Role guide: field service technician

This guide is for the technician who does the work on a machine or vehicle: your xMatix day runs on service orders, which you open in the Service app on your phone or on the web, and your labour is recorded on the order's time sheet with Start, Pause and End. A service advisor or dispatcher opens the order and plans the labour beforehand. Once you have finished, the back office invoices and delivers the job from the same order.

Overview

The technician's job in xMatix is one loop per job:

The order's status follows your time sheet by itself. You never set it by hand. See the service order lifecycle.

Where you work

On the phone, a service order opens with the record header and the tabs Lines, Health Check, Complaints, Recommendation, Timesheet, Asset Service Contract, Attachments, Related and Details. Your organization may have changed this layout.

Your path

Read these in order. Each one is the full procedure; this guide does not repeat them.

1. Signing in to xMatix: your first sign-in from the invitation email.
2. Using xMatix on mobile: install the app and finish the first sync.
3. How the mobile app is organized: tabs, the app drawer, lists, views and records.
4. The service order lifecycle: the record behind every job, and what each status means.
5. Service time sheets: how Start, Pause and End record your labour.
6. The technician's day: check-in, work execution and end-of-day reconciliation.
7. Checklists on service orders: the health check and populated inspection checklists.
8. Service recommendations: suggested work you accept or decline on the job.
9. Complaints and fault codes: recording what the customer reported and what you found.
10. Capture data in the field: photos, files and signatures.
11. Working offline: sync status and recovery: what the app can and can't do without a network.

Prerequisites

Before your first day, your administrator must have:

• Invited you and given you a profile that opens the mobile app and the Service app, and that can run Start, Pause and End on time sheets. No shipped profile is ready for this on its own; see Permissions.
• Created your resource and linked it to your user, tagged to the branch and partner account you work for. The time sheet allocation dialog offers only resources tagged to the order's branch and partner.
• Given you the skills the jobs require, if your organization uses skill checks.

Procedure

This is a normal job, step by step. Each step links to the page with the full detail.

Step 1 — Check in, if your organization requires it

In the shipped mobile configuration, check-in is asked for only when you open a visit plan or a visit, so a technician who works only on service orders is not asked. Your administrator can instead gate the whole app, or add service orders to the records that require check-in. If you see Check in to start your day, select Check in. See Mobile attendance.

Step 2 — Find your job

Open Service → Service Orders. The shipped views are All Service Orders, Draft Service Orders, Under Service Contract and VOR Eligible. None of them is limited to your own jobs. In the shipped setup everyone who can open service orders sees all of them, so filter on the Technician column, or ask your administrator for a view of your jobs. A dispatcher may also tell you the order number.

Do this while you have a signal. Service orders and time sheets are not in the shipped offline list, so the app fetches them live. An order you opened while online stays readable on the phone afterwards, but one you never opened shows Not available offline.

Step 3 — Read the job

Open the order and check, before you touch the asset:

• the record header: the order number (for example SV-23102026-000004), the status and the amount;
• the Lines tab: the labour items (Work Items) and the parts;
• the Complaints tab: what the customer reported, and the fault codes if diagnosed;
• the Asset Service Contract tab: whether the work is covered by a contract;
• Details: the asset, the customer voice and the usage reading.

The order should be Work To Start. That means the advisor has created a time sheet for the labour. If it is still Draft, there is no time sheet yet; see Common problems.

Step 4 — Start the work

Open the Timesheet tab and tap the time sheet. In the header, tap Start, tick the tasks you are starting and confirm. Each ticked line gets the server's current time as its start, the line becomes Work Started, and the order becomes Work In Progress.

Tick only the tasks you mean. You cannot type a start time: the server records the moment you tap. See Service time sheets.

Step 5 — Pause when work stops

If you must stop, for example because a part has not arrived, tap Pause, tick the running tasks and choose a Pause Reason on each, such as Paused- Non Availability of Technician. The line closes at the current time and the order becomes Work Paused.

To carry on, tap Start again on the same task. There is no Resume button. Starting a paused task adds a new line for it, so the paused time is not counted as work.

