DUOLABS
Work

Field app for service engineers, deployed globally

We took part in overhauling the field app that service engineers around the world use on repair visits to check repair jobs, manage visit schedules, and report their results. The app has to work in overseas areas with unreliable networks, and if results entered while the connection is down are lost, work done on site drops out of the record. We built a sync that stores work on the device while offline and sends it to the server automatically once the connection returns, and kept that transfer from stopping midway when the app moves to the background.

Launch
2016
Client
A major Korean electronics company
Type
Manufacturing & Field
01 / 04

Field work records that stay on the device when the network drops

Service engineers use the field app to check repair jobs, manage customer visit schedules, and report work results. Work data entered while the network is down is stored in an on-device database and in files, and is sent to the server automatically once the connection is back. Network conditions at overseas sites are uneven, so not losing data was the app's core requirement.

Field work records that stay on the device when the network drops
02 / 04

Sync that keeps going after the app leaves the screen

At the time, the smartphone operating system strictly limited how long an app could keep running once it left the screen. When the field app moves to the background, it obtains a 180-second extension from the operating system and is designed to finish syncing within that window. The aim is that a transfer in progress carries through as far as it can, even when the engineer switches to another app.

Sync that keeps going after the app leaves the screen
03 / 04

Before-and-after checks that keep work results from going missing

Between a network dropping and coming back, the data on the device and on the server can drift apart. The field app saves work results to files and runs them through a verification step. By checking the state before and after each transfer to the server, no field work result slips out along the way.

Before-and-after checks that keep work results from going missing
04 / 04

A multilingual field app with device features built onto web screens

The service engineers' field app is built from web screens carried inside a native app frame. Within it, we built the device-side features the web alone cannot provide, such as saving files, on-device storage, and background processing. Engineers in many countries use it in their own languages, so we checked the multilingual screens and the exception flows that let work continue where the network is unreliable.

A multilingual field app with device features built onto web screens

Highlights

01

Offline sync that stores work on the device and sends it automatically on reconnect

02

Sync that carries on after the app moves to the background

03

Before-and-after checks on each transfer so no work result goes missing

Insights

Read the blog