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Thank Angel 👼 from Mexico for our Latest Feature – “Share Photos from App”!

While in Vegas at the ICRS (August 15-17), we met hundreds of Car Rental Companies from diverse countries around the world. It was an exhilarating experience. (Be sure to see our blog post from Day 1, Day 2, Day 3).

We heard so many of our existing and (soon to be) customers needs and wants.

Angel from Mexico requested to Share the photos from the App to the Customer. (Currently customers are downloading the PDF in the Review Portal, then emailing the customer – but we can do much better than that!!)

Thank you. You are truly an Angel!

So… we just launched the “Share Photos from App”. This update is for both IOS and Android. Look for Android 4.0r61 and IOS (Apple) version 3.7 in the app store, then upgrade to the latest version.

It works like this:

After you complete the case, click the new, “Share Case” button. 

This will bring you to the mobile optimized share page on the Review Portal site.

Enter the email address of the recipient of the PDF report and click “Send”.

(ps. you don’t have to wait for all photos to upload to use Share, but the email won’t go out until all photos and videos are uploaded).

 

Note that the customer will receive both emails when case is created and after case closed (vehicle is returned)*.
*Emails will be sent once all photos are uploaded.

In the Review Portal, you will also find the “Share Case” button.

You can see how the email notification looks in the photo below.

A sample PDF file can be found here.

We hope you enjoy using our new “Share Photos from App” feature!

As always, contact the A-TEAM with any questions or suggestions. We love hearing from all you “Angels” out there!

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DAMAGE iD stands AGAINST COVID Passports and Mandates

At DAMAGE iD, we believe passports and mandates are just plain wrong.

Here’s why:

  1. What “Science says” is not settled. No-one can say that “science” gives us one single, approach, which can be forced on others. By now, it is obvious everyone (the CDC, the WHO, the US Government, citizens etc) has been learning as we go through this pandemic. Many mistakes and missteps have been made through these 2 years.
  2. Mandates should not be one-size-fits-all. Not everyone’s body is the same. Mandates don’t take into account previous, natural immunity, medical conditions, philosophic or religious objections.
  3. There is rarely guidance on who is liable when there are side-effects to the vaccine.
  4. Mandates divide our society into factions and discriminate against those with legitimate reasons to avoid vaccines.
  5. The idea that un-vaccinated people are somehow a harm to vaccinated people is absurd. If the vaccine works as advertised and you’ve had the shot, then you will be fine. Otherwise, at least admit that it doesn’t work. But don’t blame others for that. A vaccinated person is just as likely to spread it as an un-vaccinated person and they pose no harm to anyone (other than possibly themselves).
  6. There are no studies on long-term effects of the vaccines. It is still a massive experiment.
  7. The government and Big-Tech are actively suppressing legitimate medical information. That is wrong. They are sensoring the most modest voices – even those who suggest to do your research and not to get bullied into taking the vaccine. The censorship is just plain, creepy. When they act like this, how can we trust anything they say?

We aren’t asking for “likes”. But it’s time to stand up against these bullies and join against them. Join a protest, contact your newspaper … resist. Do whatever you can to make your voice heard.

Signed,

Charlie Dalsass, partner and CTO.

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Improved Checkout Speed, Auto-Login in Version 4.0r60.

This week, we’ve made some small, but IMPORTANT updates.

First, we realized that with all our new customers, the “Checkout” process has gotten a bit slow. (If you ever see something that should be faster, be sure to let the A-Team know. We love to optimize DAMAGE iD!).

(The “Checkout” is the part where you enter your unit number, license plate or scan the VIN number.)

The “Checkout” is when you enter the unit number, license plate or VIN number.

We’ve optimized that. Now Checkouts have gone from 6-8 seconds down to 1 second!

You should be able to notice this when using the app. It should feel much snappier.

(This change affects both Android and IOS/Apple apps).

The second change we made this week, affects Android. (Look for version 4.0r60 in the play store).

This change reduces the number of login screens you will get. When you start up the app it will automatically log you in, until you log out.

