Yards are full of dead spots. The worker app is built so a crew member can keep working with no signal: the phone holds what you did and sends it by itself when it can. This guide covers what is saved, what is not, how to see what is still waiting, and what to do when something is refused.
1 What you will see with no signal
A bar at the top of the app turns red and says Offline. If you have already done things that are waiting to send, it says how many, for example Offline. 2 actions will sync when you reconnect. When the phone gets signal back the bar changes to Syncing 2 actions… and disappears when everything has gone.
On the jobs list, a job with something waiting to send shows a small Not synced tag. If the list could not reload, the app shows the jobs it saved earlier and says so: Showing saved jobs from a time, then Couldn’t refresh. That list can be out of date. A job may have moved, been cancelled or been given to someone else since, so use the refresh button when you have signal again.
2 What is saved on the phone and sent later
These work with no signal and send by themselves when the phone reconnects:
- Starting, completing and skipping a job. The app says Saved. It will sync when you’re back online.
- Photos. The app says Photos saved. They will upload when you reconnect. Each photo keeps the time it was taken, not the time it uploaded, and they upload oldest first.
- Recording a cash, check, ACH, other or Card (other terminal) payment. The check number, tip and description are saved with it. See Worker app: record a payment.
- Time clock punches. The Time clock card shows Waiting to sync 1 punch (or the number) until they send.
- The gate code, pets and parking note on a property. The app says Saved on this phone. It will sync when you reconnect.
- Job notes. A note shows Pending sync until it sends, and a deleted note shows Delete pending sync. The app says Saved on the phone. It will send when you have signal.
3 What needs signal
Some things cannot be saved for later, because they need an answer from the office’s system right away:
- Card payments. Choosing Credit Card with no signal says Connect to take a card payment and records nothing. Take a cash or check payment, or record the card as Card (other terminal) if you ran it on your own reader.
- Saving a customer’s card. The app says Connect to the internet to save a card.
- Customer text messages. If sending fails the app says Could not send the message. Check your connection and try again. Messages are not queued, so a failed message did not go. Check the thread before you drive off. See Worker app: message the office.
- Loading the Time clock card. If the app cannot reach the office to load it, the card says Can’t reach the office to load your clock. Pull down to try again.
4 How it gets sent
The app tries again by itself in these cases:
- When the phone goes from offline to online.
- When you sign in.
- When you tap the refresh button on the jobs list. The app sends everything waiting first, then reloads the list, so the list shows your changes.
If a send fails because the phone is offline, the server is briefly down for an update, or the request times out, the app keeps retrying on its own while it is open: after 30 seconds, then 60, then 120, and every 120 seconds after that for as long as something is still waiting. It stops the timer when the app goes to the background, and sends again as soon as you come back to the app. Photos upload one at a time, oldest first, and a lost connection pauses the rest until the next try.
You do not have to stay on the screen or keep the app open on one job. Finish the job, move on to the next stop, and let it send.
5 When something is refused
Most things send without a problem. Sometimes the server refuses an item for good, for example a check number that was already recorded for the customer, or a job that was moved off the schedule. That item will not retry. The bar turns red with 1 item didn’t sync. Tap to review.
Tap it to open Items that didn’t sync. Each item says what it was (a payment with its amount, a started or completed job, a time clock punch, a property note, a job note or a photo) and why it was refused. The sheet reads: these couldn’t be saved to the office and won’t try again, so tell the office about each one.
Call or message the office about every item on the list. Then tap I’ve reported it, clear (or I’ve reported these, clear) and confirm with Reported to the office? Clearing removes the item from the phone and cannot be undone, so only clear after the office knows. A refused cash or check payment is money you collected that is not on the invoice, so never skip that call.
On the office side, a job that changed on the server while the phone was offline can also land in the needs-review queue.