# Competitor Research

## Status
This workspace did not contain the earlier detailed research artifact referenced in the prior conversation. The notes below incorporate the competitor signals from that summary so implementation work has a durable local source.

## Competitor Signals
- ServiceM8, Jobber, Housecall Pro, FieldPulse, Workiz, Fieldpoint, and ServiceTitan all emphasise scheduling, dispatch, quotes, invoices, reminders, technician mobility, reporting, and customer communication.
- Forum and review signals in the prior research called out demand for clearer job status changes, notifications, workflow tracking, recurring work, reporting exports, and fewer paywalled essentials.
- Customer expectations are moving toward self-service portals with quote approvals, visit visibility, invoice/payment access, customer uploads, and two-way communication.

## Highest-Demand Feature Themes
- Job/workflow clarity: configurable job stages, blocked-job reasons, activity timelines, exception dashboards, technician checklists, and customer-visible statuses.
- Scheduling intelligence: conflict detection, technician skill matching, ETA messages, and route-aware assignment.
- Inventory and truck stock: parts used on jobs, low-stock warnings, restock workflows, and job profitability impact.
- Customer portal: approvals, appointment visibility, invoices, payments, uploads, and messaging.
- Automation: reminders, follow-ups, recurring jobs, job-status notifications, and overdue invoice nudges.
- Reporting: profitability, technician utilisation, quote funnel, aged receivables, saved exports, and owner summaries.

## Implemented In This Slice
- Workflow-aware jobs with statuses, priorities, blockers, progress, next actions, and technician checklist defaults.
- Dashboard workflow exceptions for blocked or urgent work.
- Database foundations for job checklist items, timeline events, inventory items, truck stock, customer portal tokens, automation rules, and saved reports.

## Not Found In Current Project
- The attached user document mentioned in the prior conversation was not present in the workspace.
- The full previously generated `docs/COMPETITOR_RESEARCH.md` and `docs/FEATURE_ROADMAP.md` files were not present before this update.