Connectivity is unpredictable on many of the sites we serve. Rooftop generators, basement garages, and rural compounds all test whether a guard app is trustworthy when bars disappear. Here is how we designed Emlinzi so teams never lose data—no matter the signal.
Design principles from day one
We modelled every workflow with “offline first” as a non-negotiable requirement. Posts, incidents, and photos queue locally, encrypted, and are only synced when the device regains a heartbeat. Conflict resolution rules ensure the latest patrol evidence wins without overwriting supervisor edits.
Sync budgets that favour the field
Guards often roam on pre-paid data plans. Emlinzi batches uploads into lightweight packets, compresses imagery, and pauses background sync when battery drops below 15%. Supervisors can still see a heartbeat, but guards keep working without draining their phones.
Lessons from our beta crews
We piloted across Nairobi CBD, Kisumu port, and a mining site in Kitui. The insight: guards want feedback that evidence is safe. We added a “queued” status, sound haptics, and an event counter that shows exactly how many records will sync next. Confidence went up, and duplicate logging fell by 43%.