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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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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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🇬🇹 ¡Atención! DAMAGE iD is now Available in Spanish 🇪🇸

DAMAGE iD supports our global Team!

We’ve added a little “Latin Flavor” to DAMAGE iD with our new Spanish version. Now fleets, DSPs and rental agencies looking for the best DAMAGE Control solutioncan use their native language.

DAMAGE iD adds some spicy Latin flavor!!

We have so many great customers from the Latin American countries. We knew we had to celebrate with a new update.

Our newest Android release version 3.6 r43 was just launched today. (Last week, we launched iPhone/iPad/iOS version 3.3 also including Spanish).

Look for those versions on the Play Store and App Store.

Watch the video below to see how it works:

P.s. If you speak Spanish, and appreciate this new update, be sure to give us a rating on the app store.

¡Hasta la vista!

DAMAGE iD A-TEAM

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It’s Time to Get Specific on Identifying Damage … “Annotation” has Launched!

Increase your Company’s Integrity with more Specific DAMAGE markings. We feel your Pain!! For a long time, our customers have asked for the ability to mark and comment on specific damages within DAMAGE iD.

We call this “Annotation”. The ability to circle and comment on specific damages.

On April 10, 2020, we launched this new feature. “Annotation” is now available within the (desktop) Review Portal.

Here’s how it works:

After capturing photos, users visit the Case in Review Portal. Click “Add Damage” to circle damages found during the walk-around. From this point on, those damages are given an id and saved permanently. They can now be referenced in future walk-around (inspections).
Choose from a subset of AIAG Vehicle Damage Codes, then makes any comments on the specifics of the damages.

Going forward, users take photos of the vehicle, performing regular, routine walk-around on the vehicle using the mobile applications (available in Android and IOS). A red button will appear showing the vehicle has existing damages.

  • Click the “Existing Damages” button to see all the damages on the vehicle, and browse through the original photos where damage was first noticed.

To view all damages within your fleet, we’ve created a new “Damage Report” under “Reports”.

The new Reports section, available for Company Admin Role.
In the Damage Report, users can review damage across the entire fleet. Filter by unit number or license plate. Then download the report to get an Excel version, including all details of the damages.

We hope “Annotation” takes our product to an entirely different level.

Please give “Annotation” a try and let us know if it helps you better identify and capture damage. It’s time to Charge the Money You’re due on Minor, Mystery DAMAGE. Never lose $$$ on Damage again!!

As always, reach out to us at support@damageid.com with any problems, suggestions or feedback.

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It’s Time to Get Specific on Identifying Damage … “Annotation” has Launched!

Increase your Company’s Integrity with more Specific DAMAGE markings. We feel your Pain!! For a long time, our customers have asked for the ability to mark and comment on specific damages within DAMAGE iD.

We call this “Annotation”. The ability to circle and comment on specific damages.

On April 10, 2020, we launched this new feature. “Annotation” is now available within the (desktop) Review Portal.

Here’s how it works:

After capturing photos, users visit the Case in Review Portal. Click “Add Damage” to circle damages found during the walk-around. From this point on, those damages are given an id and saved permanently. They can now be referenced in future walk-around (inspections).
Choose from a subset of AIAG Vehicle Damage Codes, then makes any comments on the specifics of the damages.

Going forward, users take photos of the vehicle, performing regular, routine walk-around on the vehicle using the mobile applications (available in Android and IOS). A red button will appear showing the vehicle has existing damages.

  • Click the “Existing Damages” button to see all the damages on the vehicle, and browse through the original photos where damage was first noticed.

To view all damages within your fleet, we’ve created a new “Damage Report” under “Reports”.

The new Reports section, available for Company Admin Role.
In the Damage Report, users can review damage across the entire fleet. Filter by unit number or license plate. Then download the report to get an Excel version, including all details of the damages.

We hope “Annotation” takes our product to an entirely different level.

Please give “Annotation” a try and let us know if it helps you better identify and capture damage. It’s time to Charge the Money You’re due on Minor, Mystery DAMAGE. Never lose $$$ on Damage again!!

