Technical Management Manual
A practical guide to field technician work: the technician app (tasks, reports, inventory, alerts and offline location), dispatch and review on the web, and diagnosing the most common problems.
1What FieldOps is and who uses it
FieldOps organises the ISP technical work: the dispatcher creates and assigns tasks on the web, the technician carries them out with the mobile app, and the supervisor reviews reports, inventory and metrics. Everything is recorded with history: who did what, when, and why.
| Role | Tool | What they do |
|---|---|---|
| Technician | Android app (PlenoAgent APK) | See their tasks, navigate to the site, log arrival and start, complete the checklist and report, photograph evidence, move inventory and ask the assistant for help. |
| Dispatcher | FieldOps module on the web | Create and assign tasks, see the calendar and map, review and return reports, activate services, manage shifts, absences, skills, SLAs and alerts. |
| Supervisor | FieldOps module on the web | Review reports, reconcile inventory and network changes, check indicators and resolve conflicts. |
The app, the web and the assistant use the same services. A report completed on the phone and one dictated to the assistant go through the same validations and leave the same history.
2Installing the app and signing in
On the web, open Technical Management and go to the Mobile tab: there you will find the published version of the app with its size, SHA-256 hash and minimum Android required. Download the APK with Download. If your company verifies hashes, compare the file SHA-256 with the one shown on screen.
Install the APK. If Android asks you to allow installing from this source, enable it only for this installation and turn it back off afterwards.
Open the app and enter your company server address, username and password.
When the app asks for location, camera and notification permissions, accept them: without location there is no shift tracking, without camera there is no evidence, and without notifications you will not get task assignment or return alerts. Why each permission is needed is explained on screen before asking.
Once inside you will see your tabs: Work (your tasks), Inventory (your materials and equipment), Alerts (assignments, schedule changes and returned reports), Sync (status of your local queue) and Assistant (help with your data).
Signing out wipes the downloaded tasks, drafts, pending queue, unuploaded photos and local key from the phone. Sync before signing out or switching devices, or that work is lost.
3The technician day, step by step
Start your shift at the beginning of the day. Location tracking only works inside an active shift and stops when you end it.
Open the task: you will see the customer, authorised contact, address, coordinates, visit window, NAP/port or AP/sector and the available equipment. If a field says unknown, nobody has confirmed it; if it says stale, it has gone more than 30 days without confirmation.
Tap Navigate to navigate with the phone map and log En route, Arrival and Start with their buttons. Arrival is confirmed manually: GPS is approximate and no geofence changes the status for you.
If you must interrupt the work, use Pause and write the reason (it is required), then resume afterwards with its button. Pauses count against SLA time, which is why the reason is always recorded.
Complete the checklist, measurements, materials and photos. You can save a draft at any time, even without internet.
Submit the report when it is complete. The server checks requirements, verified photos and task version: if anything is missing, it tells you exactly what.
If the supervisor returns the report, fix what was asked and resubmit: the previous review is kept, nothing is deleted.
| State | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Assigned | It has an owner. The technician has not acted on it yet. |
| En route / On site / In progress | Travel, confirmed arrival and work underway. |
| Paused | Work stopped with a required reason. Pauses count against the SLA. |
| Pending review | Report submitted, waiting for the supervisor. |
| Completed | Report approved. Only then can the service be activated. |
| Failed / Cancelled | Could not be completed or was cancelled, always with a recorded reason. |
Completing a report never activates or bills the service by itself. Activation is requested by the supervisor as an explicit action and is recorded with its result.
4Working offline, and alerts
4.1The local queue
The app downloads your tasks so you can work without internet, and saves every change in a queue on the phone that survives restarts. When signal returns, the queue syncs operation by operation. The Sync tab shows how many operations are still stored only on the phone.
| State | Meaning | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Local | Saved only on the phone. | Nothing: it will sync by itself. |
| Pending | Queued waiting for network. | Get coverage back and open the app. |
| Synced | Confirmed by the server. | Nothing. |
| Conflict | Something changed on the server (reassignment, another technician took the equipment, port taken). | Read the reason, keep your draft and coordinate with dispatch. Nothing is overwritten by itself. |
| Rejected | No permission or invalid data. | Fix it and retry, or ask for help. |
Downloaded data expires after 72 hours and pending photos are kept until verified on the server. A photo is never deleted from the phone before it is confirmed above.
4.2Alerts: what the app tells you
The Alerts tab notifies you of what changes in your tasks when syncing: task assigned, schedule changed and report returned. Each alert shows the task and its reason; Mark all read clears the list. Alerts arrive when syncing, so open the app with internet at the start of the day to avoid working with stale information.
5Reports: checklist, photos and submitting
Each type of work has its template: a fibre install asks for optical power, serial, NAP/port and ONU; a radio one asks for signal, AP and CPE. The app only requires what your template says.