This should make the app just a little more pleasant to use.

In future releases, we will be announcing some major software integrations. We want to be compatible with as many software products as possible. Once we have these integrations complete, we will let you know more.

Have a wonderful weekend!

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Major 4.0 Release – Now you can Circle Damage Directly on the App!

In our most recent Android release, 4.0, you can now add damage directly to the app!

Upgrade your Android version, to be sure you have the latest version of the app.

The new version adds a brief, additional step between each photo or movie that you take. If there is no new damage, click “Next”.

If you see damage, click “CIRCLE DAMAGE” or Double tap on damage location. A red circle will appear. Use your finger to move the red circle to where the damage appears.

If you are unsure if damage is new, click “Show Existing Damages” to show previous damages. They will appear in YELLOW. This allows you to tell the difference between old and new damage!

Here’s a short video (less than 1 minute).

Choose “damage type” and add comments directly to the damage.

Once photos are uploaded to the Review Portal, you will see the same damage flagged in the Case List.

Once photos are uploaded to the Review Portal, you will see the same damage flagged there in the case list.

Once inside the case, the red flag will identify the position where damage was found.

In addition, the circles, comments and damage type will be found in the Case.

The damage circle can be further edited, moved, deleted etc within the Review Portal.

The damage found either in app or in Review Portal is available in the Damage Report, giving you visibility across your entire fleet!

Download your entire list of damages to Excel within the Damage Report.

The new feature is available in Android 4.0. (This feature is not yet available for IOS/iPhone/iPad).

We hope this great new feature helps you keep your fleet damage-free.

We are thrilled to be launching version 4.0 – a great milestone for our product – and our customers!


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DAMAGE iD Automatic Damage Detection Demo

This demonstration was first presented at the 2021 International Car Rental Show in Las Vegas, August 16-17, 2021.

This demonstration shows the capabilities now available with the recent DAMAGE iD, ProofTec Partner(ship) on AI Damage Detection. These capabilities include automatic or AI-based damage detection.

Demo Format

ProofTec integration with DAMAGE iD.

We started the demo wiping the car with a cloth, removing any “damage” or “scratches”.

Next, we asked the audience to mark the damage on the model using a special chalk marker that gave the appearance of a scratch.

Audience member draws a scratch on the model vehicle.

Next, we performed a “walk-around” on the vehicle using the DAMAGE iD mobile application (Android version was used for the demo, but IOS/Apple is supported as well), taking pictures of each position.

To make it easy to take different shots of each position, we used an motorized, rotating “lazy susan” .

We did not manually mark the damage, but instead allowed the auto-detection (artificial intelligence module) to capture the damage automatically.

Within the app we can also circle the damage manually – to show both human and AI capabilities work, hand-in-hand.

The photos are then uploaded to the cloud.

Next, we log into the (web based) Review Portal and search by unit number to view the “Case”. The Case shows before and after photos in a pair.

Red flags show that damage has been found.

The flags appear in the Case List and also on the profile icon.

The following video shows the damage was successfully auto-detected.

Red circles appear, highlighting the damage and damage type.

Damage which is detected by AI is marked “AI Detected” next to the damage type.

Damages are automatically circled and labelled by the software. The “scratch” the customer created was also found, and labeled “AI-detected”.

The following video shows both the app (Android) and Review Portal software in action.

We had great fun in Vegas doing this demo and the feedback was really positive.

If you missed us at Vegas, please email us at demo@damageid.com for an in-person Zoom version of this demo.

