FEATURE 6977 – Block subtractions

Block subtractions are a major new feature, unique to Symbility. Blocks are the long-awaited 4th type of subtraction that can be added to a room in a floorplan diagram (the other three are doors, windows and openings). We call them "subtractions" because their main purpose is to subtract surface area from surfaces of the room. They can also be used to generate quantities (for example the surface area occupied by a door, or the linear feet of casing around a window). Blocks are unique among the four subtractions because they are three-dimensional. They can subtract surface area from any surface of the room which the block touches, and their three-dimensional nature means that they can subtract surface area from multiple room surfaces if multiple sides of the block touch room surfaces.

 

Blocks are very useful for subtracting the appropriate surface area from room surfaces and generating quantities for room features like cabinets, bulkheads and small jogs in a wall. The icon for adding a block subtraction is an image of a cabinet. Now with block subtractions, you can easily and automatically subtract the appropriate surface area from the room and generate the quantities (LF and SF) needed for items that you used to have to enter manually. In addition, any people viewing your estimates and floorplans can easily see where those cabinets and bulkheads are. In short, blocks help increase productivity, accuracy and communication.

 

A block can be positioned adjacent to a wall, in the corner of the room or in the center of the room, useful for island cabinets. They can also be positioned at any height, so they can rest on the floor, touch the ceiling or be at any height in between. The image to the left shows blocks positioned for the cabinetry in the kitchen. Two blocks were added in the center of the room to make an L-shaped island. The dashed lines show blocks attached to walls at about eye level for the upper cabinets, and the other blocks (solid, green) along the walls touch the floor, for lower cabinets. Once these blocks have been added, you now have several dropspots for items like installing/painting/cleaning cabinets, countertop, toe kick, etc. so the quantities of these can be generated automatically, and the surface area of the floor under the island can be subtracted automatically, as can the surface area behind and under the lower cabinets, and the surface area behind the upper cabinetry.

 

You can add a new block into a room from either the floorplan or the wall editor.

 

Blocks in the Floorplan

Only the Floorplan Editor can be used to move blocks horizontally, so you must use it (not the Wall Editor) to work with blocks that don't touch any wall (like island cabinets). When added while viewing the floorplan, the block always touches the floor (it can be later moved to a different height in the Wall Editor). Select a wall to add a new block adjacent to that wall. Select no walls to add the block in the center of the room. The length and width (depth) dimensions are labeled on the block as is the height in the top-left corner (ex. H = 3'2"); tap either of these to enter the dimension with either the feet/inches gizmo or with a Disto. You can also drag its handles to set the shape of the block and set the length and width (depth). The height can also be modified using the "Set Height" command in the context menu (tap-and-hold). The appearance of the border of the block communicates the height at which the block is currently set at: solid means the block touches the floor, small dashes means the block is on the wall but does not touch the floor or ceiling, and large dashes means the block touches the ceiling. If a block is attached to a wall but is not touching the floor or ceiling, and it is moved away from the wall, the block will automatically drop to the floor.

 

Blocks in the Wall Editor

In the Wall Editor, you can view all blocks that have been added in the Floorplan Editor, as well as add new blocks. Only in the Wall Editor can you move blocks vertically, so you must use it (not the Floorplan Editor) to work with blocks that are raised above the floor (i.e. they don't touch the floor, like upper cabinets or a bulkhead). When added while viewing the Wall Editor, the block always touches the wall you are facing; once added it can be moved or resized horizontally or vertically. The length, height, distance-from-floor and distance-from-wall dimensions are all labeled and can be entered manually, by dragging the block's handles or with a Disto. The depth (which is always the dimension relative to the wall being faced) is shown in the bottom-right corner (ex. D = 2') and can be entered by tapping it or using the "Set Depth" command in the context menu (tap-and-hold) or using the Depth field in the properties pane (top left corner of screen). You cannot move a block away from a wall in the Wall Editor—all horizontal moving must be done in the Floorplan Editor.

