CBI, the AI assistant for your trade business

CBI is the assistant built into CrewBarn. It answers, schedules, calls and follows up across the field app, the web app and your company's phone line. Ask it about your day out loud in the field app, or type in the web app, and it answers from your own records: the schedule, the next job, what's in stock, what's overdue, what a customer said on the call. It can book, note, remind, text and call for you, and it always shows you what it's about to do first.

The day, in words

1. Sam, tech · 6:55 PM · heading home · Field app, by voice

   “Hey CrewBarn, what does my day look like tomorrow? Summarize it for me.”

   CBI: Three jobs tomorrow. At 8, the Rivera residence: water heater leaking in the garage. On the phone, she said the side gate's unlocked and the dog's friendly. At 10:30, Oak Hill Dental: no cooling upstairs. They asked you to get there before patients at 11. At 2, the Patel residence: broken garage door spring. He said the car will be in the driveway, so the garage is clear.

   Tomorrow · your briefing: 8:00 Rivera residence, Water heater leaking in the garage (from the call: “Side gate's unlocked, dog's friendly”); 10:30 Oak Hill Dental, No cooling upstairs (from the call: “Come before patients at 11”); 2:00 Patel residence, Broken garage door spring (from the call: “Car's in the driveway, garage is clear”). From the job notes and what customers said on their calls.

2. Sam, tech · 7:42 AM · in the truck · Field app, by voice

   “What's my next job?”

   CBI: Rivera residence, 418 Palm Ct. Water heater leaking in the garage. About 14 minutes away.

   Rivera residence: Rivera residence, 418 Palm Ct (14 min drive).

3. Sam, tech · 7:44 AM · in the truck · Field app, by voice

   “Do we have an anode rod in stock?”

   CBI: Yes. Two on your truck in bin B2, and six at the shop.

   Anode rod, 44 in.: 2 Sam's truck Bin B2; 6 Shop Rack 3, shelf A.

4. Sam, tech · 7:58 AM · stuck in traffic · Field app, by voice

   “Let Mrs. Rivera know I'm running 20 minutes behind.”

   CBI: I'll text the Rivera residence that you're about 20 minutes behind. Send it?

   Text to Rivera residence: Hi, this is Harlow & Finch. Your technician is running about 20 minutes behind schedule and will be there as soon as possible. Thanks for your patience — reach out with any questions.. Sam: “Yes, send it.” CBI: Texted the Rivera residence.

5. Sam, tech · 11:20 AM · on site · Field app, by voice

   “Add a note to this job: replaced the anode rod and flushed the tank.”

   CBI: Noted on the Rivera job.

   Job note added: Replaced the anode rod and flushed the tank..

6. Sam, tech · 11:31 AM · on site · Field app, by voice

   “Mark this job complete.”

   CBI: Ready to set the Rivera job to Complete. Tap Confirm.

   Set status: Rivera residence → Complete. Sam presses Confirm. CBI: Set to Complete.

7. Kim, dispatcher · 9:10 AM · the office · Web app, typed

   “What's overdue?”

   CBI: Four invoices are past due, $3,860 in all. The biggest is Harbor View Apartments, $1,420, 18 days late.

   Overdue invoices: $1,420 Harbor View Apartments 18 days late; $1,080 Oak Hill Dental 9 days late; $890 Nguyen residence 6 days late; $470 Shore Dr HOA 3 days late.

8. Kim, dispatcher · 9:14 AM · the office · Web app, typed

   “What did Mr. Lee say on his last call?”

   CBI: He called yesterday at 4:12. His furnace is blowing cold air and he'd like someone tomorrow morning. He works from home, so any time before noon is fine.

   Call · yesterday 4:12 PM · 2 min: Furnace blowing cold air. Wants a visit tomorrow morning, any time before noon..

9. Kim, dispatcher · 9:16 AM · the office · Web app, typed

   “Book Mr. Lee for a no-heat call tomorrow at 9:30 with Jo.”

   CBI: Ready to book it. Press Confirm and it goes on the board.

   Book a job: No heat · Lee residence, 25 Oak Ln · tomorrow 9:30 AM · Jo. Kim presses Confirm. CBI: Booked for tomorrow at 9:30 with Jo.

10. Kim, dispatcher · 9:18 AM · the office · Web app, typed

    “Put a reminder on Jo's list to pick up the filter order Friday.”

    CBI: Task added for Jo, due Friday.

    Task for Jo · due Friday: Pick up the filter order..

11. Dana, owner · 5:30 PM · end of the week · Web app, typed

    “How much did we bill this week?”

    CBI: $18,240 invoiced on 23 invoices, and $14,910 collected so far.

    This week: Invoiced: $18,240; Collected: $14,910; Invoices: 23.

12. Dana, owner · 5:32 PM · end of the week · Web app, typed

    “Which parts are running low?”

    CBI: Three are at or below their reorder point: anode rods, half-inch PEX elbows and 20x25 filters.

    Low stock: 1 Anode rod, 44 in. Shop; 4 PEX elbow, 1/2 in. Shop; 2 Filter, 20x25x1 Jo's truck.

In the field app

Say Hey CrewBarn and ask. The phone listens for the wake word by itself, on the device, while the app is open, and nothing is sent anywhere while it waits. Then it hears your question, CBI answers out loud, and the words stay on screen. Numbers come out the way you'd say them: twenty miles, two thirty, and phone numbers digit by digit. You can also tap the CBI button and talk or type.