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Day 2 (continued), 2021 International Car Rental Show, Las Vegas

These shops were at the bottom of our hotel elevator. This place is wild!
Up for the 7:30 AM breakfast. Food was delicious at the International Car Rental Show. Nice breakfast with coffee, bagels, fruit, yogurt parfait. Chandrahas manning the booth.
More demos with customers. A lot of interest in the new Proof Tec artificial intelligence feature.
More demos at the 12-2:00 session. This was the final session where the expo floor was open.
With some free time, and checked out of the hotel, we went to Old Las Vegas, a funky, quirky town with a massive overhead video screen and 1950’s style buildings.
This guy was amazing. He must have had some mechanical structure hidden in his pants to make it appear he was sitting like that for a long time. Lots of strange characters here, and tons of booze and pot smoke.
Oscars, “Beef, Booze, and Broads”. (I’m not kidding. View the sign close up to see).
The Rat Pack at the Golden Gate Hotel & Casino.
The overhead video covered the entire street. You could rent these acrobatic lines that would rappel you down the entire street.
After the old town we stopped in at Maggiano’s for a quiet drink and to catch up. Everwhere is so noisy, we really needed a break from all the music and sounds.
We met Fernando, I’ve never met him before, but a wonderful guy who I felt I’d known all my life. Friend of Paula and Jack’s from Sixt rental in South America.
Left at 7:30 from the restaurant, and right to airport for this beautiful skyline.
Watching the planes fuel before heading home on the red eye. Got home to Boston at 5:33 AM safe and sound!
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Day 1, 2021 International Car Rental Show, Las Vegas

Ready for Take Off at Logan Airport
Landing around 9:30 PM Las Vegas time.
On the way to the hotel. Las Vegas Raiders stadium.
Bellagio Fountain at night.
“Fountain of the Gods” near the hotel elevator.
Chandrahas and Charlie at the booth.
Paula had these embroidered hoodies made for us. No sleeves, hood and big DAMAGE iD at the back.
Entrance of Caesar’s Palace Hotel
Lobby
Lots of fancy stores. You don’t see a Lamborghini store in your average mall!
The pools are amazing here.
Entrance to the ICRS.
We were able to find a mass in the morning to attend. An beautiful “oasis” from the hedonism all around Las Vegas!
In the hotel room, preparing a rotating car for the AI demo.
Kids be like… “Does your hotel have a pool”.

View of the exposition room before opening

The booth – announcing the Proof Tech AI partnership
Love those hoodies!
Customers are coming non-stop to see the demo. Chandrahas doing demo after demo. Paula in the background.
This pool is AMAZING! Look at how many pools there are. And even though it reached 108 degrees, the water is quite cool and so nice to swim!
Got a few minutes to have a drink by the pool!
More demos and a piano player at the 4-5:30 session. The Car Rental Show offered drinks and delicious appetizers. Wonderful ambiance and great networking too!
Lovely dinner at the Capital Grille on Monday night. Walk back to the hotel. Soooo tired!
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More Storage, Plus 20 Extra Photos on DAMAGE iD Version 3.8

We’ve just added an 20 EXTRA PHOTOS to the latest version of DAMAGE iD!

You’ve asked for this for a long time… the ability to take multiple photos of a specific damage when it’s found. You want the most detail you can get … so take more photos and video!

If you see damage, why take only 5 photos? (Our former version offered 5 “Other/Unspecified” photos.)

Our latest version offers 20 “Other” photos for a total of 27 total photos and videos.*

*Remember, DAMAGE iD doesn’t charge extra for storage space. Photos are stored at no additional cost – and as long as you keep the vehicle in the DAMAGE iD system. At ten seconds each, that can be up to 9 minutes of video per case! That’s alot of MBs!

Another benefit to the increased storage, is that you can now review/retake the photos more easily. No need to click the (+) plus icon — the “Other” photos stay in place the entire time.

Customize your photo positions within Settings section of Review Portal. Use the “Other” photo positions. They will appear as icons with 2-character abbreviations, “TK” for “trunk” and “RF” for “roof”.

Finally, all photos that are customized will appear on the screen.

New, 2-character “icons” (“RF” for “roof”, or “TK” for “trunk”) more clearly indicate the photo position. These icons carry through to the web-based, Review Portal as well.

Now you can more easily show employees which photos they must take.

The new features is available in Android 3.8 version 55. (This feature is not yet available for IOS/iPhone/iPad).

