At a glance
The challenge
Their previous system was closing on a fixed date. Case details were typed into free-text boxes, client reporting and month-end invoicing ran through spreadsheets and macros, and a small team had to keep a large contractor network moving.
What we built
Case management built around their two core workflows, imports for each client's daily files, a contractor app with safety checks and photo checks, daily and monthly client reports, native invoicing and timesheets, and a Command Center the team runs by asking.
The results
- Operational before the old system shut down, on a very short timeline
- Operations, case management, field work and reporting in one platform
- Clients make decisions faster from AI summaries, and more work flows through
- New client files and reports handled the same day they were asked for
A deadline nobody chose
Total Risk works across New Zealand on fraud and revenue-risk investigations, utility site visits, document service, tracing, debt visits and corporate care for vulnerable customers. Most of its cases come from energy retailers, alongside housing providers, lenders and law firms. A small core team in Wellington coordinates the work, and contractors carry out the visits.
Their previous system was being shut down. On top of the deadline, it had never fitted their work well: meter numbers, outcomes, owners, occupiers and safety warnings were all typed into one free-text box, and month-end invoicing and contractor timesheets ran from exports through spreadsheet macros.
“For a business like ours, where we have a small core team managing a large network of contractors and high volume of cases, having everything centralised is really important.”
Built around their work, not copied from the old system
Fieldproxy audited every screen of the old system and mapped Total Risk's two core workflows, desk investigations and site visits, step by step. Rather than recreate the old setup, the system was built around how the team actually works, and the history moved across with each case linked back to where it came from.
“Our previous system was shutting down, so we had a very real deadline to be operational. The Fieldproxy team worked with us to get the transition happening within the timeframe, and it was a very short timeframe.”
Lisa is also clear that a move like this takes work on both sides. Her advice to anyone switching is to allow proper time for implementation and migration.
What we built
Client files in, one step
Each client's daily job files and debt lists import directly, with the client's own references kept on every case.
AI that reads the messy parts
Where a client's description is free text, AI pulls out the occupier, owner, contact and medical-dependency details, and flags anything it is unsure of.
Jobs from email
Paste a client's email into the Command Center and it creates the case, assigns a field adviser, books the window and attaches the forms.
The contractor app
Notes, photos and voice notes on every case, a safety acknowledgement before attending, and AI checks on meter photos and receipts.
Client reporting
Daily completion reports per client, split into desk work and site visits, plus monthly outcome, cost and safety reports on a schedule.
Invoicing and timesheets
Month-end client invoicing and contractor timesheets rebuilt in the system, replacing the spreadsheet macros.
The Command Center
“Having a central view of our cases and being able to quickly see what's happening across the business has made a real difference. It gives us much better oversight of our workload and means we're not constantly having to dig through individual cases to work out what's happening.”
The team runs much of its day by asking. Lisa updates cases in a running conversation: one instruction changes a case's outcome, title and charges together. When a client emailed asking for an outcome and cost report, she built it in the Command Center in an afternoon, scheduled it monthly, and immediately asked for the same report for a second client. The team also teaches it standing rules, such as which forms, fees and booking window apply to every job from a given client.
“Our clients have been able to make decisions quickly based on the AI output and summaries it provides, which has meant more work flowing through.”
Changes the same day
After go-live, requests were turned around fast. When Lisa asked for the daily retailer files to use the client's own reference, a dedicated import shipped that day. A team member who had been re-pasting a long report spec every morning got a one-step daily completion report the same day. When a new client's debt-list file arrived in a format the system had not seen, support for it was added the same day.
Lisa's main ask for what comes next is the contractor experience on mobile. Their contractors are not in the system all day, so it has to be as simple as possible for them, and that is where the work is going.
How it went
June 2026
Workspace set up and the Command Center live the same day. Every screen of the old system audited and both core workflows mapped step by step.
July 2026
Clients, cases, bookings, charges, notes and attachments moved across, each case linked back to its original record, ahead of the old system's shutdown.
Late July 2026
Daily retailer imports and a one-step daily client completion report, each built the day it was asked for.
August 2026
Debt-list imports, contractor timesheets and month-end invoicing rebuilt natively, replacing the old spreadsheet macros.
“A big shout out to the Fieldproxy team for working with us through what was quite a significant transition. We were moving an established business and a lot of existing case information onto a completely new platform, with a deadline hanging over us. It wasn't always completely straightforward, but the team were responsive and worked with us to get it across the line.”
