Assigning a Technician Right at Intake
The default flow has two steps, and it makes sense for most shops: the front desk receives the unit, a technician opens Take Repair and claims what they can handle.
But not every shop works that way. Some workshops have a lead technician who allocates work every morning. Some counters have one washing-machine specialist, and every washing machine that walks in is already his. In shops like that, the claim step is not allocation — it is a formality somebody has to tap.
This switch removes that formality. The front desk names the technician the moment the unit is received, and the job is immediately in progress.
Worth understanding: assigning is not a shortcut that skips record keeping. Everything that happens when a technician claims a job still happens here — the status, who holds it, the start-of-work timestamp, and the state of the parent invoice. What disappears is one tap, not one record.
And because it is a switch, the decision stays yours. Shops whose technicians are used to picking up work as they become free genuinely run better on the old flow — a feature being available is not the same as a feature worth turning on.
Before you start
- Technicians have accounts and their group already holds the right to take repairs — that is what puts them in the list.
- You understand the normal flow first: a unit arrives, then a technician claims it from the queue.
Steps
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Turn the switch on under Settings then Repairs
While this switch is off, the flow stays as it was: units arrive queued, and technicians claim them through Take Repair. Turning it on adds an option — it does not remove the old path.
One switch that changes how the whole shop works. -
Decide first whether your shop actually suits it
Direct assignment suits shops where the owner or lead technician allocates work. Shops whose technicians pick up jobs as they become free usually run smoother on the claim flow — do not change it just because the feature exists.
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Open the repair intake form and fill it as usual
The technician picker appears on each unit card, not once on the invoice header. That is deliberate: one invoice can hold several units, and nothing says they must all go to the same person.
The picker sits on the unit card, not on the invoice header. -
Pick a technician, or leave it empty
Leaving it empty is perfectly valid and returns that unit to the old behaviour: queued, waiting to be claimed. So you can assign some units and let the rest be picked up as usual.
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Notice what happens when the note is saved
A unit with an assigned technician goes straight to in-progress, that person is recorded as holding it, the start-of-work timestamp is created, and the parent invoice moves to being processed. Exactly as if the technician had claimed it.
Status jumps to in-progress the moment the note is saved. -
Read the warning when the technician is loaded
If the person you name is already holding a lot of work, the app tells you — but does not refuse. You know the shop floor, the app does not; the warning exists to make the decision conscious, not to overrule it.
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Remember the unit leaves the claim queue
Because its status is already in-progress, that unit no longer appears in Take Repair. If you named the wrong person, fix it through the repair workflow — not by waiting for someone else to claim it.
What you end up with
Work allocation is decided the moment a unit arrives, one claim step disappears from the daily flow, and the job history is still built in full exactly as if the technician had claimed it.
If something goes wrong
The technician I am looking for is not in the list
That list is not read from job titles or group names but from permissions: only people whose group may take repairs appear. Check the group Access Rights, not the employee record.
The technician picker does not appear on the form at all
The switch is still off under Settings then Repairs. While it is off, the intake form does not show the picker and every unit goes into the claim queue as before.
I assigned the wrong person
Change who holds it through the repair workflow as usual. Reassigning from the intake form does not apply to a unit already saved and already in progress.
The technician got no notification about being assigned
Assignment deliberately sends no extra WhatsApp message. The job simply appears in their own work list, both in the web app and in the Android app.