Skip to main content

Keene Systems, Inc.

Managing Crews and Staff Spread Across the Country

Scattered teams are managed from one place by giving everyone the same web application, used from a phone or tablet in the field and a PC in the office. Field staff record work, time, materials and photos where the job happens. That information reaches the office at once, so scheduling, billing and reporting all run from the same live data and no longer wait for paperwork.

Female engineer in workwear checks her tablet on a construction site

Signs this is your problem

  • Invoices go out weeks after the job because the paperwork is late.
  • Field staff fill in forms at home in the evening.
  • The office phones crews to find out what was done.
  • Hours and materials are disputed because the record is thin.
  • You cannot say today which jobs are behind.
  • Each region reports in its own format.

What goes wrong when the work is far from the office

  • Paperwork arrives late. Timesheets and job tickets come in days or weeks after the work.
  • Billing waits on it. Work that is finished cannot be invoiced until the paper turns up.
  • Details are lost. What was written in the truck is not what gets typed in the office.
  • Nobody knows where things stand. Which crew is where, what is finished, what equipment is on which site.
  • Each region does it differently. So nothing can be compared.

What field staff do in the application

  • See the day’s jobs, with addresses, instructions and site history.
  • Record time, materials and equipment used against each job.
  • Take photos and capture a customer’s signature.
  • Complete inspections and checklists that cannot be skipped.
  • Flag a problem or request a purchase, which goes straight to the right person.
  • Keep working without a signal. Entries are sent when the connection returns.

What the office gets

  • Live status of every job, crew and site.
  • Invoices that can go out the day the work is done.
  • Payroll and job costing from the same entries, with no re-typing.
  • One way of working across every region, and figures that can be compared.
  • A complete record of each job, with photos, for the day a customer disputes something.

Two construction workers in hardhats discuss plans using a tablet and walkie talkie on-site

How Keene Systems handles it

  1. We follow a job from assignment to invoice. Including a day with a crew, if you will let us.
  2. We design the field screens for real conditions. Gloves, sunlight, poor signal and no time.
  3. We build the office side on the same data. Scheduling, review, billing and reporting.
  4. We pilot with one crew or region. Then roll out, adjusting from what the pilot teaches.

The next step is a short, no-pressure conversation. Book a call with Lance Keene or use the form on this page.

Frequently asked questions

Will it work where there is no cell signal?

Yes. The field screens can store entries on the device and send them automatically when a connection is available.

Do we need to buy special devices?

Usually not. A web application runs on ordinary phones and tablets, including the ones your staff already carry.

Can it connect to our accounting or payroll system?

Usually. Time, materials and billing data can be passed to the systems you already use, so nothing is typed twice.

Will field staff actually use it?

They will if it is quicker than the paper. That is a design goal from the first day, and it is why we test with a real crew before rolling out.

Can we track equipment and materials as well as people?

Yes. The same system can record what equipment is on which site and what materials were used on each job.

Tell us how your field teams report today

Why Keene Systems

Keene Systems has built custom business software since 1987. We are veteran-owned, and our 50+ professionals have delivered systems for companies including Hormel, McCormick, IBM and Dartmouth-Hitchcock. See our client list.

Lance Keene takes the first call himself. Book a call with Lance Keene.