BUG 3546 - Quantity of items applied to common wall of subrooms now reflects both sides of wall
Symptoms: When an item was applied to only a common wall (a wall shared by two rooms) between two subrooms (rooms joined using the Join Subrooms command) the quantity generated would equal only one side of the wall.
Explanation: Fixed—the quantity generated now equals both sides of the wall.
 

BUG 3676 - Custom room name not set unless ENTER pressed 

Symptoms: When entering a custom room name (typing into the room name field instead of choosing a name from the dropdown list), unless ENTER was pressed, the room name would revert back to the default name (ex. "Room"). The easiest thing to do on a pen-based PC, when using handwriting recognition, is to tap anywhere outside the field to close the field and hide the dropdown list. This would also cause the problem to occur.
Explanation: Now you can simply tap anywhere outside the field once the custom room name is entered.

 

BUG 2477 - Category of item found with database search not selected when search mode turned off
Symptoms: After performing a keyword search for an item (in the Database section of the Item Panel), then selecting the desired item/action from the list of search results, the category containing the selected item was not shown expanded once the search mode was toggled off (by tapping the Keyword Search button again).
Explanation: Fixed.
 

BUG 1141 - Item actions not included in keyword search
Symptoms: When performing a keyword search (in the Database section of the Item Panel) an item's action would not be included in the search. For instance, when searching for "paint", the results returned would only include items where the item description contained "paint", but would exclude items where the action was "paint".
Explanation: If a keyword is present in the action of an item, the item is shown in the list of search results, expanded so that the action containing that keyword is shown.
 

BUG 1325 - "Folding door" subtraction should be a single door, not a double door
Symptoms: The folding door subtraction used to always be a double door, which prevented you from adding just a single folding door.
Explanation: The "folding door" subtraction is now just a single door. To make the subtraction a double door, copy the folding door, paste beside the original and reverse the hinges.
 

BUG 1360 - Changing dimension of room would sometimes change dimension of adjacent room
Symptoms: Depending on the position of a room in relation to an adjacent room, altering the dimension of the room would also alter the dimension of the adjacent room. For instance, in the image to the right, making the length of the Foyer larger would make the length of the Den smaller (although changing the length of the Den would have no effect on the length of the Foyer—the top wall of the Den would move up). A workaround of first separating the rooms before altering the dimensions was previously recommended.
Explanation: Room resizing when another room is adjacent is now a lot smarter. The software will always attempt to resize a room by moving a wall away from any common (shared) walls. Note that whenever a room is bound in both directions by adjacent rooms, resizing the room will still result in another room also being resized. It's still a good idea to set the exact dimensions of a room before placing it adjacent to other rooms.
 

 

 

When drawing an odd-shaped room with Symbility's Freeform drawing tool (which we are now seeking a patent for) there used to be no way to "undo" the last point drawn if you made a mistake (you would need to finish the room, then use vertex mode to adjust). Now you can simply tap on any vertex to erase all wall segments drawn after that point. This means you can erase the last wall segment drawn, or the last 4 wall segments drawn.

 

Before, you could only edit the dimensions of walls drawn with the Freeform tool once all walls were drawn and the room was completed. Now, you can tap a dimension for any wall that has been drawn and edit the dimension (using the feet/inches gizmo or by capturing a measurement with a Disto) while you are still drawing the shape.

 

While estimates created by assignees are automatically viewable and editable by the claim originator (once the estimate is marked complete) estimates created by the originator are not automatically shared for viewing by assignees (and previously they could not be shared). Now an originator can choose to share their estimate(s) with any assignees. To do this, originators will find a new drop-down list at the right side of the header bar on the estimate page containing checkboxes for all current assignees. This new dropdown is available in both mobile claims and Symbility.NET (in mobile claims, you must have ownership of the claim, and after sharing the estimate you must save the claim and synchronize).

 

Estimates that are shared with assignees can be viewed by the assignee, but not edited. The assignee can however import the contents of the estimate into their own with the Import items from... feature (see below). The estimate does not have to be marked as complete in order to share it with an assignee.

