ElectricalBossPro Blog — Electrical Contractor Software

The Electrician's Phone: What the Tech App Handles From Clock-In to Card Charge

Electricians judge software by one screen: the one in their hand at the customer's door. If it is slow, cluttered or asks for things that do not matter, they will go back to paper the first chance they get. The ElectricalBossPro tech app is built around the few things a tech really needs on a call.

Where the Day Comes From

The tech's list is built by the office on the board described in The Dispatch Board: Putting Each Electrical Call on the Right Van in the Right Order. The phone shows the result.

The app runs in the browser on iPhone and Android and can be installed to the home screen, so it opens like any other app. There is no app store download and no special device. Techs sign in with the company login and a personal PIN, so every clock-in, photo and completed job belongs to the right person.

Clock In and See the Day

The time clock is on the same phone. The tech clocks in, and the day's calls are there in route order. Each card shows the customer, the address, the service and the equipment picked from the house. When the office moves a job or adds an emergency call, the list follows.

A navigation button on each card opens directions to the address in one tap. Nobody types an address while sitting in the van.

Equipment and Access on Every Card

This is the part that makes it an electrician's app and not a generic one. The job card shows the equipment at the house in a short line: “Main Panel · Square D QO130L200PG · 200A · Single Phase · installed 2008,” the serial on the next line, and “Garage · Panel is behind the shelving” under it. Generators show their size and fuel type. EV chargers show where they are.

Access notes and past notes sit on the card too: a gate latch that sticks, a dog in the back yard, a homeowner who wants a call first, what the last tech found. The tech reads it in the driveway instead of calling the office.

Start, Skip, Complete

Three buttons run the job. Start tells the office the tech is on site. Skip, with a note, tells the office the job could not be done and why: nobody home, no access to the panel, the customer asked to reschedule. Complete tells the office it is done.

Before and after photos taken in the app stay with the job. A photo of the panel before and after an upgrade, or of a damaged outlet before replacement, answers a lot of questions later. For safety inspections, the tech fills the checklist, enters readings, picks a condition and writes recommendations right on the phone, as covered in The Electrical Safety Inspection Checklist in the Tech App.

Customer Texts Happen on Their Own

The tech does not send texts. As the van moves through the route, automatic on-the-way and arrived texts go to the customer. Customers who use the customer app can see the van on a live map with their place in line. Customers choose which alerts they want: the night before, when they are next and when the tech arrives.

That means fewer locked doors, fewer “I didn't know you were coming today” conversations, and fewer calls to the office asking where the electrician is.

Paid Before the Van Leaves

When the tech taps Complete, the invoice is created from the job. If the customer has a card on file, it can be charged automatically right then. The customer gets the invoice and can see it in the customer app. If there is no card on file, they can pay online.

For the office, that means invoices are not waiting until the end of the day or the end of the week. For the tech, it means no awkward conversation about payment at the door for customers who already have a card on file.

What the Office Sees

Everything the tech does shows up in the office as it happens. Started and completed jobs update on the board. Photos and notes are on the job. Skips come in with the reason. Equipment changes made on the job flow back to the house. Crew GPS shows each van on the office map.

At the end of the day, the tech clocks out on the same phone, and the hours are recorded. Nobody fills out a timesheet on Friday. To see how the tech app fits with dispatch, the customer app and billing, go to the electrical contractor software page.