We hope this great new feature helps you keep your fleet damage-free.

We are so happy to be launching this new feature. Happy Fourth of July to all our loyal customers and friends!

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Tech Tip #2: How to Increase or Decrease Photo Brightness (Exposure)

We believe there is no better software for finding and proving damage than DAMAGE iD.

However, you must take great photos in order to get an accurate, detailed digital record of your vehicles’ condition.

To make taking great photos easier for you, in Android 3.7 (r54), we’ve added an exposure slider.

Don’t take photos that look like this! Overexposed photo on the right. In bright sunlight, on certain devices, you can get this problem. Correct photo exposure is shown on the left.

Now when taking photos, just click the “sun” icon. See below!

Click the “sun” to adjust your camera’s exposure using the slider as shown above.

You are never going to find or prove vehicle damage if your photos are “washed out” or “over-exposed” like the above photo.

Use the exposure icon (“the sun” icon) to prevent bad photos.

Be sure to upgrade to the latest Android version, and that you are running 3.7 (r54) to get the new slider.

Best of luck taking great photos with DAMAGE iD!

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Tech Tip: How to Sort Vehicles by Numerical Unit Number

Unit numbers in DAMAGE iD can contain either numbers or letters (or a mixture of the two).

Some customers mix numbers and letters in vehicle Unit Number. Some use only numbers, e.g. 0-9.

When sorting vehicles by Unit Number, the order can be somewhat unexpected for users who use only numbers.

For example, the default Vehicle sorting will order the vehicles like this:

1111, 2

Because alphabetically, “1111” comes before “2” – even though “1111” is bigger than “2”.

If you prefer to sort the vehicles like this:

2, 1111

Select the option “All Unit Numbers are numeric”.

This will sort your vehicles in the way you expect it within the Case List and the Vehicles List (click the table heading to sort by any field).

After changing the setting, the following sorting will be used.

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DAMAGE iD Version 3.7 Introduces Location Tracking on Photos

Now you have one more way to protect your fleet.

We’ve just added location tracking to DAMAGE iD photos!

The new features is available in Android 3.7 version 50. (This feature is not yet available for IOS/iPhone/iPad).

Location tracking provides accountability for vehicle condition of your rental, DSP or car-sharing fleet!

It might be a little hard to see, but we’ve added the user’s location directly to the photo, near the timestamp and unit number. The timestamp is “baked” into the photo, so it can’t be tampered with or faked.

To enable, click the “Gear” icon on the main screen after logging into the DAMAGE iD app.

Click the “gear” icon to enable the location tracking setting.

Click the “Add location on photos” option.

You will be prompted by the app to allow this feature. Location tracking must also be enabled inside the Android settings.

From that point on, the location will appear on your photos.

We hope this great new feature helps you keep your fleet damage-free.

Best of luck with your fleet!

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How to Bulk Archive and Delete Vehicles in the Review Portal

We’ve just added a new capability in the Vehicles (Cars) section of the Review Portal.

You can now modify up to 50 vehicles at one time. This works for the following bulk actions:

  • Delete
  • Activate
  • Archive
  • De-Activate

And you can select up to 50 vehicles with a single click. See below:

In addition, we’ve added a new field “Date Created“.

(The Date Created will be blank for existing vehicles, but will be filled when new vehicles are created).

Click ‘DATE CREATED‘ column in the Vehicles list to order vehicles by this date. (Click again to reverse order).

This should be a big time-saver for customers such as auto dealerships or automotive repair shops who delete vehicles after a short period of time.


Hopefully you will make use of this great new feature!

A-Team Support Staff

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Get in “Sync” with 2 Powerful New Settings

We’ve just added 2 new settings in DAMAGE iD Android 3.7.

(Be sure to Upgrade your DAMAGE iD Version if you aren’t already on 3.7).

The 2 new options are “Sync media over Wi-Fi only” and “Photo Compression”.

Here’s what they look like:

Sync media over Wi-Fi only is used to conserve your mobile data connection while you are on the road or rental lot.

