Add Internal Notes and Private Comments to Jobs
Not everything you record on a job is for the customer's eyes. Internal notes let your team capture site observations, flag issues for the office, attach photos of work in progress, and leave comments for colleagues — all without any of it appearing on the customer portal or any customer-facing document.
Adding an internal note
Open any job and scroll to the Notes tab. Click Add note and make sure the toggle at the top of the note editor says Internal (not “Customer update”). Type your note and click Save.
Internal notes are shown with a grey lock icon in the notes feed, so anyone viewing the job can instantly see which notes are private. The note also shows who wrote it and when, so there's a clear audit trail.
- Site access issues (gate code, alarm code, parking notes)
- Photos of existing damage before work started
- Parts needed or ordered and supplier reference numbers
- Anything the customer said verbally that you want on record
- Concerns about the scope of work or follow-up items
Attaching photos to notes
When adding a note, click the camera icon or Attach photo to upload images from your device. On mobile, you'll be prompted to take a photo with your camera or choose from your gallery. On desktop, you can drag and drop image files directly into the note editor.
Photos attached to internal notes are stored privately and never shown to the customer. You can attach multiple photos to a single note — useful for documenting the state of a boiler, a roof, or existing damage before your team starts work. Photos are stored at full resolution and can be downloaded at any time.
Getting into the habit of photographing existing damage on arrival is one of the best protections against disputes. A timestamped internal note with photos is strong evidence if a customer later claims damage was caused during your work.
Voice-to-text notes on mobile
When you're on site with dirty hands or in a hurry, typing a note is the last thing you want to do. On the Trade2Base mobile app, tap the microphone icon in the note editor to use voice-to-text. Speak your note and Trade2Base transcribes it automatically. You can review and edit the transcription before saving.
Voice-to-text is powered by your device's built-in speech recognition, so it works offline too. This is particularly useful for engineers finishing a job in an area with poor signal — the note is saved locally and syncs when connectivity is restored.
Speak clearly and pause between sentences. Trade-specific terms like model numbers, part codes, and brand names may need a quick edit after transcription. Dictating a quick summary on the way back to the van takes under a minute and saves significant admin time later.
Tagging an engineer in a note
To draw a specific team member's attention to a note, type @followed by their name in the note editor. A dropdown appears with matching team members — select the right person and they will receive a notification (push notification on mobile, or email if they have notifications set up) letting them know they've been mentioned.
You can tag multiple people in a single note. The tagged engineer can reply to the note directly, creating a threaded conversation on the job that keeps all communication in one place rather than scattered across WhatsApp messages.
- Tag the office manager when parts need ordering
- Tag the lead engineer to review a decision made on site
- Tag a colleague who will be doing the follow-up visit
- Tag yourself as a reminder for when you return to the job
Internal notes vs customer-facing updates
Trade2Base has two types of note on a job: Internal notes (private, team-only) and Customer updates (visible on the customer portal). The toggle at the top of the note editor controls which type you're creating.
- Visible only to your team
- Never shown on the customer portal
- Does not trigger customer notifications
- Shown with a lock icon in the notes feed
- Ideal for site observations, part orders, team instructions
- Visible to the customer on their portal
- Can trigger an optional push/email notification to the customer
- Shows in the customer-facing job timeline
- Use for progress updates, arrival times, completion confirmation
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