Dispatch Metadata and Inbox Views

The navigation bar appears in your Inbox when you have forms that have dispatch metadata. The tabs will only appear if you have forms in your Inbox that contain the appropriate metadata, e.g., if you have forms with location data, the Map view will show up, but not the Priority view. There are four possible views:

• List
• Due Date
• Priority
• Map

The List view is the default Inbox view. You can use the Search to filter any results at need. The only dispatch metadata shown in the List view are Notes.

Dispatch The term "dispatch" refers to the act of sending a form to a mobile user or customer. Typically, a dispatched form includes some information pre-filled to give the recipient context for the work to be done. Dispatch can be manual or automated (using a Dispatch Data Destination or the TrueContext REST API). notes appear beneath the dispatched form's name. They appear in every Inbox view. Notes can be used for information such as:

• worksite hours,
• site-specific hazard warnings,
• job instructions
• location notes

Notes are limited to 256 characters, including spaces.

This view shows the form with the nearest due date at the top. If no dispatched forms contain a due date, this view will not be shown. 

Any forms without due dates will be shown at the bottom. Due dates can contain:

• A date
• A date and time

Examples of using due dates are:

• setting dates and times on site visits, so mobile users can plan their day and arrive on time, when customers are expecting them.
• an actual due date, such as for timesheets on Friday at 6PM, or monthly inspections on the last day of the month.

This view is also searchable to further filter results if needed.

The Priority view appears if your inbox contains dispatched forms with priorities set. If your inbox does not contain any forms with a dispatched priority, this view will not be shown.

Dispatchers can set three priorities: Low, Medium, and High. High priority dispatches will be shown at the top of this view, followed by Medium priority dispatches, and then by Low priority dispatches. Dispatches with no priority will be shown at the bottom. An example of using priorities is:

• dispatchers rerouting a repair truck by dispatching a high priority repair request straight to their inbox, complete with location data and notes.

The full date and time are shown beneath the dispatch notes for the dispatched form.

This view plots all the dispatched forms with location data on a map. If your inbox does not contain dispatched forms with location data, this view will not be shown.

Standard gestures allow you to zoom in and out on the map. When selected, the pins show the dispatch notes and two options:

• Open the dispatched form.
• Provide driving directions. This will open the default map app on the mobile device and provide driving directions from the mobile user's current location. This is supported in TrueContext for iOS 8.2.1, and coming soon on TrueContext for Android 7.5.

Some common uses of this view are:

• mobile users planning their route for the day based on distance and transport times.
• dispatchers rerouting a repair truck to a nearby location using a combination of location data, a high priority dispatch, and notes on the work to be done.

A banner at the bottom of the map will display how many dispatched forms do not have location data.