Barrierline

How do I read the Today board?

For the office

The Today page opens with one sentence that says how the day stands, and under it one plain line of why. It is red only when a person is needed: a stop that is late (not started a quarter hour after its window ended, or started more than a quarter hour after it), a stop that could not be done, or a termite report that is past the state’s deadline (“1 termite report is 4 days late to the state.”). A report that is only due within the week does not turn it red. To the right are the day’s numbers: Done, Left, Late, Callbacks and Owed late. Left is every stop not done, so a stop that could not be done is in it; a short line under it says so (“includes 1 couldn’t be done”), so 16 done and 12 left still add up to 28. Callbacks counts every callback on the day, finished or not. A number the app has not measured says “Not available yet”, never $0. A cancelled stop is not counted.

What late means. Under the numbers the page says it: “Late means started more than 15 minutes after the booked window ended.” Exactly 15 minutes is on time. When the time clock backs it, the line under the sentence also says why: “Marcus clocked in 8:41, the others by 7:28.” It says nothing when there are no hours to read, or when the tech clocked in before the window opened. Click the Late number to open the late stops of the day (Reports, Late stops), for that tech when all of them are one tech’s.

Live. While the tab is in front, the page checks every 20 seconds and reloads only if something changed. If it cannot reach the server it says “Can’t reach the server, retrying”. The page does not follow a tech’s phone around. It knows only what the phones have sent in.

Another day, or a new stop. Use the arrows for the previous or next day. Today brings you back. Click Add a stop, or press n. A day that has not come yet opens as the List, every truck’s stops with their windows and customers in one scroll; choose Board and it stays the Board as you move between days. On those days, Print tomorrow (Print this day on any other future day) prints one sheet: a table for each truck with each stop’s window, customer, address, phone and notes, and nothing else from the page.

The board. One line for each tech, 7 AM to 5 PM, with the time now marked. Each stop is a block: solid green for a finished stop (the minutes worked), a ringed block for the stop they are at, an outlined block for a stop still to go, an amber outline for a callback (“by 2:30”), and red for a late stop (a quarter hour past its window) or one that could not be done. The line between blocks is solid through finished stops, dashed ahead, and red up to a late one. The words under a block name the customer: the stop they are at, every stop still to come, and anything late or not done. When two boxes sit edge to edge, the name goes on a second or third line from the left edge of its box, or is shortened to the first name. A name is shown whole or not at all, never cut off with “...”; a box with no room for its name keeps it in the hover and in the List. A block for the stop they are at says the minutes on it (“12m”); hover it for “at it, 12 min on it, booked 60”. Finished stops show their name when there is room. Hover a block, or open the List, for the rest. The techs with something late come first. On a late line, Call (their phone) and Reassign (to another tech or tomorrow) sit beside the late block, or under the tech’s state when the line has no room.

Every tech with stops left has Mark out sick under where they are, in the tech’s own card in the List too (or Mark back in when they are out; the row then reads Out sick, with how many stops they got done). A tech with nothing left to hand on says “Nothing left to take over.” where the button would be. Click it and pick who takes their open stops: Spread across the team, one tech, or Leave them unassigned. A line says how many stops moved and where, with Undo. Click a tech’s name for a small menu too: Show the route, and Mark out sick. The lanes are always in the order of the Team page. What is late or not done shows in a lane’s colour and words, never by moving it, so nothing slides out from under your cursor.

Needs a look. Under the board, one row for each thing that needs you. The count is rows, not stops: a stop that could not be done and also has a gap on its record gives two rows, so Needs a look can show more than Stops to look at in the List. Each row has a Type, what happened, who, the time (with AM or PM: when it happened or was due) and one action in words. The rows come most serious first, then by time, then by name:

  1. Late (red): a stop a quarter hour or more past its window that nobody has started. Open the visit. A stop that did start, but more than a quarter hour after its window ended, is its own amber row (Started late, below). Exactly a quarter hour is on time.
  2. Termite report (red): a report past the state’s deadline. Open it goes to Records, Termite reports.
  3. Inspection report (red): an inspection report to the qualifying party that is past its 7 days (“1 inspection report to the qualifying party is 1 day late”). Open it goes to Records, Termite reports, where the qualifying party’s list is. It is not part of the red sentence at the top.
  4. Not done (red): a stop the tech could not do, with the reason. Put back on route asks which tech and when (the stop’s own tech, Anytime, after their current stop, to begin with). A tech who is out sick that day is greyed and cannot be picked (“Marcus Bell (out sick today, 4 done)”); the others show their load (“Priya Natarajan (6 stops)”). It says where it went (“Turner’s Grill is back on Sam’s route for today, after Alfredo Peterson.”, or “... is back on Priya’s route at 3:00 to 4:00.” when you set a time) with Undo. A stop put back with no time is not late against the window it was skipped at.
  5. Customer asked (amber): a customer asked to move this visit and nobody has read it yet. It shows on the day of that visit, so tomorrow does not say “Nothing needs a look” over an open request. Open the visit.
  6. Not all done (amber): a visit closed without something the checklist or the station scan asked for. Open the visit.
  7. Far from address (amber): a visit started some distance from the customer’s address. Open the visit.
  8. Paperwork (amber): a finished record with a gap: no products recorded (a finished stop that is not inspection only), a product without an amount, or changes from the phone that didn’t reach the record. A record with both a far start and another gap is Paperwork.
  9. Started late (amber): “started 21 min late: due by 8:30, started 8:51 (81 min after the window opened)”. The first number is what late counts, from the end of the window; the second is how long the customer waited from its start. Open the visit. It is also part of the Late figure and the red sentence.
  10. Termite report (amber): a report due to the state within 7 days. Open it.
  11. Termite report (amber): a report marked filed with no state number yet (“1 termite report is filed, number missing”). Add the number goes to Records, Termite reports. It never turns the headline red.
  12. Clock-out missing (amber): a tech clocked in on an earlier day and never clocked out (“clocked in at 8:33 AM on Wed, Oct 14 and never clocked out”). Open Hours goes to Team, Hours, where you fix it. Today’s open shift is a tech still working, not a missing one.

The owner’s phone reads the same rows in the same order. A termite report is a row for the company, not for a stop, and it turns the headline red only when it is late. Press j and k to move down and up the rows and Enter to do the action. Jump to Needs a look at the top of the board takes you there.

The List. List at the top of the board writes every stop out: window, customer, service, where it stands (Not started, At the stop, Done, Couldn’t be done, a late stop’s minutes late, Callback, Cancelled) and what is on the record. The words above it filter the list, each with a count. Couldn’t do and Cancelled show only when there are some. Click a stop to open it.

Tighten the list. Rows switches between Comfortable and Compact. Click a tech’s name row to fold their stops down to “4 of 6 done”. The row height is remembered on this computer. So are the folds, except with more than 12 techs. With more than 6 techs a Find a tech box narrows the board, Needs a look, the List and the map. With more than 12, each tech starts folded.

A phone change did not go through

  1. Open the stop from Needs a look. The banner says the change didn’t go through. The phone still has it.
  2. Read the reason under “What the tech did” and fix what it says. When a product was taken off your list, it says so: “Cypermethrin was removed from your product list before this phone sent its change. Put it back on Products, then re-run.” On the owner’s phone, the row sends you to the same place.
  3. Open Settings, then Phone changes, and click Re-run them now.

For the map, see Use the map. For adding a stop, see Add a stop, move a visit and fill the week.

Still stuck? Email help@barrierline.com.