 

Items that have been added to one estimate can now be easily imported into another estimate. In the Tools menu when viewing an estimate you will find a new command Import items from... which will show all other estimates that all other users in your company have authored (or that have been shared with you) when selected. Select the estimate containing the items that you wish to import and all items from that estimate are instantly added to the estimate you are viewing. Items are placed in the same rooms as they are in the estimate that they're imported from, and all properties (notes/photos/voice annotations, wastage, height used, etc.) are preserved.

Multiple digital photos can now be added at once to the Photos page. To do this, first select multiple images by drawing a selection rectangle around the photos you want to add. You can also pick and choose multiple individual photos using by tapping the Ctrl key on the on-screen keyboard of your pen-based computer (just use the regular keyboard if you're using a laptop or desktop) and tapping each photo to add to the selection. Once all photos have been selected, tap-and-hold any of the selected photos and choose Add selected photo(s) from the context menu that appears.

 

Note that multiple photos can be attached to items at once, but photos must still be added individually to the floorplan.

 

This is a very handy feature for Pocket PC users. It makes it possible to assign common functions to the hardware buttons on your Pocket PC (the buttons that normally open Contacts, Calendar, Tasks, etc.) When running mobile claims, instead of opening Contact, Calendar, etc. these buttons will perform the function that you assign to the button. Each button can be set to do any of the following:

• Zoom in

• Zoom out

• Zoom-to-fit

• Zoom 100%

• Undo

• Add photo

• Add voice annotation

• Rotate

• Toggle item pane open/closed

• Turn on pan mode

• Show shape selector (only when item pane is closed)

• Toggle floorplan/wall editor/ceiling editor for selected room

The default button mapping is shown in the image to the right. When you close mobile claims or switch to a different application, the functions for all hardware buttons return to normal.

 

This is a significant new Symbility.NET feature and provides great assistance to those companies that have processed a large number of claims, resulting in a massive Claim List, making it difficult to mine for specific claims. The Advanced Search Panel provides the ability to "query" the Claim List and extract only certain records, by specifying specific criteria which all extracted records must match. The ability to mine the list of past and active claims is half of the functionality needed to measure many aspects of your claims business (the other half will be provided by the Analytics feature which creates management reports using the data extracted by an Advanced Search).

 

Symbility.NET has always offered the Quick Search tool, allowing you to quickly find a single record if you know the claim no., policy no., or insured's name. The Advanced Search Panel provides much more robust searching. It is a collapsible panel that now resides at the top of the Claim List. It can be opened by clicking the "maximize" icon at the far right side.

You can perform an Advanced Search to:

• quickly locate one or several records and provide more flexibility than the Quick Search provides

• build re-usable components (building blocks called "Filters") that can be combined in many ways to perform custom searches in the future, by just yourself or anyone in your company

• save a search configuration to run the same search at a later time and extract a constantly-changing set of claim records

With the power of this feature comes some complexity, although by knowing the basic components you'll quickly realize that it's actually relatively simple to use (given what it can do for you). There are three main components of the Advanced Search Panel:

1. Query fields - grouped into 7 page tabs, these fields correspond to various types of data within every claim, and are where you enter the values that the claims to be found must contain.

2. Filters - the combination of several query fields containing values forms a "filter". Filters can be named and saved, and recalled for later use. Multiple filters can be used in any combination.

3. Searches - All the criteria used to execute a search is referred to as a "Search", which can be saved and recalled for later use.

Let's take a look at each of these three components in greater detail.

 

Query Fields

There are several types of query field, depending on the type of data that it represents.

• Multiselect drop down - for fields that can contain a discrete list of values. Choose all values that could be present in extracted claims. Ex.: to find all claims where the Claim Status is currently "Estimate Completed" OR "Estimate Approved" OR "Job Started", select each of these values from the Claim Status query field at the same time.

• Alphanumeric match field - these fields are flexible and can contain any text or number that you enter. If a claim contains the value(s) you enter, it will be extracted.

  • You can enter multiple values by separating them with semicolons. For example "Smith; Johnson; McTavish" entered into Insured Last Name query field extracts records where the insured's last name is "Smith" OR "Johnson" OR "McTavish".

