Signing in on your phone

There is no password

Signing in to the app takes two short steps, and neither of them needs a password. First you enter a code from your office. Then you fill in your name and contact details.

This is separate from signing in on the website. Someone who was invited to WorkOrders by email signs in to the website with their email address and a password, and doesn't need a code for that. A technician who was invited by email still needs a code for the phone. The office can read out the eight characters over the phone, and the technician can be working a minute later. See your team for the two ways people join an account.

Your code is yours

The office issues your code to you, by name, from the Team screen. It works once, for one person, and it stops working after three days. So don't write it on the whiteboard or pass it on to a new starter. When someone else needs to get on the app, the office can make them their own code in a few seconds.

Once you've signed in, the code is used up. You won't need another one unless you sign out, change phones or wipe your phone. If that happens, ask the office for a new code.

Step 1 · the code

The first screen asks for your code, with the line "It decides whose jobs land on this phone." Type it in and tap Continue. You don't need to worry about capitals, because the box types them for you, but the code itself does have to be right.

What a wrong code looks like

Step one doesn't check the code. It's checked when you've filled in step two and tapped Sign in. If it doesn't work, you'll see an alert headed We couldn't sign you in. The message tells you whether the code is not valid, has already been used, or has expired. Whichever it is, ask the office for a new one.

To fix a mistyped code, tap Change on step two. You won't have to start again.

Step 2 · who you are

Fill in Full name, Email address and Contact number, under the line "So the office knows who has picked up a job, and how to reach you on site." The app checks each one before sending anything. If there's a problem with a field, a message appears underneath it once you've moved on to the next one, not while you're still typing.

If you're already on the company's team, these details don't decide who you are. The code does. Do type in your own details (your contact number is saved, so it's worth getting right), but you'll be signed in to the account the office made the code for. Nothing you type here can sign you in as someone else.

If the office made the code for someone new, this step creates their account as a technician, using the details they type in. Try to get the email address right, but a typo won't stop them signing in, because the account is linked to the code, not the email address.

What the office has to do first

Go to Team and make the person a code. There are two places to do it:

• Someone already on the team: tap App code on their row. Use this for a new phone, a wiped phone, or one that has been signed out.
• Someone new: type their name under Sign someone in on the app. They don't need an email address or an invitation. Their account is created when they sign in.

Either way, a code appears on screen for you to read out. It lasts three days, works once, and you can revoke it before it's used. Nobody else can use it, so it's fine to read it out over the phone.

If they're not on the phone right now, you can have the code emailed to them instead. There's an optional email field on the new-person form, and an Email it button beside the code for anyone already on the team. WorkOrders only emails it if you ask. Reading it out is still the usual way, and it's quicker when they're standing next to you.

Everybody at once

Codes for the whole crew makes a code for every active person who doesn't already have a working one. They're shown together in one list, so you can print them and hand them out. It's useful for the day the whole crew sets up the app at the same time.

If your company is still on the older app

Firms that moved across from the previous WorkOrders system are still using the older iPhone app, which works the way it always did. Everyone shares one organisation code. You'll find it under Settings → Your company, and it keeps working until someone regenerates it. If that's you, the rest of this article still describes your app, but the code belongs to the company rather than to you.

Treat that shared code like the door code to the yard, because anyone who has it can get onto your board. Regenerate code on the same card replaces it. Phones that are already signed in keep working, but nobody can use the old code to sign in again. So regenerate it when someone leaves who knows the code. You don't need to change it on a schedule.

Signing out, and being signed out

Settings → Sign out asks you to confirm ("You'll need to set your account up again on this phone") and then removes your saved sign-in from the phone. Your work isn't affected. Only the phone forgets you. You'll need a new code from the office to sign back in.

Now and then the app signs you out by itself. When that happens, it tells you why at the top of the sign-in screen. The usual message is "Your session has expired. Please set up your account again."

Somebody who has left can't get back in

When the office deactivates someone on the Team screen, any code they have stops working straight away, and they're signed out of the app. Deactivating them is all you need to do.

Two-factor authentication doesn't apply to the app

Requiring two-factor for your company protects the website. The app doesn't use a password, so there's nothing for a second factor to add to. Turning the requirement on won't stop a phone signing in with a code. See signing in securely.

Working for more than one company

If you also do work for a second firm that uses WorkOrders, ask that office for a code. Then tap Add account… in Settings. It's the same two-step screen, and your name, email and number are filled in for you. You don't have to sign out of your first account.

Once both accounts are on the phone, you can switch between them in Settings without signing in again. Each account has its own notifications, and tapping one opens the right job in the right account, so you always know which firm it's from. See working for more than one company.

More than one phone

Each phone is signed in separately, so setting the app up on a new phone doesn't sign anyone out of an old one. A phone stays signed in until either someone signs out on that phone, or the office deactivates the person on the Team screen, which signs them out on every phone. If a phone is lost and nobody can sign out on it, the office can deactivate the person and then reactivate them.