Not every organisation fits an industry guide, but every field team takes photos and reports what it found. Without a shared structure, each report looks different. The office then has to read every note to know what happened.
Start with tags for the questions every report answers
Pick three to five questions that every report must answer, such as what was done, what was found and whether action is needed. Make each question a category and its answers tags (previously called types). Set each of these categories to require at least one tag, because the minimum applies to every report. Reporters then choose instead of typing, and you can filter every report. See Adding and editing tags (types) for reports.
Example: a maintenance team answers three questions: the job (Inspection, Repair), the result (OK, Defect) and the next step (None, Needs follow-up).
Use one status flow for the office
Keep one short flow, such as New, In progress and Done. Add a status only when someone actually works with it. See Tracking report progress with statuses.
Alert on the one tag that needs action
Pick the tag that means somebody must act, such as Needs follow-up, and alert the person who handles it. Start with one alert, and add more when another team asks for one. See Activating an email alert notification.
Add other features only when your work needs them
Tags, statuses and one alert are enough to start. Add the feature that matches your work:
| If your work is tied to… | Use… | How |
|---|---|---|
| The same sites, visited again and again | Places of interest | One per site, with a QR code on site |
| Numbered objects, such as machines or vehicles | Assets | One per object, with its number as custom ID |
| Orders, contracts or campaigns | Projects | One per order, with the order number as custom ID |
| Jobs you assign to specific people | Tasks | One per job, with a location and instructions |
| People outside your team who must send photos | Venzeo™ Request | One request by SMS per person |
| Teams that must not see each other’s reports | Groups | One per team |
| A customer who wants to follow your reports | Public links | A link to filtered reports, rarely needed at the start |
If your team returns to the same sites, start with places of interest. See Setting up places of interest (POIs).
To create the first task for your team, see Creating and assigning tasks.