
Settings
- None to set: it is on for every technician of a Scale plan
- Visits saved on the phone: from yesterday to tomorrow
- Actions older than 7 days: refused
Notifications
- The customer hears about On the way and the visit when the action reaches the office, not before
Questions
Does the arrival time count when check-in was done without signal?
Yes. The check-in is recorded at the time it was tapped on the phone, so the on-site target is measured from then.What happens if two people change the same visit?
The office version wins. The technician's change is refused and shown under What changed?, where they try again or discard it.How long can work stay on the phone?
Up to 7 days. Older actions are refused and must be entered in the back office.Can a technician solve a ticket without signal?
No. Solving, taking a ticket and the happy code need signal, because the office checks them on the spot.What must the technician do before going to a site without coverage?
Open the app while there is signal. That saves the visits, the tickets and the parts list on the phone.Related features
PHONE APPThe technician appYour technicians work their tickets on the phone. They get a queue with the time left on each target, the ticket with directions and a call button, and the timer. They wait, resume and solve with the customer's closing code or signature.WORKING A TICKETSite visits with check-in and check-outPlan each trip to the site inside the ticket. The customer agrees to the time and is told when the technician is on the way. Check-in and check-out record the time and the phone's position, start and stop the timer, and meet the arrival target.WORKING A TICKETChecklists with readings and before and after photosEach kind of issue or type of equipment can carry a checklist: yes or no, numbers, readings with their unit, text and photos. It opens on the visit when the technician checks in, and required questions must be answered before the ticket can be solved.WORKING A TICKETTime on tickets with a timer, work types and timesheetsTechnicians log time on each ticket with a timer or by hand, by work type: normal hours, after hours, holiday, emergency, call-out or travel. The team lead approves the hours before they are billed, and each line can also land on the technician's timesheet.QUOTES, BILLING AND PURCHASEVan stock, parts issue and returnsEach technician's van is a stock location of its own. Parts used on a ticket come from the van, else the team's store, else the warehouse. They leave the stock on approval. Unused parts go back, vans are refilled from the warehouse, and technicians see their van in the app.WORKING A TICKETMaterials used on a ticketRecord every part used on a ticket and where it came from. It can be your stock, bought for the job, bought by the customer or supplied by them. Each source is priced its own way, and a team lead approves the lines before they are billed.
See one of your own jobs run through it.
Tell us how a complaint reaches you today and what you bill for. We will show you the same job in SmartMy Desk.