ServiceChecker can be used to setup and monitor a variety of grounds maintenance scenarios. Those could include area wide lawn care, full service landscaping, roadway mowing and weed control, tree trimming, etc.
Additionally the services could vary from a single client seeking to monitor the work performed by their chosen grounds maintenance contractor to an actual grounds maintenance business using the service to monitor all their crews and equipment.
Grounds Maintenance Client
Perhaps the simplest scenario would be where a client merely wants to monitor the grounds work they have purchased. Obviously some setup is required. Using the scope of the contract, the client will need to specify exactly what potential actions and observations are required. The client shall identify all the locations where they want the grounds work to be performed. For these locations Oversight recommends using weather proof Near Field Communication (NFC) tags. These tags cannot be copied and provide an easy way for the worker to confirm where they have performed. Oversight will prepare the NFC tags for the client.
This service includes a Data Collection App that gets loaded on either an Android or Apple smartphone that’s used by the worker. The installed app will automatically include the latest setup information.
This setup also includes a “dropdown” list to make it easy for the grounds worker to record observations. To determine what mobile worker performed the activity, the client requires the contractor to assign each potential worker a unique PIN.
When the worker reaches the client’s location they will enter their PIN and begin to record their actions and observations. Those include the Who, What, When and Where for each and every action or observation. Each worker entry includes a date/time stamp and GPS location.
Additionally, the worker can record and send pictures and notes to better explain the status of a finished task.
At completion of their grounds work, the collected data is automatically sent to Oversight’s cloud based software. At that point, alerts and reports are immediately available to the client. The service will send alerts if critical actions are performed or NOT performed.
This grounds maintenance service also records the amount of time each worker spends at each location.
Grounds Maintenance Company
To show how ServiceChecker would be used by a Grounds Maintenance company (or any service company), Oversight created a demo company called ServCo.
ServCo represents companies whose hourly employees check in and out at a central location, form crews, draw needed equipment, depart to multiple work sites, perform necessary tasks, complete all scheduled work, and finally return to office to drop off equipment and sign out.
ServiceChecker records, stores, and reports the following:
- Time and Attendance for each hourly employee.
- The composition of the daily crews.
- The major equipment that is drawn for the day, e.g. mowers, tractors, including the responsible crew chief and the time they were drawn and returned.
- The elapsed time each crew spent at each specific worksite.
- The elapsed time each crew took to go from site to site (including travel and lunch).
In our example, ServCo has 10 hourly employees. Since most employers want to keep each employees’ weekly hours less than 40, individual schedules are varied. Each day will have five hourly employees – four will be on crew and one employee will remain in the office. The pieces of equipment ServCo chose to monitor were their four mowers and various trimming tools, such as edgers.
ServCo has a total of 20 commercial clients. They provide service to each client once a week, every week. The four on-site crew members for the day will perform their duties in various areas at a specific client site. Each specific area will have a securely placed NFC tag that a crew member will scan to signify that they are in the area. While in the area, they will use the dropdown list in our mobile app to report they completed their tasks for that area.
Now let’s look at some typical reports. The standard reports include the following:
- Employee Detail
- Employee Summary
- Chronological Performance
- Equipment Usage
- Client Comparison
The Employee Summary Report summarizes report an employee’s payable hours, and it covers an exact time period (frequently an accounting workweek). Initially, the report lists all the employees who worked hours during that week and how many payable hours were recorded for each employee. Should an employee fail to Sign IN or OUT, there is a procedure to correct those errors, if necessary. This report can feed directly into a company’s payroll system.
The Chronological Performance Report records and reports the following information:
- The identification of the daily crews
- The daily equipment draw
- The elapsed time at each client’s work site (that’s the bolded times)
- The elapsed times between worksites (the non-bolded times)
The Equipment Usage report shows all the equipment that was drawn; when it was drawn; the responsible Crew Chief; and when the equipment was returned.
The Client Comparison Report permits companies to compare time spent at a specific worksite from week to week.
Copies of these sample reports are available on request.