Complete Shop Manager

Technician App

What Is the Technician App?

The Technician App is a Progressive Web App (PWA) built for shop technicians. It installs to the phone’s home screen without any App Store download and shows only the jobs assigned to the logged-in technician. Techs use it to clock in and out on labor lines, update job progress, run vehicle inspections, and scan VINs — all from the bay without leaving the vehicle.

Installing the App

  • Android (Chrome): Open the technician login page in Chrome, log in, then tap the three-dot menu → Add to Home Screen.
  • iPhone / iPad (Safari): Open the technician login page in Safari, log in, tap the Share button → Add to Home Screen. Must use Safari on iOS.

The session remains active after installation so technicians do not need to log in at the start of every shift.

Navigation

The bottom navigation bar has four tabs:

  • Dashboard — overview of the tech’s assigned jobs and current clock-in status
  • Repair Orders — list of all open ROs assigned to this technician
  • Scan — VIN barcode scanner filtered to the tech’s assigned jobs
  • Inspections — list of DVI inspections on this tech’s ROs

VIN Scanner

Tap Scan and point the camera at the VIN barcode on the dashboard or door jamb. CSM identifies the vehicle and shows open ROs that are assigned to this technician. Tap the RO to open it directly.

If the vehicle is not in CSM, a message directs the tech to ask the service advisor to add it — technicians cannot add vehicles from their app.

Repair Order View

Tapping an RO opens the tech view with four tabs — swipe left or right to navigate between them:

  • Details — inspection status button, start date, mileage in, and a link to the full desktop editor
  • Concerns — all customer concerns with status and tech findings; add and edit inline
  • Labor — all labor lines with clock-in controls for assigned lines
  • Parts — parts list with status (Needed, Ordered, Received, Installed)

Clocking In and Out

On the Labor tab, expand any labor line assigned to you. Tap Clock In to start tracking time on that line. A blue banner appears at the top of the RO showing the line description and a running elapsed-time counter.

To stop, tap Clock Out on the banner or inside the labor line row. Time is recorded against that labor line and is available for payroll and billing review from the desktop.

Only one clock-in is allowed at a time. If you try to clock in on a second line, the app will ask you to clock out of the current one first. An amber banner alerts you if you are clocked in on a different RO.

If no labor lines are assigned to you yet, a Clock In on Entire RO button appears so time can still be tracked while the advisor sets up the labor lines.

Updating Tech Stage and Notes

Expand any labor line on the Labor tab to update its Tech Stage:

  • Not Started — work has not begun
  • In Progress — actively working on this line
  • Waiting Parts — work is paused waiting for a part
  • Done — this labor item is complete

Add Tech Notes to any labor line to leave a message for the advisor or record what was found. Notes are visible to the advisor in the desktop editor.

Digital Vehicle Inspection

On the Details tab, the inspection button shows the current state:

  • Start Inspection (blue) — tap to create a new inspection and begin the walk-around
  • Continue Inspection (amber) — an inspection is in progress; tap to resume
  • View Inspection Results (green) — inspection is complete; tap to review the results

The technician sends results to the customer from the Advisor App after reviewing. See the Digital Vehicle Inspection manual page for the full workflow.