 

Any blocks that are not attached to the wall being faced are shown as "wireframes". These cannot be interacted with (either face another wall or view the Floorplan to do so), they are shown only to communicate where the blocks are. The image to the right shows the same kitchen pictured in the Floorplan Editor above.

 

General rules about block subtractions

• When moved and resized, blocks snap to room surfaces, other blocks and other subtractions.

• When blocks touch each other, surface area is subtracted from each block where they touch.

• A block must always touch at least one surface of the room and can touch several at once. It can touch only a wall, or only the floor, or only the ceiling.

• The surface area and linear footage of any wall, floor or ceiling that touches a block is reduced by the block in the same way as it's reduced by other subtractions.

• In a floorplan, if multiple blocks are positioned overtop one another, the lowest one is what is seen (in green), and all others are shown as dashed lines.

• If a block touches another subtraction (like a door or window), the length of casing of the other subtraction is reduced on the side that touches the block.

• You can drag a block from one room to another.

• Once a block has been attached to a wall, it stays attached to the wall when changing the dimensions of walls (via dragging/feet & inches gizmo/Disto) in the room just like other subtractions.

Attaching items to blocks

Just like rooms and other subtractions, blocks provide several dropspots to allow you to calculate quantities of items that relate to the block—where you drop the item on the block (and the "per" value of the item) determines the quantity that is calculated. The symbol shown when dropping an item onto a block dropspot is "Bk". Items can be dropped on a block in the Floorplan Editor and in the Wall Editor.

• In both the Floorplan Editor and Wall Editor, dropping an item on any corner handle will apply the item to all surfaces of the block that are not touching another surface.

• In the Floorplan Editor, items can be applied to all surfaces of a block except the bottom. Drop the item on one of the edges of the block to apply to a side of the block. Drop in the center of the block to apply a SF item to the top, and a LF item to the side facing the bottom of the screen.

• In the Wall Editor, it's possible to apply an item to all surfaces not touching a room surface, even if the surface of the block is not visible due to the 3-D perspective display of blocks. Applying a item to the facing side is straightforward:

• Although the top of a block that is positioned high on a wall is not visible, the translucent appearance of blocks is a hint that you can still look through the block to see hidden surfaces. Thus, to apply an item to the top of the block:

• Move down just slightly on the same block and the front face dropspot will be activated:

• For LF items, the quantity generated is always the horizontal distance spanned by the face that the item is applied to.

 

FEATURE 6458 – Staircase shape enhancements

This feature affects four areas of functionality. First, the Staircase Editor has been completed—it has been "in progress" since Symbility's general release last year. Now staircase shapes can be fully defined, including the ceiling type, number of risers, rise, run, and overhang (all these fields can be found in the properties pane).

• Four sets of handles in the main pane allow manipulating some of these variables by dragging.

• Changing the step run changes the overall room length.

• Changing the step rise changes the staircase height.

• Changing the number of steps changes both the room's length and height, but keeps the rise and run constant.

You can still change the direction of the stairs by clicking on the wall you want the slope of the staircase to begin from in the navigation pane (top right). The default size of a new staircase shape when added to a floorplan is now 8' x 3'.

 

The second change is how staircase shapes appear in the Wall Editor—now they appear with a realistic three-dimensional perspective. Subtractions (even blocks) can be added to any wall of a staircase shape, just as you would add them to a regular room. Base molding can also be defined for the staircase, although it is not present by default.

The third change is that items can now be applied to staircase shapes within the wall editor, and the variables used to define the staircase shape are used to provide several useful calculations, triggered when items are dropped on the appropriate dropspot:

• Drop an item on the stringer area to generate the SF of visible stringer or the LF of edging.

• Drop an item on the steps to generate a quantity of the number of steps (EA item), the surface area of all steps (SF item) or the linear footage of the steps at the base of the wall.

