Field Operations: Track Every Route Live (1:15 video). Open on its own page
Run the day from the office
Technicians run their routes from the mobile app (see run your route), but the office keeps a set of admin controls: a live Field Operations map with intervene-from-the-desk actions, Start Route and Complete Route buttons that act on behalf of a technician, per-stop skip controls, and a Schedule History audit log of every schedule change. These actions are permission-gated, so only roles with route-management permissions see them — see roles and permissions.
Field Operations: the live map
The Field Operations page shows the day in real time: a summary bar of active and completed routes with stops done and remaining, a column of route cards, and a map with each technician's live position and route line. Click a technician on the map (or a route card) to expand that route's stop-by-stop progress.
- Active Routes cards show each in-progress route with an "X/Y stops" count and a segmented progress bar: one segment per stop in route order, colored green (completed), amber (in progress), striped gray (skipped), or light gray (not started yet). Hover a segment to see that stop's customer and status. Completed routes stack below the active ones.
- The date picker (top right, defaults to Today) switches the page into review mode for any past day — the header changes to "Reviewing {date}" and shows that day's routes and stops. Future dates are disabled.
- Admin actions only appear when viewing today, on in-progress routes.
Location warnings on a route card: Location denied, Background off, No location update
Each route card on Field Operations can carry a warning about the technician's phone location. They come from what the technician app reports about its location permission and from when the last GPS point arrived:
| Label on the route card | What it means | What the technician should do |
|---|---|---|
| Location denied (red) | The Pool Founder app is not allowed to use the phone's location at all. Pool Founder can't show them on the map, record automatic arrival and departure times, or track mileage. The app also shows a "Location Access Required" banner on the Today tab. | Turn location on for Pool Founder: tap Open Settings on that banner, or go to the phone's Settings → Pool Founder → Location. On iPhone choose Always; on Android choose Allow all the time. |
| Background off (amber) | Location is allowed only while the app is open on screen ("While Using the App" or "Only while using the app"), not in the background. Tracking works while the app is in front, but stops when the technician switches apps, locks the phone, or drives with another navigation app open, so the map and automatic times fall behind. | Change the Pool Founder location permission to Always (iPhone) or Allow all the time (Android). When they start a route the app asks for this with a "Background Location Required" prompt; tapping Open Settings there goes straight to the setting. |
| No location update for 2h (red banner, the time counts up) | The route is in progress but no GPS point has arrived for more than 10 minutes. The time is how long ago the last one came in. | Open the Pool Founder app. Common causes: the app was swiped closed or the phone restarted, Background off (above), no signal (points catch up when the phone reconnects), the battery is under 20% (the app pauses tracking to save battery, and its header reads "Paused (Low Battery)"), or the route was paused. A paused route shows a Paused badge; tracking resumes when they resume it. |
| Status unknown (gray) | The technician's app hasn't reported its location permission yet, for example they haven't signed in to the app recently. | Have them open the Pool Founder app and sign in. |
The app reports its permission when it is opened and when a route starts, so after the technician changes the setting the label updates the next time they open the app or start or resume a route. In the app itself, the header badge reads Location On, Location Off (no route running), or Paused (Low Battery) / Paused (Route Paused). Location is only tracked while a route is running; there is no tracking outside a route and no setting in the dashboard that turns a technician's phone location on for them.
Visit timeline and running-late badges on the route page
On a route's page for a day that has been run, each stop shows its visit timeline in one line: "Drove 9:41 ─ 21m ─ Arrived 10:02 ─ 56m ─ Done 10:58 · Left 11:03". Drove is when the technician set off toward the stop, Arrived is automatic from GPS (or the Start tap), Done is the Complete tap, and Left is when GPS saw them drive away. A Left time in amber means they left before marking the stop done. The minutes between the stamps are the drive and the time on site. The same line shows in each job's Visit history. Admin time corrections replace Arrived and Done.
A pending stop with a set appointment time that the technician is projected to miss shows an amber Running late · ETA 12:05 PM badge, and owners/admins get a Running Late notification (see notification settings).
Skip a stop or force-complete a route from the map
Admins get two intervention controls on expanded route cards while a route is running:
- Skip stop — a skip icon on each pending stop opens a Skip Stop confirmation ("Skip the stop for {customer}? The technician will be notified."). The stop is marked skipped and the tech's app updates.
- Force Complete Route — at the bottom of the card, this ends the route from the office. The confirmation warns that any remaining stops will be marked as skipped, and the technician is notified.
Skipped stops aren't lost — reschedule them onto another day with reschedule missed stops.
Start or complete a route on behalf of a technician
On a route's page (day view), admins can run the route lifecycle for the technician:
- Start Route — appears when viewing today and the route hasn't been started. The Start Route for Technician dialog confirms you're starting the route on the tech's behalf, shows how many stops it creates, and notes the technician receives a notification that their route has been started.
- Complete Route — appears while the route is in progress. The Complete Route as Admin dialog shows how many of the stops are done and, if any are incomplete, warns that they will be marked as skipped. This action cannot be undone.
The same day view also lets admins skip an individual job for just that date (Skip Job — the job stays on the route for future dates), un-skip it, add jobs or unplanned stops, transfer stops, and complete a pending stop with the full web completion form — see log a past completion.
Schedule History: the audit log
Every schedule change is recorded and visible behind History buttons: on each route's page (that route's changes), and on the Route Schedule and Route Builder pages (changes across all routes). Each entry shows:
- What happened — a typed event badge: Rescheduled, Transferred (Single Day) or Transferred (Permanent), Added, Removed, Frequency Changed, Skipped, or Reordered.
- The details — which job (with the customer), the from/to dates, technicians, or routes, with clickable links to the job and routes involved.
- Who and when — the person who made the change and how long ago.
- Why — the reason, when one was entered (skip reasons, for example).
- Undone — entries that were later reversed are dimmed and labeled with when they were undone.
Use Schedule History to answer "why did this stop move?" — a transferred or skipped job always has an entry naming who did it, and skips include the reason.
Frequently asked questions
What do "Location denied", "Background off" and "No location update for 2h" mean on the Field Operations page?
They are warnings about the technician's phone. Location denied: the Pool Founder app isn't allowed to use location at all, so the tech should allow it in the phone's Settings → Pool Founder → Location. Background off: location is allowed only while the app is open, so tracking stops when they switch apps or lock the phone; set it to Always (iPhone) or Allow all the time (Android). No location update for 2h: the route is running but no GPS point has come in for that long (any gap over 10 minutes shows); have them open the app, and check for a closed app, no signal, a battery under 20% (tracking pauses), Background off, or a paused route. The label refreshes the next time they open the app or start or resume a route.
Can the office see past days, not just today?
Yes — the date picker on Field Operations switches the page into review mode for any past day, showing that day's routes, stops, and map paths. Admin actions (skip stop, force complete) only apply to today's in-progress routes.
What happens to unfinished stops when I force-complete a route?
They're marked as skipped, and the technician is notified. Already-completed stops are untouched. Skipped stops can be moved to another day with the reschedule missed stops flow.
Can I start a route for a technician who forgot to?
Yes — on the route's page (day view, today), the Start Route button creates the route instance on the tech's behalf and notifies them it was started.
Is there a record of who changed a schedule?
Yes. Schedule History logs every transfer, add, removal, frequency change, skip, reschedule, and reorder with the performer, timestamp, reason (when given), and an Undone marker if it was reversed. Find the History button on each route page, the Route Schedule, and the Route Builder.