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By: The Encircle Team
As a restoration contractor, you may find yourself in challenging environments where you are without network service.
It could be a disaster or CAT situation where reception is spotty and unreliable, a job site in the middle of nowhere with no coverage, or you may even be standing in knee-deep water in the basement of a concrete high-rise with no signal.
Life as a restorer is unpredictable enough, without having to worry about whether you can count on your technology in these challenging situations. At Encircle, we believe that losing internet connection shouldn’t make your technology solutions unusable in the field, and it certainly shouldn’t force you to change the way you document a job.
On-point even while offline.
The Encircle mobile app allows you to capture job information without disruption, regardless of signal reliability. No need to adjust your regular process, no need to re-enter information, and no need to worry about any information being lost.
If you are without an internet connection, Encircle will still save all the information that you and your team capture at a property restoration job. This could be photos, videos, notes, sketches, or signatures on documents. When you regain connection, all information captured will automatically sync to our server and will populate within the Encircle claim. Note that while offline, the information gathered on each team member’s device will not be visible between devices.
The choice is yours: self-selecting offline mode.
You may opt to manually switch into Offline Mode. This is a great option if you are looking to extend your phone’s battery life, or if you are unsure about the reliability of your connection.
It’s as easy as 1-2-3!
1) Tap the Network Settings icon from the main screen in the Encircle mobile app.
2) Select “Offline Mode” from the list of Network Usage options.
You can see if you are working in offline mode using the Network Settings icon in the bottom right corner of the app.
3) When you wish to exit Offline Mode, simply navigate back to the Network Settings page and select your preferred network usage option.
Pro tips for CAT situations 🔥🌩️🌪️
CAT Tip #1: You can view your Sync Status from the Network Settings page, to know if your sync is in process or completed. Keep your Encircle app open and in the foreground of your device to ensure there are no interruptions with your sync. You may need to extend your phone’s auto-lock settings if you are an iOS user, to prevent the app from being put to sleep while it’s syncing your data.
CAT Tip #2: You can also download claim data before going into Offline Mode. We recommend you do this every morning before heading to a job site without service, to make sure you have the most up-to-date information possible. To do this, select the menu icon from within the Encircle claim, and choose “Download Data”.
Just one way Encircle has your back.
Our extremely reliable Offline Mode is just one way that Encircle’s field documentation platform has your back in a challenging situation. Features like remote document signing, easy photo and video capture, voice-to-text for notes without typing, and automated report creation can also help to make your life easier during a busy CAT season.
Plus, our Customer Support team is always here to help you get the most out of the Encircle field documentation platform. During CAT events they are on stand-by to help you in any way possible.
Check out these other helpful CAT resources from Encircle:
- Best practices for CATs
- How thorough disaster reporting protects your business & your clients
- Handle CATs like a PRO
Want to see for yourself?