Enabling Sync media over Wi-Fi allows you to take all your photos but not sync any photos/videos until you reach Wi-Fi. When you return to Wi-Fi (office, home, coffee-shop) then DAMAGE iD will begin its uploading.

Here’s the background:

DAMAGE iD uses a small amount of “network” in order to keep the cases in sync. This network use keeps order – making sure case numbers are in proper sequence on the Review Portal.

After photos/video are taken, the media sync/upload process within DAMAGE iD starts up. In this sync/upload process, DAMAGE iD copies the images from your phone to Cloud storage. This can use a lot of bandwidth. (Here’s a simple calculation: 5 megabytes per photo or video X 12 photos X 2 for before and after photos. That can max up to 120 megabytes of data per case!).

Enable Sync media over Wi-Fi … and no more expensive mobile data bills!

Photo Compression allows you to control compression vs image quality.

We recommend you capture the highest quality (least compressed) photos you able to.

However, there are times when these photos are just too large and bulky and the extra size is unnecessary or barely noticeable.

Options are “None”, “75%”, “60%”, “50%” and “25%”.

75% compression will reduce image quality and size a little.

25% will reduce quality and image size the most.

We look forward to hearing your feedback on the new settings.

ps. We are also working on improving the speed of downloads within the Review Portal next. The new release will greatly increase the download speed of these images without requiring any reduction in photo quality. Look for a major Review Portal release announcement coming soon!


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Yes! The Upgrade to Grails 4.0 is Complete

Happy New Year! Yes, yes, it’s a bit late for that, but the DAMAGE iD A-Team dev has been a bit absorbed lately.

So, what’s been going on?

Infrastructure.

In the past few months we’ve been working on an upgrade our customers won’t notice at first. Known as Grails 4, this very modern and high performing system will really help with performance and reliability, and gets oursecurity patches are up to date!

At the same time, we also switched to a highly available architecture.

The migration went off without a hitch! Our API (backend system) is now the latest “Grails 4” platform, and more resilient to interruptions to service.

Customers are going to start noticing improved response times and better performance overall.

… And now that this is out of the way, we’re back on the (more noticeable) features our customers have requested.

In fact, there will be an important new Android release within a few hours! Keep your eyes out for that.

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Are you Going Out? You Just got Flagged!

No, thankfully, this isn’t the Corona police! 😂 😂

How about some great news instead? 🤩🤩🤩

Yesterday, we launched an important change to the DAMAGE iD Review Portal.

First, a little background.

DAMAGE iD stores “Before” and “After” photos and video in a “Case”. The Case brings the 2 sets photos together for easy comparison – before and after. The before-and-after comparison makes it super easy to find damage that occurred during a rental or between change in drivers. It’s really true: “Pictures Don’t Lie”.

The “Case List”, in the Review Portal is where the Cases are found. Cases can be searched by unit number, VIN, license plate, user etc.

BUT some customers, prefer not to take both “Before” and “After” photos. Rather, they choose to take only “Before” photos and video, and skip the “After” pictures.

And that’s fine!

Because we’ve just made DAMAGE iD easier for these customers.

In past versions of DAMAGE, any damage found during the “Going Out” (or “Before”) pictures would not appear within the search results of the Case List when “see something” was checked.

We’ve changed this.

Now you will see RED FLAGs for damage found in the “Going Out” (or “Before”) pictures as well as the return photos.

This feature is important for DSPs or Amazon Delivery Service Providers.

DSPs often choose to use DAMAGE iD by creating a new Case every time they take photo and video. These users, who only have “Before” pictures, can’t easily find damage from the Case List.

Now it is easy for them to find damage – either “Before” or “After”.

Hopefully rental customers will also benefit from this change as well!

