IMDS App – Improving Mobile Workforce Operations and Infrastructure Response in San Antonio, Texas

Problem

Municipal agencies responsible for infrastructure maintenance and city operations often face major challenges in managing field operations efficiently. In San Antonio, Texas, departments struggled to coordinate real-time activities across mobile teams responsible for tasks such as road repair, traffic signal maintenance, street cleaning, and emergency response.

Existing workflows relied heavily on paper forms, delayed communication, and manual data entry. As a result, service requests were often duplicated, improperly routed, or delayed. Supervisors lacked visibility into field operations, making it difficult to assign resources, monitor productivity, or confirm task completion. These inefficiencies impacted service delivery, reduced accountability, and increased operational costs.

Solution

To solve these challenges, the City of San Antonio partnered with Irys to launch the Infrastructure Maintenance Dispatching System (IMDS) App. Irys played a central role in designing and developing the mobile and web-based platform to help manage city field operations in real time. The goal was to equip municipal workers with a unified tool to receive assignments, report task status, and collect data on the ground.

Irys’s contribution included building a user-friendly app that integrates location tracking, digital work order management, image capture, and field reporting. The app allows workers to receive tasks through their mobile devices, document work with photos and notes, and update status on site. Supervisors can monitor job progress live and make adjustments as needed based on the app’s real-time data.

On the backend, Irys implemented a dashboard that centralizes all incoming work orders, tracks team activity on a map, and generates reports on performance metrics. The system allows managers to filter tasks by location, priority, or department, enabling faster decision-making and improved resource allocation.

By designing the platform to be browser-based and device-agnostic, Irys ensured that it could be used by any city staff member, regardless of the device or data plan they had available. This helped ensure full adoption and improved collaboration between teams.

Results

Since deploying the IMDS App, the City of San Antonio has reported improved efficiency, faster response times, and greater operational visibility across departments. Mobile teams have successfully completed thousands of work orders using the platform, while supervisors can now track field activity and reassign tasks based on shifting priorities or emergencies.

The app has also helped reduce paperwork, eliminate manual errors, and provide a complete record of city operations. Teams across different departments, including Public Works, Transportation, and Solid Waste, now operate under a shared platform that supports communication, accountability, and long-term infrastructure planning.

Irys’s technology has allowed the city to scale operations more efficiently and lay the foundation for a smarter, more responsive approach to infrastructure management. The system’s data has supported long-term planning and helped city leaders prioritize investment in high-need areas.

Quotes/Testimonials:

"Before the IMDS App, we were working in the dark. Now, we can see where our teams are, what they are doing, and what still needs to be addressed. Irys gave us the tools to modernize our entire operation."– Julian Ortega, City Operations Supervisor, San Antonio Public Works Department

Sustainable Development Goals Contribution

• Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and foster innovation
  Enabled real-time coordination of infrastructure maintenance through digital task management and location-based dispatching.
• Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable
  Improved the ability of city departments to respond quickly to infrastructure needs and maintain public spaces more effectively.
• Promote sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all
  Empowered mobile teams with technology that enhances job performance, reduces inefficiencies, and supports workforce development.
• ‍Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development
  ‍Demonstrated the value of public-private collaboration in solving operational challenges and scaling smart city solutions.