The fastest way to lose a crew on new software is to change the screens they know. So the AI in the TradesWork technician app doesn't get its own app or its own step. It's a row of optional assists on screens your techs already use, marked with the AI badge, that they can tap when it saves them a phone call, a supply-house trip or ten minutes of typing, and ignore the rest of the time.
Where the assists show up
A technician who learned on ServiceTitan opens the job, works it and finishes it the same way in TradesWork. The assists sit in four places:
| Screen | When | Assists offered |
|---|---|---|
| Appointment | While Working | The assists that fit this job's trade, in the order that trade reaches for them |
| Job | At Done | Job story |
| Equipment record | On the unit | Replace-or-repair card, scan to part, gauge reader, fault finder |
| My truck | Any time | Identify a part (scan to part) |
The row says what it is: "Optional helpers. Tap one when it's useful." Results that came from AI carry an "AI suggestion. Advisory only: confirm before acting" line. Readings, parts and write-ups saved from an assist land in the same records the tech would have filled in by hand. The equipment record at the top of this page shows the row in place.
Scan to part
A tech is staring at a swollen capacitor with a faded label. Scan to part takes a photo of the data plate, the part's label or the failed part itself, and reads what it can: capacitor, 45/5 µF, 440 V. It then lists matching parts from your supplier catalogs and price book, with the price, how many are on this truck and how many are at the main warehouse, plus the matching price-book task. Tick the part and the task and tap Add to estimate.
If it isn't on the truck, Request part sends a truck restock, a draft purchase order for buyers, or an office task. The screen says it plainly: "Nothing is ordered from here." With AI off, typing the model, part number or rating still finds matches.
Gauge & meter reader
Superheat and subcooling are simple arithmetic that's easy to get wrong at the end of a long day. The gauge reader takes a photo of the gauge or meter, or typed numbers, and works them out.
Enter suction and liquid pressure, line temperatures and voltage, pick the refrigerant (R-410A, R-22, R-454B or R-32) and the metering device. For a TXV or EEV, enter the target subcooling; for a piston, the target superheat. The result:
- Superheat and subcooling calculated for that refrigerant.
- A charge check against the target, with what it could mean. Low subcooling against a 10 °F target flags a possible undercharge or restriction and says to check for leaks and airflow before adding refrigerant.
- Electrical checks against the nameplate: 236 V is in range for a 208/230 V plate, and the plate's own minimum and maximum win.
- Save readings writes them to the equipment record, so the next tech sees the history.
Fault finder and panel reader
Both start from photos, up to three per question. The fault finder looks at a component: a bulged capacitor, a pitted contactor, corrosion, scorch marks. The panel and wiring reader looks at an electrical panel or a unit's wiring diagram. Panels from brands with known hazards, such as Federal Pacific and Zinsco, are flagged by brand.
Every suggestion carries a confidence and the test that would confirm it. A pitted contactor at medium confidence comes with "measure voltage across the contacts with the call active", not a verdict. Both need AI turned on; without it they're hidden rather than pretending.
Code check
Ask in plain words: "How far above the floor can the water heater's T&P discharge pipe end?" Code check answers only from a curated library of paraphrased sections for the jurisdiction and code editions your company set up, such as NEC 2023 and IRC 2021. Each answer names its sections, for example IRC 2021 §P2804.6.1, and any citation outside the library is dropped rather than shown.
Every answer ends with verify with your AHJ. Local amendments aren't tracked, and the inspector's reading wins.
Job story
At job Done, the app offers to write the job story. It drafts a short message and three sections, what we found, what we did and what we recommend, using the job's notes, readings and before and after photos, in English or Spanish. It also drafts the invoice narrative and warranty-claim notes.
The tech edits every line before anything is sent. If AI isn't on, the draft is still assembled from the job's records under the same headings, so the habit works either way.
Replace or repair
On the equipment record, the advisor shows a replacement score and the reasons behind it in plain sight: age against typical life, warranty, open findings, repairs in the last 24 months and the repair being quoted. The rule is transparent, not a black box, and it can say "Repair makes sense."
When replacement is the honest answer, good, better and best options from a matching proposal template, with monthly payments, are one tap away, and Create good/better/best and present opens the normal proposal flow.
Hands-free commands
Gloves on, phone on the condenser: push to talk and say "superheat 12" or "note: customer asked about a smart thermostat". The app logs the reading, adds the note, starts a timer or changes status, and can read answers aloud, in English or Spanish. There's no wake word. Voice needs a speech-to-text provider; without one, the same commands can be typed.
Controls and costs
- 1
Company switches
Settings › AI lists each field assist with its own switch, plus the code-check jurisdiction and editions.
- 2
Daily cost caps
Set a daily cap so AI spend is a number you chose.
- 3
Per person
Each tech's Account screen has Show AI assists. Off hides the row; everything else works the same.
Where this isn't the right fit
If you want Bluetooth meters streaming into the app, camera or LiDAR measuring, sewer-camera tagging or a wake word, those aren't built. If your techs won't tolerate anything new on screen, switch the assists off for the company and turn on one, scan to part or the gauge reader, for the techs who ask for it.
Footnotes
-
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Section 608 of the Clean Air Act: Stationary Refrigeration and Air Conditioning." https://www.epa.gov/section608 ↩