As always, reach out to us at support@damageid.com with any problems, suggestions or feedback.

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🚛 🚛 Android Version 3.5 – “Signature-on-Return” for DSPs and Leasing Companies

After launching the signature for initial vehicle conditions, our customers asked for “Signature-on-Return”. On March 11, we’ve released Android version 3.5, includes the ability to capture a signature of a driver on either or both going out and return!

With the Corona-virus pandemic this Spring, large companies like Amazon are scrambling to meet the needs of consumers with limited mobility. These companies are hiring as fast as possible through DSPs (Delivery Service Partners) or similar models, which are low-investment business who own vehicles or rent vehicles from Leasing Companies.

Both DSPs and Leasing Companies want protection and are using DAMAGE iD for accurate history of vehicle conditions.

Today, we are developing new features within DAMAGE iD which are specific to DSPs (Delivery Service Partners) and Leasing Companies to protect them from negligent drivers and to provide documentation for insurance claims.

Here’s how it works.To enable this feature, log in to the Review Portal.

Check the checkbox, one or both to enable signature pad on the app!

Now, when the driver returns the vehicle (and captures vehicle photos and video), the signature will be captured and stored in the cloud.

The signature pad will appear after the walk-around and before submission of photo and video to the cloud.

The signature for both before and after will appear within the Review Portal on the Case Details window.

If you click “Export Photos”, you will also see both signatures (if you have both enabled) on the downloaded PDF.

We hope you make use of the new signature options. Look for the signature pad to appear in future IOS versions as well (currently Android has the signature feature).

We wish you and your family good health in these difficult times of the pandemic.

Thank you delivery companies, and DSPs for everything you are doing for us!

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We Just Added “App-Only User” Role – for Delivery Fleets, Leased Vehicles, Trucking

Recently some of our delivery customers have told us that some of their drivers are not entirely trusted. Delivery companies often switch drivers, and drivers should not be able to access all videos and photos taken by other drivers in the Review Portal. These delivery companies suggested that DAMAGE iD should include a limited access account.

Today, we just added a new type of user to the DAMAGE iD Review Portal. The role is called “App Only”.

Just like it sounds, this type of user only has access to the mobile app – they can’t log into the Review Portal. It is a restricted use account.

Here is a quick review of the different roles within DAMAGE iD.

Where to find the new “App Only” User

You can find the App Only user role in the pick-list you select when inviting a new user.

You will also find this user type when editing an existing user. Yes, existing users can be converted to “App Only” users at any time.

Todays update is a “backend” change – so both IOS/Apple and Android users will get this update. There is no reason to check the app store for an update. (e.g. We didn’t launch a corresponding app update with this update).

We hope you find this feature helpful. A big shout out to our friends at Reliance Delivery for suggesting this feature!

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UNITED MileFleet and DAMAGE iD in the Big Apple

Christmas Season … what a wonderful time to be in New York City!

On Thursday, Paula (president) and Jack (founder) met with the UNITED MileFleet team at the Classic Car Club in the Big Apple. The event promotes the DAMAGE iD products as well as offering steep discounts to members of the UNITED MileFleet Partner program.

Members of the program receive up to 20% discount on products for the rental and leasing industry, such as DAMAGE iD.

At the Classic Car Club, members network and share experiences relevant to rental and leasing companies. The venue was filled with classic vehicles, setting the perfect stage for networking, Christmas cheer, and also some serious marketing and promotion of DAMAGE iD.

Andy Wilson, president of UNITED MileFleet discussing the origins of the company.
Paula at Grand Central Station.

Some very hot cars at the Classic Car Club in New York.

Schedule

TimeActivity
10:00Breakfast & networking
10.45First presentations
12.15Coffee break
12.45Second presentations
14.00Lunch
15.00Tour of the venue
Merry Christmas from the DAMAGE iD A-Team!
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Review Portal Update – Now Optimized for Smaller Devices

We’ve just made a new release to the portal.

