The four rules
Your engineers have to agree to carry this
So the rules are short enough to say to them in one breath, and they're the same four rules whether anyone's looking or not. Read these before anything else on the page.
- 01
Nothing runs until the engineer taps “On my way”.
Tracking is a mode they start from the appointment, not a background service on their phone. Before that tap there is no location to see, in the office or anywhere else.
- 02
It stops on its own within 100 metres of the door.
Arrival is the end of the session. The engineer doesn't have to remember to close anything, and the tracking doesn't follow them into the job — or to their next tea break.
- 03
Four hours is the hard ceiling, whatever happens.
If a session is somehow still open — the job was cancelled, the phone lost signal at the wrong moment — it ends itself. A forgotten “on my way” cannot quietly run all evening.
- 04
“Customer is watching” appears only when they are.
The Lock Screen says it once the customer has actually been sent the link — not as a default, and not as a guess. The engineer always knows which of the two situations they're in.
None of this measures productivity, scores driving, flags speeding or verifies a clock-in — the 100-metre stop ends a tracking session, it doesn't police a timesheet. If you want vehicle telematics, we don't do it and our BigChange comparison says so plainly.
The engineer gets
- One tap to startFrom the appointment they're already looking at.
- The ETA on the iOS Lock ScreenA Live Activity they can read at a set of lights without unlocking the phone.
- It keeps working with the app closedOn iOS and Android. They don't have to leave OnPoint on screen while driving.
- It ends itself on arrivalNo “did I leave that running?” on the drive home.
The customer gets
- A link by email or textStraight into their portal — no login, no app to install.
- A live map and a real ETAThe engineer's position, moving, and the time they'll be there.
- The window you promised, next to the estimateSo “08:00–10:00, arriving 08:46” reads as one coherent answer.
- The same number the engineer seesNot a second estimate worked out somewhere else.
Two screens, one value
08:46 in both places, because it's the same 08:46
The engineer's device has the GPS, so it computes the arrival time and writes it to the appointment. The customer's portal reads that value. Two screens cannot disagree when there's only one number.
Priya Raval · 14 Aspen Way
Arriving
08:46
4.2 mi by road · 15 min
Computed here. Written to the appointment.
Arriving
08:46
Dan · 4.2 mi away
Your window
08:00–10:00
Read from the appointment. Not recalculated.
They used to be two separate estimates, and the customer-facing one was the one people trusted less. Now there is one number with one author.
How the ETA is worked out
Nobody drives in a straight line
Most trade software divides straight-line distance by an assumed speed. It's wrong by whatever the roads add — and worst in exactly the dense streets engineers work in.
Says
6 min
2.1 miles as the crow flies. The crow doesn't have to find the bridge.
Says
15 min
4.2 miles of road, one-way system and bridge included. The number the customer gets.
In the office
Four things, and then it's over
Whoever's answering the phone can see what's happening on a journey that's currently running — and nothing at all about one that isn't. That boundary is the whole design.
- 01Position on a map, while “on my way” is liveBefore the tap and after arrival there's nothing to look at, because no session exists.
- 02Route history for the journeySo “nobody turned up until half eleven” has an answer that isn't two people remembering differently.
- 03Live status against the day's appointmentsWhich jobs are en route, which are being worked, which haven't started.
- 04Open the job in the engineer's own navigation appTheir maps, their preference — rather than a worse one embedded in ours.
- Dan · 14 Aspen Wayon my way · started 08:12ETA 08:46
- Aisha · Flat 3, Bell Courton site since 08:04working
- Marc · 22 Coley Roadnot started · window 11:00–13:00no location
Marc's row says “no location”, and it will keep saying that until he taps. That's not a gap in the product — it's the product.
There's no driver scoring, no speeding alert and no all-day breadcrumb trail. If someone asks you for those, they're asking for telematics.
And you can switch the whole thing off. Some firms run it only on first visits to new customers, which is a perfectly good way to use it.
Straight answers
Including the two your engineers will ask.
01Does OnPoint track my engineers all day?
No. Tracking runs only while an engineer has started “on my way” for a specific job, and it stops when they arrive. Outside that window there is no location being recorded and nothing for the office to look at.
02When does it stop?
Three ways: automatically on arrival within 100 metres of the address, manually whenever the engineer chooses, or automatically after four hours regardless — so a session nobody closed can't run into the evening.
03Do engineers have to keep the app open?
No — it runs in the background on both iOS and Android. On iOS the ETA also shows as a Live Activity on the Lock Screen, so they can read it without unlocking or opening anything.
04What does the customer see?
A live map with the engineer's position and a real ETA, alongside the arrival window you promised — on a link to their portal, with no login and no app to install. More on the portal.
05How accurate is the ETA?
It's a real driving route from a routing service, not straight-line distance divided by an assumed speed. Rivers, one-way systems and railway lines are in the answer. OnPoint routes once a minute and counts the cached estimate down in between, and stops routing below 150 metres because you're at the door.
06Does the customer see the same ETA as the engineer?
Yes — one value. The engineer's device has the GPS, so it computes the arrival time and writes it to the appointment; the customer's portal reads that value rather than working out its own.
07Can I turn it off?
Yes. And plenty of firms use it selectively — first visits to new customers, or jobs where the arrival time is the thing most likely to cause a phone call.
08Does it drain the battery?
Honestly: it uses background location while an “on my way” is running, and background location costs battery. That's a large part of why it ends itself on arrival, caps at four hours and never runs in the background across the whole day. It's on for the drive, not for the shift.
09What does it cost?
£19 for the first seat and £9 for each seat after. Tracking is on every plan — there's no higher tier to move up to. See pricing.
Tap it once on your own drive home.
14 days free, no card. Start an “on my way” to your own address, send yourself the link, and watch both screens agree — then show your engineers the four rules.
Email us
support@onpointbusiness.co.ukCall us
+44 7884 697405On every plan
£19 + £9 a seat · no higher tier