From Paper Timesheets to Tablets: How Direct Contact, Inc. Modernized Field Work With HCL Nomad
What we achieved
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More work,
less paperwork -
Costs down
access up -
Less turnover,
longer tenure
To who
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Industry Agriculture
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Products: HCL Nomad
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Region U.S.
Overview
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Part 1
Challenge
Field technicians ran on paper, timesheets, project notes, the works. Illegible handwriting and entry errors hit both contractor pay and client billing.
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Part 2
Solution
DCI rolled out HCL Nomad on Android tablets, giving field technicians secure, offline-capable access to the Domino apps they already used.
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Part 3
Results
Cleaner data, faster billing, lower IT overhead, and field techs who stick around because the job got easier, not harder.
The Challenge
Before HCL Nomad, Direct Contact, Inc. ran much of its operation on paper. Field technicians filled out timesheets and project notes by hand, then those forms traveled back to the office — to be copied, filed, re-keyed, and sometimes deciphered. When handwriting blurred or numbers got transposed, two things broke at once: contractors got paid wrong, and clients got billed wrong.
Every workaround cost money. More admin staff to push paper. More hours fixing errors. More phone calls chasing down what a number was supposed to be. For a company built on placing the right people in the right place at the right time, the back office had become the bottleneck.
Adding HCL Nomad to our Domino and Notes stack gave us mobility and replication and a secure, efficient way to put business-critical applications in our field technicians’ hands.”
-Juan Garcia, Director of Technology
The Solution
DCI already ran HCL Domino and Notes for its business-critical apps, so adding HCL Nomad was less about overhauling anything and more about extending what already worked. Nomad on Android tablets gave field technicians secure mobile access to the same applications they relied on at headquarters, plus replication so the apps kept working when service didn’t.
Setup was straightforward. HCLSoftware support helped DCI get the integration in place, and field techs were trained to log time, update project status, and enter data right from their tablets. No big-bang rollout, no disrupted workflows — the new tools slotted into how the team already worked.
The Results
The paper went away and with it, the chain of small frustrations that paper created. Field technicians now log time and update project status straight from the field, with or without a signal. When they get back to a connection, the data syncs. No re-keying. No squinting at handwriting. No phone calls to verify what someone wrote down three days ago.
The downstream effects added up. Cleaner data in project databases. Faster, more reliable billing. Less admin work pushing paper, which translated into lower headcount needs and lower IT overhead. And because the job itself got easier, fewer techs walked out the door — turnover dropped.
DCI now treats HCL Nomad as foundational to where the business is going next.
About the company
Direct Contact, Inc. (DCI) is the largest and most experienced provider of temporary agricultural professionals in the United States. As part of AgriMarketing, DCI connects ag suppliers with skilled staff for research, claims management, sales support, plot management, administrative work, and more. For 30+ years, the company has lived by a simple promise: “The Right People in the Right Place at the Right Time.”
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