  • You can use the following operators to specify a range of values:

    • > greater than; ex. Year Built >1979

    • < less than; Total materials <500

    • <= less than or equal to

    • >= greater than or equal to

    • <> not equal to when precedes a value; ex. Overhead <>10 ("Overhead is not 10%")

    • <> between (a discrete range) when between two values; ex. Total walls and ceiling 1,000<>10,000 ("Total walls and ceiling is between 1,000 and 10,000 SF inclusive")

  • $ and % symbols do not need to be entered (they are ignored if you do enter them)

  • When entering text, you can enter any portion of the value you are searching for. For instance, entering "pipe;burst" into the Initial Loss Report query field would find "...a pipe burst..." or "...a pipe has burst..." or "...bursting pipe..." or "...inspection of the insured's pipe confirmed that it had not burst...". Another example: entering "wind" into the Insured Address field would find "456 Windham Rd." or "10238 Windward St." or "96 Windy Lane".

• Date of loss - this is a special type of field. It can be used two ways.

  • search a range of dates when the icon appears as : enter a date in the first field to search for all claims after that date (inclusive), or enter a date in the last field to search for all claims before that date (inclusive). Enter dates in both fields to search for claims between the two dates (inclusive).

  • Click the icon and it switches to which indicates that it will search of rolling period—the last x days/weeks/months/years. This is especially effective when saved in a filter (below), as regardless when a saved filter is used it will always extract the last x days/weeks/months/years.

To execute the search once you have entered values into query fields, click the Find icon: . The Claim List will now show only claims that match the search criteria you entered. To show all claims again, click Clear. Click the minimize icon to collapse the Advanced Search Panel. To automatically hide the panel (to provide more room for the new claim list below) check "Hide panel after search".

 

Filters

When you enter values into one or more query fields you automatically create a "filter".

• You have the option of assigning a name to the filter and saving it for later use (enter a name into the Name field and click the Save button).

• You can choose to make the filter private or public—when private, only you can access it; when public anyone within your company can access it.

• Once you save a filter, it appears below the page tabs containing query fields. Each time you use the Advanced Search Panel your filters are displayed here. Each filter describes which query fields and the values it uses.

• To recall a saved filter, just click the name (it's a hyperlink). This will populate the query fields with the values as specified in the filter.

• To create a new blank filter click New, enter your query values, enter a new filter name and save it.

• To delete existing filters, check the filters to delete then click Delete.

Within a filter, the use of multiple query fields creates the "AND" operator. Therefore entering "Insured Contacted" for Claim Status, "Water Damage" for Type of Loss and "Waterloo" for Loss City will extract all records where the claim status is "Insured Contacted" AND the type of loss is "Water Damage" AND the loss is located in "Waterloo".

 

To execute a search using multiple filters, check the filters that should be used then click find. The operator "OR" is applied between multiple filters.

 

Searches

Once a search has been executed, whether it involves one saved filter, multiple saved filters or just some query fields that have not been saved in any filters, you can save the conditions that resulted in the extracted claims as a Search.

• Once the search has been executed, Click the Search command (in the Command panel, top left of screen) and select Save Search As... You will be prompted for a name for the Search.

• You can Retrieve an existing Search that you previously saved, or Delete or Rename them.

Many improvements have been made to the roofplan diagram feature. There are too many to detail here, and since we've never offered roofplans as part of our training, it wouldn't make sense to detail the changes without detailing the basics that have been there since version 0.5. If you are well versed in the floorplan diagram feature, then you will likely be able to easily teach yourself roofplans (the user guide will include everything there is to know about roofplans) since drawing and manipulating roofs is very similar to drawing floorplans. If you would like to learn the roofplan feature in depth, then watch for Symbility advanced training sessions later in the summer, or call Symbility technical support for a quick tutorial.

 

The most significant change to roofplans is that items can now be added to roofs. Depending on where you drop the item and how the item is measured (LF or SF/Squares) different areas of a roof will generate different quantities—just like attaching items to different parts of a room.

 

Estimates in claims that are still in your Claim List can be re-used in new claims. The command Import estimate... can be found in the context menu (tap-and-hold) for each claim record in the Claim List and in the Tools menu when viewing the Claim Explorer of an open claim. This command will show a dialog box containing all claims that have been downloaded on the same device, and for each claim are listed the estimates that have been authored by your company. Select one or more estimates and tap OK; the estimate and all floorplans used to create the estimate will be imported into this claim.