The Review Portal is the web site where you view your photo and videos. Photos and video are taken on the app, and are then stored in the “Cloud”. This creates a PERMANENT DIGITAL ARCHIVE of your entire fleet. The photos and video can be reviewed in the Review Portal. The Case List in the Review Portal is where your photos and video are available for easy comparison. Search and sort by date, status, unit number, user etc. Now you will see red flags when damage is found in the Going Out (Before) as well as the After (Return). No more questions asked about when damage occurred! Photos and video can be used for insurance claims, proof of vehicle condition, or when selling the vehicle.

Hopefully you will love this new change.

As always, let us know if you have feedback, by emailing our A-Team Support Staff.


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“The Matrix” is Launched (on Android)!

Release – 3.7 on the Android platform is now live!

Be sure to visit the Google Play Store to get your upgrade. Or, view the complete, instructions to upgrade on Android devices to get your update.

p.s. If you are unsure which version you have, look on the main screen. The version number appears in red at bottom of screen – see screenshot below.

What to Expect

With 3.7, the photo review is now on the app. Now, you don’t have to visit the Review Portal to see past photos.

After login, you will see a slightly different screen, with a “View Photos” button. This new screen allows you to scroll through the photo (and movie) history quickly, to find the source of “mystery damage”.

Enter the “Matrix View” via the View Photos Button.

View Photos Screen

The notes below should help with any questions you have with navigation.

Click to expand the image above.

The below video shows how the sequence scroller is used.

The sequence number scroller is shown above. This allows you to focus on a position, then scroll until damage appears (or goes away) – indicating when the damage occurred. Note that each sequence represents “1/2 of a Case”. Each sequence is either an “incoming” or “outgoing” set of photos.

We know this update will save lots of money!

And Apple iPhone users – never fear! We are working on the IOS version of this release. We will have that ready this Fall.

Let us know how the “Matrix” version works for you by emailing the “A-TEAM” with your feedback.

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Be Prepared for Our Latest New Release … “The Matrix” 🚚 🚙 👀

For all you movie buffs, we’ve code-named our “Neo” DAMAGE iD release … “The Matrix”!

We chose this name because, now – directly on the app – you can scroll “vertically” (in time) and horizontally (over the positions of photos taken) – a “grid” (or matrix) layout. We think make identifying where a damage was first introduced much easier than today’s version.

All fun aside, we think this feature will save you some serious money on vehicle damage.

Will “The Matrix” release save DSPs and rental agencies time and money finding and proving damage? Photo copyright Warner Bros. (United States).

This release is targeted especially for DSPs – but also relevant for rental companies as well.

Today, the DAMAGE iD app has one main “flow”: The ability to take photos and video, then upload them into the cloud.

In the “Matrix” version (3.7), there are now two main “flows” – the ability to take photos and video and to review them.

The new release will include 2 main functions instead of one.
Users will be presented with these 2 main options, once this release goes live.
In “Review Photos, users can scroll up and down vertically in time since the earliest photo was taken. Change photo position at the bottom. Identify previously captured damage with the flags and red triangles in each position.

We are planning to launch “The Matrix” release version 3.7 on Android first. Once we receive feedback on Android, we’ll then launch on Apple (IOS) devices. Look for an announcement shortly.

So …. Are you ready to enter “The Matrix”? 🤣🤣 If so, please send us your feedback at the email below.

Your “A-TEAM”, (support@damageid.com)

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Why Amazon DSPs are choosing to use DAMAGE iD for their Reporting System

Damage to the Fleet is the biggest Loss from profit.  It’s hard enough making a profit as a DSP Owner, never mind paying exorbitant Damage Costs. DAMAGE iD provides DSPs with an affordable software solution which monitors the condition of the Fleet sending the Date and Time-stamped Images Directly to the Owner.   DSP Dispatchers, Managers or Drivers take daily photos of the Vans to keep track of the  van’s condition and provide a running audit. This Daily Photo Report helps the Owner notice WHEN and with WHOM the Damage occurred. DSP Owners have requested the ability to View ALL Past photos on the App in a “Photo Matrix” (to be announced soon). DAMAGE iD is developing the “Photo Matrix” feature, due for launch this Month!!  Contact DAMAGE iD today at: https://www.damageid.com/dsp/