Field Force Module — User Guide

1. Overview

The Field Force module is a field-staff management solution for businesses whose teams work outside the office — sales representatives, delivery agents, service technicians, collection officers, and surveyors. It provides visit scheduling, GPS-based check-in/check-out, contact-meeting tracking, photo evidence capture, and performance dashboards.

Key Capabilities

2. Accessing the Module

1. Navigate to the sidebar and expand the Field Force dropdown.
2. Sub-menu items:
   • Dashboard — KPI widgets, personal stats, admin-level overview.
   • Visits — Full visit list with filters and CRUD operations.

Note: The module must be enabled in the business subscription. Contact your administrator if you don't see the Field Force menu.

3. Dashboard

The dashboard is divided into three zones:

3.1 Personal Status Cards (All Users)

3.2 My Visits Table (All Users)

Breaks down your visits into Contact vs Others for three periods:

• Today
• Yesterday
• This Month

3.3 Admin KPI Row (Admin Only)

3.4 Admin All-Time & Today Panels

Eight info-box cards split into two rows:

• All-time: Total Visits, Assigned, Met Contact, Did Not Meet
• Today: Same four metrics filtered to today

Each card links directly to the Visits list pre-filtered by the relevant status.

3.5 Visits by User Table (Admin Only)

A server-side DataTable showing per-agent breakdown:

4. Managing Visits

4.1 Creating a Visit

1. Go to Field Force → Visits.
2. Click the + Add button (top-right).
3. In the modal:
   • Who to visit: Choose "Contact" (searchable dropdown of your contacts) or "Others" (free-text person/company + address).
   • Assigned To: Select the staff member.
   • Visit On: Date and time the visit is scheduled for.
   • Purpose of Visiting: Free-text description.
4. Click Save. The visit is created with status Assigned and a unique Visit ID (auto-generated).

4.2 Editing a Visit

1. In the Visits table, click the Edit button on the row.
2. Update the contact, assigned agent, date, or purpose.
3. Click Update.

Only users with the Edit Visit permission (and either View Own Visits or View All Visits) can edit.

4.3 Deleting a Visit

1. Click the red Delete button.
2. Confirm the SweetAlert prompt.

Requires the Delete Visit permission.

4.4 Filtering Visits

The index page provides four filters:

4.5 Visit Statuses

5. Updating Visit Status (Field Agent Workflow)

When an agent is on-location, they update the visit status:

1. In the Visits table, the Update Status button appears on visits assigned to the current user.
2. Click it to open the status modal.
3. Fill in:
   • Did you meet with the contact? — Yes / No radio.
   • If No, enter the Reason for not meeting.
   • Meet With table — up to 3 persons you met with, including name, mobile number, and designation.
   • Visited Address — click Get Current Location to auto-capture GPS coordinates and reverse-geocode the address.
   • Discussions — free-text notes about the conversation.
   • Photo — capture or upload a photo of the contact or visited place.
4. Click Update.

5.1 GPS Location Capture

When the agent clicks Get Current Location:

• The browser asks for permission to access the device's location.
• The exact location (latitude and longitude) is saved.
• The address is automatically looked up from the coordinates and filled in.

6. Visit Types

Visits can be categorised by type for better reporting:

7. Priority Levels

Each visit can be assigned a priority:

8. Check-In / Check-Out

The enhanced Field Force module supports GPS-verified check-in/check-out:

• Check In: When an agent arrives at the visit location, their GPS coordinates and timestamp are recorded.
• Check Out: When the agent leaves, a second GPS stamp is taken.
• Duration: The system automatically calculates visit duration in minutes.
• Coordinates: Both check-in and visited-address coordinates are stored independently for audit.

9. Follow-Up Tracking

After completing a visit, agents can flag whether a follow-up is needed:

Dashboard KPI "Overdue Visits" tracks visits that were assigned but their scheduled date has passed without completion.

10. Photo Evidence

• The status update form includes a file upload field.
• On mobile devices, the file upload opens the device camera directly.
• Photos are stored via the application's Media system and displayed in the Visit Details modal.
• Supports image files (JPEG, PNG, etc.).

11. Viewing Visit Details

Click the View button on any visit row to see a full-detail modal:

• Contact/Person: Who was being visited
• Assigned To: The agent
• Address: With Google Maps link
• Visit On: Scheduled date/time
• Purpose: Text description
• Visited On: When the agent actually visited
• Status: With colour badge
• Visited Address: With Map link (if GPS captured)
• Discussions: Meeting notes
• Meet With table: Up to 3 persons met — name, mobile, designation
• Photo: Captured image

12. Map Integration

Two types of map links appear in visit details:

1. Plan Address: Built from the contact's address fields → Google Maps search.
2. Visited Address: Uses the GPS latitude/longitude captured during check-in → Google Maps pin.

13. Permissions

• View All Visits and View Own Visits are mutually exclusive (you pick one or the other).
• Admin users automatically see all visits and dashboard admin panels.

Permission Summary

14. Enabling the Module

The Field Force module must be enabled in the business subscription:

• Package Setting: The Field Force feature must be included in the business subscription package.
• Installation: Your administrator navigates to Module Manager → Field Force → Install.
• Update: When a new version is available, the administrator can click Update.
• Uninstall: The administrator can remove the module; your data is kept safe.

15. Best Practices

1. Always capture GPS — Train field agents to allow location permission and click "Get Current Location" for every visit.
2. Use visit types — Categorise every visit so reports are meaningful.
3. Set priorities — Mark urgent visits as "High" or "Urgent" so agents prioritise correctly.
4. Flag follow-ups — If a deal needs a return visit, set Follow-up Required with a date so nothing slips.
5. Photo evidence — Require agents to upload at least one photo per visit for proof of visit.
6. Review KPIs weekly — Use the Success Rate and Avg Visits/Day metrics to identify underperformers.
7. Address overdue visits — Monitor the Overdue Visits KPI and reassign or reschedule promptly.
8. Daily route planning — Create all visits for the day in advance and assign in geographic clusters.

16. Troubleshooting

This guide covers the Field Force module. For technical questions, contact your system administrator.