Field teams responsible for heritage sites often work far from desks, Wi-Fi, or even reliable phone signal. Picture someone standing near a remote stone structure on the Antrim coast or inland from Galway, trying to log details before daylight fades. Data still matters. Accuracy matters. But the tools rarely fit the moment.

Desktop systems expect time, training, and connectivity. Fieldwork offers none of that. This gap causes delays, lost notes, and repeat visits. Leaders feel the knock-on effects quickly. Reports take longer. Decisions stall. Costs creep. This article looks at a real project where that gap showed up clearly, what was learned while closing it, and what decision makers might take from it when systems built for offices need to survive real-world conditions.

Download the full case study here.

Arches is powerful software for managing heritage records. It handles complex relationships between sites, dates, protections, and histories. Great at a desk. Less so on a hillside. Even with Coral adding friendlier workflows, the setup still assumed stable access and time to think. Field teams needed to inspect, record, and move on. Instead, they faced heavy forms, fragile connections, and tools that didn’t forgive mistakes. An earlier mobile attempt never landed. Workarounds became normal. Notes on paper. Photos on phones. Data entered later, if at all. For leaders, this meant blind spots. Progress slowed. Confidence in data dipped. Galvia Digital was brought in to help bridge that gap, not by changing Arches, but by respecting it and working around the edges.

Offline-first sounds obvious until you try it. This project assumed no connection at all. Forms, maps, sessions, everything had to work alone. Sync could wait. That mindset shaped every decision. Heavy mobile frameworks were ruled out early. The aim stayed simple. Capture what matters, where it happens, without breaking trust in the system back home.

The result was Extrados, a lightweight mobile app built to sit safely on top of Coral. Clean forms replaced dense screens. Maps worked without loading spinners. Data saved locally, queued quietly, then synced when signal returned. No server changes. No disruption. Archaeologists didn’t need to know how Arches worked underneath. They just logged what they saw. Leaders got faster reporting, fewer gaps, and less rework. Not perfect on day one, but practical. That mattered.

Systems fail when they expect ideal conditions. They succeed when they accept mess, pauses, and human limits. For decision makers, the lesson is simple. Tools don’t need more features. They need fewer assumptions.

Extrados showed that legacy platforms don’t always need replacement. With careful boundaries, offline storage, and respectful integration, teams can extend what already exists. Galvia Digital worked within Coral’s structure, avoided risky changes, and focused on resilience. The payoff was faster field reporting, steadier data flow, and a foundation ready for future growth without forcing organisations to start again.

Download the full case study here.