Step 6 — Record what you found

• Health Check tab: tap Edit, give each item a rating, enter a Reading where asked and add remarks with + Add Remarks, then tap Save. The counts at the top show how many items are Critical, Warning and Good.
• Recommendation tab: tap Edit, tick the suggested work the customer accepts, and tap Save. A tick adds a line to the order; clearing an accepted tick rejects it. See Service recommendations.
• Complaints tab: add or correct complaint lines and fault codes.
• Attachments tab: add photos of the damage and the finished work.

The shipped mobile service order has no Checklist button. If your job uses a populated inspection checklist, it is filled on the web; see Checklists on service orders.

Step 7 — End the work

When a task is done, tap End, tick it and confirm. The line becomes Work Ended. A paused task must be started again before you can end it.

When every labour line on the order has ended and every part line is fully allocated, the order becomes Work Completed. Until then the advisor can't invoice it with Invoice: the message is Invoice cannot be generated until all time sheets have work ended.

Step 8 — Close your day

Before you finish:

1. Reconnect and check the outbox: open the app drawer, tap Preferences, and under Data & Sync tap Sync status. Fix anything under Needs attention; see Working offline.
2. Reopen each job you worked and check that no time sheet line is still Work Started.
3. If you checked in, open the side menu and select Check out.

Example

A workshop technician has two jobs today.

1. At 09:05 the technician opens Service → Service Orders in the app, filters the list on their name in Technician and opens SV-23102026-000004, a tractor with an oil leak. The status is Work To Start.
2. On the Lines tab are one labour item, "Hydraulic hose replacement", and one part, "Hydraulic hose 3/4 in". The Complaints tab shows "Oil leak under the loader arm".
3. On the Timesheet tab the technician opens the time sheet, taps Start and ticks the labour line. The order becomes Work In Progress.
4. At 10:20 the hose turns out to be the wrong size. The technician taps Pause, ticks the line, chooses a stock reason and confirms. The order becomes Work Paused.
5. While waiting, the technician fills the Health Check: brakes Good, tyres Warning with the reading 3 mm. The Recommendation tab now suggests a tyre replacement, and the customer declines it.
6. At 13:40 the right hose arrives. The technician taps Start on the same task (a second line starts), finishes the job and taps End at 14:30. The part is already allocated, so the order becomes Work Completed.
7. The second job is in a basement with no signal. The technician opened the order and the time sheet upstairs, so both are still readable. Start waits until the technician is back in coverage, and the actual start time is reported to the advisor.

Training

Practice exercise

In a sandbox where your user is linked to a resource and holds a technician profile (see Set up a new technician), ask an advisor to create a service order with one Work Item line and one in-stock Part line, allocate the part and create a time sheet that assigns the labour to you. Then, on the mobile app:

1. Find the order in Service Orders and open the Timesheet tab.
2. Start the task, then Pause it with a reason.
3. Start it again and look at the time sheet's lines: there are now two.
4. Switch on airplane mode and tap End. Note what happens.
5. Switch airplane mode off and tap End again.

Expected result: in step 4 the app refuses with This action requires a connection, and nothing is recorded. After step 5 the task is Work Ended, the time sheet shows two lines with the paused gap between them, and the order is Work Completed.

Quick reference

• Your job is a service order; your labour goes on its time sheet.
• Start → Pause (with a reason) → Start again → End. There is no Resume.
• The server records every time; you can't type one.
• Tick only the tasks you mean in each dialog.
• The order's status follows the time sheet; never set it by hand.
• Open your jobs while you have signal; unopened ones are not on the phone.
• Start, Pause, End, Create Time Sheet and the health check save all need a connection.
• Work Completed needs every labour line ended and every part allocated.
• Check Sync status before you finish the day.

Permissions

There is no shipped technician profile. The four shipped profiles that come close each miss something a technician needs:

Sales Executive, Standard User and System Admin can also run the service order actions a technician sometimes needs, such as Time Sheet, Check In, Bay Allocation and Recommendation. The Service profile can open, create and edit service orders and time sheets but can't run any of their buttons.