CBI knows the job you're on and, with location on, where you are, so what's my next job comes back with the address and the drive time, and what's this address reads your street back. Ask it to open a job and the app goes there. Ask it to play a call and you hear the recording. Tell it to let the office know something, post a note to the crew board, or text the customer you're running behind.

In the web app

CBI sits at the top of every page as Ask anything, with a CBI button in the corner too. Start from a suggestion, like how's the shop today, who's overdue or what's in my sales pipeline, or ask your own. Every customer, job, estimate and invoice it mentions is a link straight to the record. Turn on read-back to hear answers in the voice you pick.

CBI is also the in-app guide. Ask where do I take a payment? or how do I add a customer? and it answers from CrewBarn's own help, step by step, with links to the right pages. If the help doesn't cover it, CBI says so rather than inventing an answer.

What CBI can do

Ask about your day

• Your own schedule, your next job with the address and drive time, and every stop with its distance.
• A briefing of your day: each job's description, with what the customer said on their calls, summed up out loud.
• The whole board for any day, grouped by tech, and where a tech is right now (for the office).
• Open jobs, stalled jobs, and jobs scheduled in the past that aren't finished.
• Overdue invoices, estimates and the sales pipeline, and what you invoiced and collected for any dates.
• A customer at a glance, the last visit at a property, what was said on their calls, and a conversation in Messages.
• What's on your truck, where a part is and how many, what's running low, and warranties about to expire.
• Who works here, the crews, and your cost model for pricing advice.

Find anything

• Customers by name, business or account number; catalog items; stock locations and what's in a bin.
• Email and document templates, documents you've read in with AI, and signature requests still waiting.
• Where a page is and how to do a task in CrewBarn.

Draft and do, with your OK

• Book a job for a new or existing customer. CBI gathers the address, the work and the tech, checks the address with Google Maps, and waits for you to press Confirm.
• Change a job's status, like on my way or complete, after you press Confirm.
• Text the customer you're running behind, for your own job. It reads the message back and sends only when you say yes, and only to customers who agreed to texts.
• Add a note or a task to a job, put a to-do on someone's list with a due date, post to the crew board, or message the office.
• Teach CBI a rule, like always give me the customer's name first. Owners and admins confirm it, and you check what it has learned before it counts.

Watch the operation

• Calls: CBI drafts jobs from what callers said, writes what was agreed on a call as a note on the job, and suggests catalog items from a photo a customer texts in.
• Running late: when a tech may be late, CBI calls the tech's cell from your company line and says how late they're running. If they press 1, CrewBarn dials the customer and puts them straight through, so the tech tells the customer himself. The call is recorded and saved on the job, and CBI notes the new arrival time from it. CBI calls the customer only if you allow it.
• Writing for you: drafts of service agreement sections, polite reminders for overdue invoices, and new message templates, each for a person to read and send.
• Every hour, CrewBarn's daily duties check twenty-four places where work slips and put each one on the right person's list.

What CBI won't do

• Change records or send without you. Bookings, status changes and new rules wait for Confirm. Saying yes in the chat doesn't count, and CBI can't press it for you.
• Guess. It answers from your records and CrewBarn's own help. When something isn't there, it says so.
• Make, send or change an invoice. It can learn your pricing and draft a reminder, but invoices stay with your people.
• Delete things or act in bulk. Destructive and mass actions are never available to CBI.
• Go around your roles. CBI can only do what the person asking is allowed to do, and you can switch it off for anyone.
• Run on our key. It uses your own AI key, with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini or Azure OpenAI, and the provider bills you directly. One switch pauses every AI job, and each job has its own.

Questions

What is CBI?

CBI is the AI assistant built into CrewBarn. It answers questions about your business from your own records, and it can book jobs, change a status, add notes and tasks, and send a running-late text, after you confirm.

Can CBI summarize my day?

Yes. Ask “what does my day look like tomorrow? Summarize it for me.” CBI reads each job's description and what the customer said on their calls, and gives you a short briefing: the time, the customer, the work, and anything they mentioned on the phone, like where to park or when to arrive. Techs get their own jobs and the calls on them; the office can ask about anyone's.

Can I talk to CBI hands-free?

Yes. In the field app, say Hey CrewBarn and ask your question. The phone listens for the wake word by itself, on the device, while the app is open, and CBI speaks its answer back. In the web app you type, and you can turn on read-back to hear answers.

Does CBI do anything without asking?

Not the things that change your records. Booking a job, changing a job's status and teaching CBI a rule only happen when you press Confirm, and saying yes in the chat doesn't count. Before it sends a customer a text, it reads the message back and waits for your yes. Small things you ask for directly, like a note or a task, it just does and tells you.

What does CBI know about my business?

Only what's in your CrewBarn: jobs, the schedule, customers, calls and messages, invoices, estimates, stock, staff and your templates. It looks things up when you ask rather than guessing, and it says so when it can't find something.

Which AI does CBI use, and what does it cost?

CBI runs on your own AI key, with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini or Azure OpenAI. The provider bills you directly at their price. Turning spoken questions into text in the field app uses an OpenAI key.

Can my techs use CBI?

Yes, if their role allows it, and you can switch CBI on or off for each person. Techs see their own jobs and the calls on them; where the other techs are stays with the office.

Can CBI text any customer anything?

No. From a chat it can send the running-late text for a tech's own job, using a set message, and only to customers who agreed to texts. Other customer messages go out through your templates and automations.