How to Run a Technician Visit

The visit is a tick on a paper sheet

Travel time and time on site are written at the end of the day, so the job cost is a guess.

A safety form that should be done before the technician starts is filled in after the customer has signed.

The phone is offline in a basement and the technician expects the page to save the change and send it later. This module does not queue those changes.

Why this happens

• Time is typed once at the end instead of opening and closing with each step.
• The safety acknowledgement is skipped because arrival was not blocked.
• Completion is forced while a required photo or signature is missing.
• The technician is not assigned to the visit, so the step is refused.

Biznsbook addresses this through My day, time entries, completion rules when Field Service is licensed. Customers are parties you already keep. The van is a warehouse. The invoice is one sale invoice for the job.

A second dispatcher, a van, and a deposit are where a private list drifts. Making Biznsbook the place that books the visit, issues the part, and raises the one invoice keeps those three on the same job.

Step-by-step: Run a Technician Visit

Built for owners and dispatchers who send technicians to a customer site in Biznsbook Field Service.

1. Open My day. My day lists that person’s visits. A technician-only user lands there after login. The visit steps require the technician to be assigned. Accept and decline set the time on that assignment.
2. Mark on the way. On the way opens a travel time entry. Location can be stored only while that technician’s visit is on the way or on site. The customer tracking page can show the last pin only when Share live location is on.
3. Arrive. Arriving closes travel and opens on-site time. If settings require a safety form, arriving is blocked until it is acknowledged. Arrival distance is stored when the site has a pin. Distance does not block completion.
4. Pause and resume. Pause closes on-site time and opens a break. Resume closes the break and opens on-site time again. A manual time entry can be added when the automatic one is not enough.
5. Complete or mark unsuccessful. Complete and unsuccessful close the open time entry. Complete is blocked until required checklist answers, a photo, and a customer signature are present, for whichever of those settings are on. A job with no required checklist items does not report a checklist gap. Tracking on the public page ends two hours after completion.
6. Let the job status follow. The job is in progress while a visit is on the way, on site, or paused. It is completed when every live visit is finished and at least one was completed. A visit set that is only unsuccessful does not by itself complete the job.
7. Stay online to save. The phone page can be installed as an app shell. It does not queue changes while the phone is offline. Save each step while the page can reach Biznsbook.

Review results after the first full weekly cycle. Adjust roles, mappings, or approvals where the same exception repeats.

Screen names in this guide match Field Service in the product: Home, Jobs, Dispatch, My day, Quotes, Agreements, and Settings.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Mistake 1: Time is typed once at the end instead of opening and closing with each step. Repeating this each month usually shows up first in double-booked visits, van counts, or a second invoice.
• Mistake 2: The safety acknowledgement is skipped because arrival was not blocked. Repeating this each month usually shows up first in double-booked visits, van counts, or a second invoice.
• Mistake 3: Completion is forced while a required photo or signature is missing. Repeating this each month usually shows up first in double-booked visits, van counts, or a second invoice.
• Mistake 4: The technician is not assigned to the visit, so the step is refused. Repeating this each month usually shows up first in double-booked visits, van counts, or a second invoice.

Note each recurring gap in the weekly review. Each one should map to a step in this guide.

Best practices that hold up as you scale

• Open My day — My day lists that person’s visits.
• Mark on the way — On the way opens a travel time entry.
• Arrive — Arriving closes travel and opens on-site time.
• Pause and resume — Pause closes on-site time and opens a break.
• Complete or mark unsuccessful — Complete and unsuccessful close the open time entry.

Teams that schedule on the board, issue parts from the van before they invoice, and refuse a second invoice keep the visit and the ledger on the same job.

How Biznsbook supports this workflow

My day is part of Biznsbook Field Service for companies that send a person to a customer site. The customer is a party you already keep, the address you visit is a site, and the visit sits on a job. Parts move through a van warehouse. The bill is one sale invoice, and a deposit taken first is an advance on that same job. Technicians quote, invoice, or collect only when settings allow it.

time entries is part of Biznsbook Field Service for companies that send a person to a customer site. The customer is a party you already keep, the address you visit is a site, and the visit sits on a job. Parts move through a van warehouse. The bill is one sale invoice, and a deposit taken first is an advance on that same job. Technicians quote, invoice, or collect only when settings allow it.

completion rules is part of Biznsbook Field Service for companies that send a person to a customer site. The customer is a party you already keep, the address you visit is a site, and the visit sits on a job. Parts move through a van warehouse. The bill is one sale invoice, and a deposit taken first is an advance on that same job. Technicians quote, invoice, or collect only when settings allow it.

Technicians do not quote, invoice, or collect unless those settings are on. Labour cost is for job costing and does not post a wage journal. Email sends through the company’s outbound email and SMS through the company’s own Twilio connection.

Suggested implementation timeline

1. Week 1: License Field Service, add sites on the parties you already keep, and try My day on one real job.
2. Week 2: Create a van warehouse, transfer the stock that is in the van, and issue one part on a visit.
3. Week 3: Schedule on the board, including one forced conflict, and complete a visit with the checklist rules you actually want.
4. Week 4: Create the one sale invoice, apply a deposit if you took one, and turn the public page on if customers should request visits.
5. Ongoing: Weekly review of unscheduled jobs, overdue complete-by times, and van items under minimum, using what the time entry is for.

Related guides

Start with create a field service job, then schedule a field visit and invoice a field job.

Product page: Field Service. Trades: field service trades. Decision: field service software vs spreadsheets.

The order of the buttons

Accept or decline comes before the travel. On the way is the start of the travel entry. Arrived closes that entry and starts on-site time. Pause starts a break. Resume returns to on-site time. Complete and unsuccessful close whatever is still open.

If the safety form is required, Arrived does not proceed until it is acknowledged. The same rule blocks completion when the acknowledgement is still missing. Checklist, photo, and signature are separate settings. Turn on only the ones you need.

Metrics to track monthly

• Jobs still unscheduled past the attention window
• Jobs past their complete-by time
• Van items below the minimum you set
• Visits forced past a conflict
• Jobs completed and not yet invoiced

Start with three metrics; trend direction matters more than a single point-in-time snapshot.

Spreadsheet or paper day sheet vs Biznsbook Field Service

Compare a typical list of jobs with Biznsbook My day and the rest of the field job.

What the time entry is for

Travel, on-site, and break entries are the labour record on the job. Labour cost is for job costing. It does not post a wage journal. Payroll, when you use it, is still where wages are expensed.

Write this into the way the office hands work to technicians, and revisit it when you add a van or a second dispatcher.

Frequently asked questions

How this differs by industry