- Photos: each photo stays linked to the task chosen before shooting. Check which requirement it covers: submitting is blocked if a required photo is missing or any photo has not finished verifying.
- Customer acknowledgement: if the template requires it, log Confirmed, Absent or Refused with a name or reason. It is an operational acknowledgement, not a certified digital signature.
- Submitting: the submit button validates everything together. If anything fails, the app lists each pending field so you can complete it and retry.
6Inventory in the field
Check your materials and equipment in custody from Inventory. To log a serial or MAC, use the QR scanner or type it by hand: the app shows it to you for a double confirmation before accepting it.
Reserve sets a unit aside for your task.
Deliver and Install link it to the service; Return and Remove send it back to custody.
Replace swaps installed equipment for another within the same task; Inspect records the equipment check without moving it.
Consume deducts materials (cable, connectors) with their unit of measure.
If two technicians try for the same serial or port, only the first one succeeds; the second sees a clear conflict. Equipment and port conflicts are never resolved as "last writer wins": they stay pending until dispatch resolves them.
7Location during the shift
The dispatch map shows your latest position with its age and accuracy. The location state is independent of the task state.
| State | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Current | Fix from less than 2 minutes ago. |
| Stale | Between 2 and 10 minutes. Check coverage and battery saving. |
| Offline / Permission denied / Off shift | No recent fixes, no permission, or no active shift. |
If the map stops seeing you, check in this order: active shift, location permission set to Always or While in use plus background, battery saving turned off for the app, and data coverage.
In the module dashboard, the dispatcher sees the map with each technician's latest position and can open the day trail to review where they went. The company configures how many days location is kept (30 by default); once that period expires, old fixes are deleted.
8The assistant: app and WhatsApp
8.1Help inside the app
The Assistant tab answers with your authorised data ("which NAP is my next install on?", "which ONU do I have available?") and helps you build the draft by asking for each missing field and confirming the task before saving. Any attempt outside your permission is rejected. The assistant needs internet: offline, use the forms, which work the same.
8.2Talking over WhatsApp: how it is set up
Technicians can also use the assistant over WhatsApp. Setup lives on the web, in the module Agent tab:
Choose the authorised technicians: only they will be able to talk to the assistant.
Choose the AI model and the transcription model (for voice notes).
Connect the WhatsApp number in two ways: reusing a company session that is already connected, or scanning a new QR code from the phone that will carry the number.
Check the agent status: connected, connecting or disconnected. If it disconnects, go back to the tab and generate a new QR.
If the assistant is unavailable (no model, no credits or no WhatsApp), forms, sync and photos keep working the same. The app does not depend on AI for the essentials.
9Dispatch and review on the web
9.1Queue, calendar and assignment
The queue shows unassigned tasks with filters by zone, priority, state and due date. When assigning, the system checks shift, absences, skills and overlaps: if there is an incompatibility, the assignment stops and shows you each reason. You can pick another owner or force it with a reason, which is recorded.
9.2Suggestions, SLAs and alerts
For each task you can ask for suggestions ordered with their reasons (available, skills, proximity, load). SLAs by type and priority measure response, arrival and resolution within the company working hours, discounting pauses; extensions carry an audited reason. Alerts fire only once per delay, unaccepted task, missing location or returned report, and resolve themselves when the cause disappears. The main dashboard summarises the day time metrics (response, arrival and resolution) per technician and crew.
9.3Review, activation and recurrence
In Reports you approve or return with a reason; each correction creates a new revision without deleting the previous one. Service activation is an explicit button after approval. Recurring maintenance generates tasks automatically (daily, weekly or monthly) for services or network sites such as NAPs, OLTs and routers.
10Diagnostics and support
- My tasks do not show up
- Open Sync and sync. If you just reinstalled or signed out, sign back in: the local cache was wiped.
- An operation ended in conflict
- Read the code and detail on the sync card. Do not blindly retry: if another technician took the equipment or port, coordinate with dispatch.
- The map does not show me as current
- Confirm an active shift, location permission, unrestricted battery and coverage. Without signal there are no fixes: the map shows you as stale instead of inventing your position.
- The camera or QR does not respond
- Check the system camera permission and reopen the task detail. You can always type the serial by hand with double confirmation.
- A photo upload does not progress
- Keep the app open with network. The photo stays on the phone and the queue resumes where it left off.
- The assistant does not answer
- Use the forms: the essentials do not need AI. Tell support the time and the error message.
- I am not getting new task alerts
- Check the system notification permission and open the app with internet: alerts arrive when syncing. If the task does not appear under Work either, sync manually from Sync.
App version (visible in the app), your username, task number, approximate time of the problem, a screenshot of the sync state, and whether you were on data, Wi-Fi or offline.