A user without the grant for a button sees the action refused with The current user is not allowed to execute server action …. Buttons are granted on the profile's Actions tab. See Security profiles and Service time sheets.

Configuration

This section is for the administrator setting up a technician.

Set up a new technician

1. Build a technician profile: clone Sales Executive (it already opens the mobile app and the Service app) and, on the clone's Actions tab, grant Start, Pause and End on Service Order Time Sheet. If your workshop gives each operation a bay, grant Allocate Bays and Get Bay Candidates too. See Build a profile for a role. Remove what the technician should not do, such as Invoice and Delivery on the service order.
2. Put the new profile on the mobile app configuration's Profiles tab (Setup → Design Studio → Apps → Mobile Apps). Choose whether Check-in required is on for it. A clone is not added there automatically, and without the row the user can't open the mobile app.
3. Invite the user with the new profile.
4. Create or open the person's resource, link it to the user, and tag it to the branches and partner accounts they work for.
5. Add skills if your allocation checks them.

Settings that shape the technician's day

To let technicians work service orders offline, add Service Order, Service Order Line and Service Order Time Sheet to the Offline & Sync tab; see Mobile app configuration. Server actions such as Start, Pause and End still need a connection after that.

Common problems

"Not available offline"

The order or list was never opened on this phone while online, and service orders are not synced offline in the shipped setup. Reconnect and open it, or ask your administrator to add service orders to the offline list.

"This action requires a connection"

Start, Pause, End and the other dialog buttons are sent straight to the server, never queued. Get a signal and tap again. Note the real time you started or stopped, and tell your advisor if it differs a lot from what the server recorded.

"This record can't be saved offline. Reconnect to save."

You edited a service order without a signal. Service orders can't be saved offline in the shipped setup. Keep the screen open, reconnect and save again.

The Timesheet tab is empty

No time sheet has been created for the order yet, and the order is still Draft. Ask the service advisor to run Time Sheet on the order and assign the labour to you. See Service time sheets.

"Work Pause Reason is required when the work is set to Paused."

You ticked a task in the Pause dialog without choosing a reason. Choose a Pause Reason on every ticked row and confirm again. Nothing was paused.

"Work on this line is paused and that segment is closed. Start it again before marking Work End."

You tried to end a paused task. Tap Start on it first, then End.

I don't see Start, Pause or End

Your profile doesn't have the grant, or you have the Sales Executive or Service profile as shipped. Ask your administrator to grant them; see Set up a new technician.

Common questions

Can I complete a job with no signal?

Only partly, in the shipped setup. Orders and time sheets you opened while online stay readable. But Start, Pause and End, the time sheet allocation, the health check save and edits to the service order itself all need a connection. Open your jobs before you lose signal, and run the time sheet buttons as soon as you are back in coverage. Your administrator can put service orders on the offline list; the time sheet buttons still need a connection after that.

Where does my next job come from?

From the service advisor or dispatcher. A job reaches you when the advisor names you as the order's Technician, or assigns you lines in the Time Sheet allocation dialog. A dispatcher can also plan you on the dispatch console. If your list looks wrong, talk to dispatch, not to your phone.

Why did starting a paused task add a new line?

Each line on a time sheet is one stretch of work. Pausing closes the stretch, and starting again opens a new one for the same task and technician. The gap between them is the paused time, which is never counted as work. The time sheet header adds up the lines.

What is AI Mechanic?

A guided diagnosis assistant on the service order. It turns what you say or type into complaint lines and suggests recommendations. It is off until your administrator switches it on and binds the AI Mechanic service order layout. When it is on, the job's header shows Sense and Overview buttons. It needs a connection. See Complaints and fault codes.

Related topics

• xMatix Field Service: how work is allocated to technicians.
• The Service module: service orders, estimates, contracts and invoicing.
• Invoice a service order: what happens to your job after Work Completed.
• Location and the travelled path: what is recorded while you are checked in.
• Troubleshooting the mobile app: frozen lists, stuck sync and missing screens.
• Role guide: dispatch manager: the other side of your schedule.
• Role-based guides: every role and the shipped security profiles.