Installation companies can't hire technicians fast enough, so every hour counts for the ones they have. Yet a single unfamiliar error code can eat up a big part of a visit. The technician digs through manuals, calls a senior colleague, waits for a call back, and sometimes has to come back another day.
AI assistants for technicians can already help with that moment. Take a photo, find the manual, get an answer. But in a standalone tool, the answer usually ends there. The photos, the unit that was identified and what fixed it stay in that app until someone types them into the office system. Riffle Assist works differently, because it's part of Riffle, where your work orders, installations and job history already live.
Ask it at the unit
Take a photo, say what you see, type a question, or do all three at once. Assist reads the error code off the display and the type plate, serial number or QR code off the unit, so nobody has to type in a model number with cold hands.
It already knows the job
Assist is built into the job, so it already knows the customer, the location and the equipment on site. It doesn't stop at the manual and its fault tables. It also looks at earlier work orders at this location, photos and checklists from past visits, and similar errors your colleagues fixed at other sites. Every answer shows its source, so the technician can check it in a few seconds. When Assist doesn't know, it says so instead of guessing. We tested this heavily, because a confident wrong answer at the unit costs more than no answer at all.
Every job makes the next one easier
What the technician captures doesn't stay in a chat. If Assist spots a unit that isn't in Riffle yet, one tap adds it as an installation, linked to the customer, location and work order. Photos are linked to that installation, and checklists are saved against the record. Nobody has to pass anything on to the office.
So the next visit starts informed. Assist knows which installation is on site, what went wrong last time, what fixed it and which materials were used. The technician gets help today, and their work becomes context for everyone who comes after.
Built to support your expertise
Assist is there to back up the technician's judgement, not to replace it. On safety-critical topics, such as gas settings, answers are marked as suggestions, and the technician makes the final call.
What's next
Assist is coming to the office too. It will be linked to incoming requests, so whoever plans the job already knows the unit, its history and the likely fix before a technician leaves for the site.
The more context Riffle collects, the more it can help beyond the visit itself. Think of planning that knows a certain type of installation usually takes longer than the standard slot, quotes based on what similar jobs actually needed, and better-informed conversations about service contracts and warranties. That's where we're headed: turning fieldwork into knowledge the whole company can use.