Scout
IBEW Organizer Field Guide
An app created by an organizer, for organizers.
Enter your username and password. Tap Sign In.
Scout keeps you logged in for 30 days. After signing in once, the app opens directly to your dashboard on future visits. iOS will prompt you to save your password with Face ID on first login.
Every card shows the contractor name, address, distance from your location, permit value, and permit date. Projects are always sorted closest first based on your GPS position.
Tap any card to open the full project detail.
The search bar sits at the bottom of the screen. Type any part of a contractor name or an address. Search looks through every site your local has, not just the ones near you, so it is the way to find a job that is too far away to show up in the list.
Tap the lock beside the search bar to hold onto a set of results while you work.
Tap the Filter button to the right of the search bar. A panel slides up from the bottom with two sections:
Status. All, Unvisited, or Visited
Union Type. All Types, IBEW, UBCJA, or Non-Union
Tap Done to apply and close. Tap Clear All to reset both filters. When a non-default filter is active, the Filter button turns teal as a reminder.
The Tracking button sits under the Scout name, beside Route and Assign. It shows whether Scout is watching your location.
Filled in green means your list re-sorts as you move and pulls in new sites on its own. How often it refreshes is set under Sync Interval in Settings.
An outline means tracking is paused and the list will not update on its own. If your list has stopped changing, check this button first.
Tap it to toggle. Tracking starts automatically when you log in.
Shows the electrical sub, general contractor, work description, permit number, estimated value, and distance. Tap the GC name, union type chips, or work description to edit and save changes instantly.
Displays the most recent photo logged for this site. If a later visit was made with no photo, the app still finds and shows the most recent visit that had one, so photos are never hidden by follow-up check-ins.
Shows site notes from the last 5 visits where notes were recorded, including the organizer's name and date of each visit. This gives you a quick at-a-glance history of what's been observed on site.
Lists every worker logged at this site across all visits. Each contact shows:
Plate numbers and vehicle descriptions logged at this site across all visits.
Tap Navigate for driving directions to this site on its own. It opens Apple Maps, Google Maps, or Waze, whichever you picked under Maps App in Settings.
Tap Start Visit instead when you want the stop recorded.
Tapping Start Visit on a site opens the En Route screen, which shows how far you are from the site and keeps updating as you drive.
When you get within the check-in radius (default: 300 ft), a ✓ Check In button appears automatically, if Geofence Check-In is enabled in Settings. Tapping it records your exact arrival time and moves you to the On Site screen.
You do not have to wait for it. A Check In Now button sits on that screen the whole time. Use it if your phone is slow to notice you have arrived, or if the address is a little off.
Once checked in, a timer starts counting how long you've been on site. This duration is saved with your visit record.
When you drive away, Scout notices and opens the form to log your visit, so you do not forget.
This needs Departure Reminder turned on in Settings. You can also tap Done Here yourself at any point.
Take a photo of the site, job sign, or vehicles. The photo uploads to secure cloud storage and appears on the project detail for all organizers. You can skip this step if conditions aren't right.
Tap the microphone beside the name or notes box and talk instead of typing, which is easier with gloves on.
For each worker you make contact with, enter:
Tap Save & Add Another to log multiple contacts. Tap Done Adding Contacts when finished.
Enter any van or truck numbers visible on site. Tap + Add Vehicle to log multiple. Tap Not Visible if no vehicles are present or visible.
Review everything before submitting. Tap Edit next to any section to make changes.
Tap Sync & Done to upload everything. The project is marked as Visited on your dashboard, the photo is stored, and all contacts and vehicles are saved to the site's record.
The project is immediately visible to all organizers.
Tap Assign under the Scout name, then tap each site you want to hand off. Tap Assign again, pick the organizers, and confirm.
Everyone you picked gets an email, and the site shows Assigned to you on their phone.
Open the site and look under Assigned Organizers. Tap Assign to add somebody, or the X beside a name to take the assignment back off them.
Open the filters and choose My Assignments. This searches everything your local has, so sites assigned to you show up even when they are a long way from where you are standing.
The feed shows check-ins, contacts logged, new projects added, and other activity, with the organizer's name, site, and timestamp. It refreshes automatically every time you navigate to the Feed tab.
Three filter tabs let you narrow the feed:
| Setting | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Auto-Sync | Whether the list refreshes on its own. How often is set by Sync Interval. Turn it off to save battery on long days. |
| Geofence Check-In | Automatically shows the Check In button when you drive within the check-in radius of a site. Turn off if you prefer to check in manually every time. |
| Departure Reminder | Automatically opens the capture wizard when you leave a site. Turn off if you prefer to open the wizard manually. |
| Geofence Radius | How close (in feet) you need to be for auto check-in to trigger. Set by your administrator. |
Drops sites off your list for a while after any organizer visits them, then brings them back later. It keeps the list to places that still need a look.
Maps App is what opens when you drive to a single site. Apple Maps, Google Maps, or Waze. Waze has to be installed on your phone before you pick it.
Route Planning is a separate choice, used for multi-stop runs. Apple Maps or Google Maps only, because Waze cannot handle more than one destination at a time.
Change Password. Update your login password directly from the app.
Last Synced. Shows how long ago the project list was last refreshed from the server.
Sign Out. Logs you out and clears your session.