We’ve optimized it for smaller devices and tablets.

The old version was suited for larger display sizes on desktops – full screen. However, we knew you wanted to access the portal with your mobile devices as well.

So we added additional mobile navigation, removed a few table columns and added over-under images/video so that you can see it with devices as small as an iPhone 5.

(The old, desktop version hasn’t changed at all.)

Check out the mobile-optimized version below (shown on a Galaxy S9)!

If you are using the new mobile version, let us know how it’s going at support@damageid.com. Enjoy the new update!

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Damage Identification API Released

Today, we released our version 1.0 API for the DAMAGE iD API.

The release of the damage identification API is important because it opens up the functionality of DAMAGE iD to developers and IT integrators. Developers can use the API, or “application programming interface” to integrate more closely with DAMAGE iD – exposing it’s core services to software applications outside of the DAMAGE iD app and web portal. For example, the API could be used to pull damage tracking features into a conventional rental software application. Or the API could be used to bring Case statistics data into an analytics (reporting) package or database.

The documentation is a work-in-progress and will be updated as new features are added. The documentation can be found at https://www.damageid.com/api.

What is an API? According to Google, an API is a set of functions and procedures allowing the creation of applications that access the features or data of an operating system, application, or other service.

To gain access to the API, developers must have a typical username and password as well as an “API Key” which is available upon request at support@damageid.com.

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New Platform Announcement – Apple iPad

Last week we added iPad support for DAMAGE iD. iPad is a really great platform. We just love it. There is so much room on the screen. It feels like a clipboard in your hand – it just fits your hands better than a tiny phone. Feels like the right tool for a walk-around.

Although iPad is very different from the iPhone in terms of capabilities, the iPad version of DAMAGE iD is mostly the same as the iPhone version – with a few differences.

One difference is that you can rotate the iPad in any direction when taking photos. Another is that the icons and buttons are larger and easier to click.

In the future, we hope to make even better use of the special capabilities of iPad. One potential future application of iPad, given it’s larger size, is the ability to mark damage directly on the photo dragging your finger across the screen. Imagine red boxes or circles…. right to your photo or video! We think that feature would work really well on iPad and are looking forward to working on such a feature soon.

But for now, we just wanted to get it out on the Apple Store because we love new customers! (iPad support opens up DAMAGE iD to a whole new category of users.)

To download, just visit the App Store with your iPad.


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DAMAGE iD Partners with iQtransit, Inc.

iQtransit -- transportation and logistics

DAMAGE iD  is excited to partner with Charlie Dalsass from IQtransit, Inc. of Lowell, MA.

iQtransit, Inc. from Lowell, MA

Charlie brings a fresh perspective, energy, innovations and experience to DAMAGE ID.

Charlie has worked for 20 years in the technology space. Charlie has diverse experience, as Lead Developer at Banta Integrated media (now RR Donnelly), co-founder and CTO of a web development firm, Neptune Web, Inc.,

He developed T-on-Time, a well-known regional mobile app for the MBTA.

He also founded iQtransit, Inc., which provides IT solutions for transportation and logistics companies. 

Jack Vercollone, the founder and visionary for DAMAGE iD envisions a renewal for our software that is long overdue. Jack formerly worked in the Car rental industry. He is now devoting his full energies to DAMAGE iD and will be working closely with Charlie.

Paula Vercollone has been keeping the “ship afloat” for the past several years, and is invigorated to be working with Charlie and to share experience anD knowledge.

DAMAGE iD’s software replaces the “paper and pencil walk-around” in the Car Rental Industry. DAMAGE iD takes photos of the vehicle before the rental agreement is complete, dates and time-stamps the image, and sends it off to the Cloud to be easily retrieved. NO photo-shopping allowed – DAMAGE iD makes the process of finding images simple because they are sorted by case. The software brings integrity to the car rental industry protecting BOTH the customer and the rental customer from incorrect accusations.

DAMAGE iD will soon release an updated version of the software to make theprocess of finding damage even more efficient!