A field service app that keeps working when the signal drops
FSM Navigator® is offline-first: technicians keep working in basements, mechanical rooms and dead zones, and their changes sync when the phone reconnects.
Free up to 5 users · iOS and Android · Photos, forms and mileage on Pro
The basement doesn't care about your cell plan
Your tech is in a commercial boiler room two floors underground. The job is done, the customer is waiting for paperwork, and the app is spinning. He writes the notes on the back of a work order and promises himself he will enter them in the truck. Half of it never makes it in.
Signal problems inside buildings are not a phone problem you can fix by switching carriers. Federal researchers note that modern building materials such as aluminum, steel and coated window glass can significantly reduce or even block wireless signals. Basements, mechanical rooms, crawl spaces, steel warehouses and rural service areas are where trade work happens.
An offline field service app has to assume the signal will be gone, not treat it as an edge case.
Offline-first, with nothing to switch on
There is no switch to flip in FSM Navigator's iOS and Android app. It is offline-first: the app reads from the phone first and refreshes from the server in the background when it can. Your tech does not have to remember to download anything before going underground, and does not have to notice the signal dropped. The app works the same either way.
Everything they do without signal waits on the phone and syncs when signal returns.
What your techs can do without signal
The app itself, including working without signal, is on every plan. The items marked Pro need the Pro plan.
- Open the jobs and customer details already on the phone.
- Update job status and add job notes.
- Change their availability status.
- Add a new customer with a first service location (owners and managers).
- Fill in a job form or checklist and collect the customer's signature, including a refusal (Pro).
- Take photos and attach them to the job (Pro).
- Log the drive: mileage trips are recorded and classified without signal (Pro). See how offline mileage logging works.
What happens when the signal comes back
The waiting work syncs in the background. Your tech does not need to press anything or stay in the app. The office sees the status, the photos and the completed form once the phone reconnects.
Most of the time nobody else touches the job while the tech is without signal. When an Enterprise technician's queued change to an asset's status collides with a change made in the meantime, the app shows both values and lets the technician keep theirs, keep the server's or merge. It is worth telling your office not to edit a job a technician is working on underground.
Test it before you trust it
Every field service vendor says their app works offline. Do not take our word for it either. Put a phone in airplane mode, turn Wi-Fi off too (airplane mode often leaves Wi-Fi on, as Apple's support page explains), and run a real job from start to finish. Then reconnect and check what arrived in the office.
We wrote up the full checklist: how to test whether a field service app really works offline. Run it on FSM Navigator during your first week.
On every plan, Free included
The offline-first iOS and Android app is on every plan, Free included. Download it from the App Store or Google Play below. Job photos, job forms and signatures, and mileage are on Pro; see pricing. For everything else the app does, see the field service mobile app page.
Working without signal, answered
Does FSM Navigator's app work without internet?
Yes. It is offline-first: the app works from the phone and syncs in the background when signal returns. There is nothing to turn on.
Can technicians take photos and fill in forms without signal?
Yes, on Pro. Photos and completed job forms, including the signature, are saved on the phone and reach the office when it reconnects.
What happens to the work when the phone reconnects?
Everything the technician did without signal syncs in the background. They do not have to press a sync button.
What if the office changes something while the tech is offline?
On Enterprise, when a technician's queued change to an asset's status is rejected because the asset changed in the meantime, the app shows both values and lets the technician keep theirs, keep the server's or merge. Tell your office to avoid editing a job a technician is working on without signal.
Is the offline-first app included on the Free plan?
Yes. The mobile app, including working without signal, is on every plan. Free covers up to 5 users. Photos, job forms and signatures, and mileage are on Pro.
Put the App in a Basement and See
Run a real job with the phone in airplane mode, then reconnect and check what reached the office.
Free up to 5 users · No credit card required · The offline-first app is on every plan