Field operations
Offline sync, voice & vision
Field operations are the day in the life of a crew on Nexma Mobile: open the daily route, work each order, execute the task steps, capture evidence with the camera and voice, stream position back, and file the report — all against the same project DataStore the office designs against. This page walks the full loop, including how the app behaves offline and how it reconciles conflicting edits when the network returns.
The field loop
Every shift follows the same shape. The device pulls the assigned work, the crew executes, and evidence flows back to the world model.
11. Route load the day's ordered stops for the crew
22. Order open a work order: description, drawings, materials
33. Execute step through the task checklist; scan, capture, sign
44. Track stream GPS position while the order is active
55. Report compose photos + voice + form fields into one artifact
66. Sync queued writes reconcile to the DataStore; Globe updatesDaily routes
A daily route is the ordered list of stops assigned to the crew, sorted by priority and proximity. The crew leader accepts the route, and the app sequences the work; positions captured on the move feed back so dispatch sees progress in real time. Reordering a stop, deferring an order, or marking a no-access all write to the world model and surface on the desktop Globe.
Work orders
A work order is the unit of field work. It carries everything the crew needs and nothing they have to look up elsewhere.
| Section | Contents |
|---|---|
| Detail | Task description, status, priority, customer notes |
| Drawings | The relevant design overlay for the order's location |
| Materials | The bill of materials, with scan-to-confirm |
| Map | Project area with the active design layer and live crew positions |
Pull-to-refresh reconciles the list against the DataStore. Each status change — accepted, in progress, blocked, complete — is a typed write attributed to the actor and timestamp.
Task execution
Task execution is a step-through checklist. Each step can require a photo, a signature, or a material scan before it is marked done, so completeness is enforced at capture time rather than discovered later in review. Barcode and QR scanning confirms the right material was installed; a signature pad collects customer or supervisor sign-off. When the last step closes, the order rolls up to complete and the evidence is bound to it.
Dual camera capture
Capture is first-class, not an attachment afterthought. The app drives both device cameras for the two jobs the field actually has.
- Documentation camera. The main camera captures install evidence, defects, and conditions. Every photo auto-tags GPS, device orientation, and timestamp.
- Context and scanning. The second camera supports barcode and QR scan for materials and asset tags, and quick context shots without leaving the step.
Each captured image becomes a typed entity in the world model — not a loose file — attached to the work order and the step it documents.
GPS tracking to the DataStore
While a work order is active, the app streams GPS positions back to the project DataStore on a short cadence. The desktop Globe renders crew positions live, and the same path drives operational dashboards and after-action reports. Tracking starts when an order opens and stops when it closes, so position is captured for work and not for off-hours.
Live position is a stream of typed writes, governed by the same permission engine as every other write. A crew member with no write authority on a project streams nothing.
Field reports
A field report composes photos, voice notes, and structured form fields into a single artifact attached to the work order. Voice notes are transcribed on the device; Jax can interpret them into the structured fields the Ontology defines, so a spoken summary lands as typed data rather than free text. The report persists with the order and is queryable from the desktop alongside the rest of the project history.
Offline sync and conflict handling
The app operates without connectivity. Reads serve from a durable local store; writes queue and reconcile in the background once the network returns. When two edits touch the same target, the app resolves deterministically.
| Situation | Resolution |
|---|---|
| Non-overlapping fields | Server-wins merge; both edits are kept |
| Direct overlap on a simple field | Last-writer-wins, with both versions retained in history |
| Structural overlap on shared geometry | Held for Jax-mediated review before commit |
A structural conflict — two crews modifying the same shared asset, for example a transformer two teams both re-sited — is never silently overwritten. It is surfaced for review so a person decides, with both versions and their attribution preserved.
Where to go next
- Nexma Mobile — platforms, on-device Jax, and authentication.
- Operations — how field work connects to office planning and dispatch.
- Jax — the agent that interprets voice and vision in the field.
- Permissions and roles — what each field role can read, write, and run.