• When a LF item is applied to a wall perpendicular to the stairs, the generated quantity is the LF along the edge of the wall where it meets the stairs/landing (quarter-round was commonly applied here in older houses). This is the same LF quantity generated if the item is dropped on the steps.

• When a SF item is applied to a wall perpendicular to the stairs, the surface area of the wall that is consumed by the stairs themselves (including the stringer—the triangular wall area between each step) is accounted for (removed) if the item is a "surface" item (like paint, or cleaning). This means that the resulting quantity of the wall is the area above the stringers only. If you want to use the full wall surface area ignoring the stairs and stringer, tap the Include Subtractions button () in the item list view of the Item Pane. Note that "Structural" items like drywall will exclude only the area of the wall consumed by the stairs, not the stringer.

The fourth change is the additional staircase details now shown on the Estimate page, including number of steps, tread dimensions, SF of Walls and SF of steps.

 

 

FEATURE 7150 – Symbility Public API

Part of our mission is to make Symbility a non-proprietary system that supports easy, open exchange of data with other electronic, web-based systems. With the availability of our "Public API" feature we have now achieved that, and made Symbility unique in yet another way. "API" is a software term that means "application programming interface". Think of it as a door to the data within Symbility, albeit a very secure door that requires a passcard, biometric identification and logs everything you take in and out (these are just analogies—don't take this too literally!) The Symbility Public API uses web services to allow programmers to transfer data via XML.

 

If you are interested in using the Symbility Public API, contact either your account representative or Symbility technical support. Your company administrator will be given access to a new page in Symbility.NET that provides all the resources for getting started, including full documentation.

 

FEATURE 7024 – Option to automatically distribute changes to unit price among existing price components 

Before, if you wanted to change the unit price of a line item, you could do one of two things in the Item Properties dialog box:

1. Edit the Unit Price field directly. This would put the difference between the unit price from the pricing database and the edited unit price into the Market Conditions price component field.

2. Edit one or multiple price component fields such that the resulting unit price (which is the sum of all individual price component fields) equals the price sought.

Many users do not like using the market conditions field (which is intended to absorb the price difference from what's in the database, based on temporary circumstances) and would rather that when the unit price is changed directly, all components contributing to the unit price change proportionally. So we've added an option to do exactly that. It's a new preference in the Preferences dialog box (Tools | Preferences).
 

 

FEATURE 2043 – Enhancements to mobile claims Claim List 

The Claim List screen in mobile claims has been given a facelift and now closely matches the formerly much more sophisticated claim list of Symbility.NET. Enhancements include:

• Each claim record can be expanded (click the [+] symbol) to show the full set of administrative details for the claim, whether the claim has been downloaded or not. A thumbnail of the first photo added to the claim will also be displayed. To see the details of all claims, use the Expand All command in the Tools menu.

• You can now drag the column headers to re-arrange the order of columns.

• You can select which columns to show and hide, using the View submenu of the Tools menu.

• You can now group all claims in the claim list by various criteria (age, claim status, location, etc.)

• The context-menu (tap-and-hold) now contains commonly-used commands.

• The last 5 most recently opened claim files are shown in the Recent Claims submenu of the Tools menu. Select a claim from this list to open it.

Any changes you make to the layout of the Claim List are remembered for the next time you view the claim list.

 

 

FEATURE 2066 – Emergency claims 

This feature aids in communicating the urgency required for claims involving emergency work and immediate attention. On the Loss Summary page is a new checkbox "Emergency work required" which can be checked when the claim is created. Notifications sent to an assignee or other participant will identify the claim as requiring emergency work. In the Claim List in both Symbility.NET and mobile claims a new column will indicate all emergency claims (the emergency icon will appear in the column). Finally, you can include or exclude emergency claims from the Claim List using a new criteria in the Advanced Search panel.

 

 

FEATURE 2474 – Door/window/opening type can be changed using context menu 

This feature is a new shortcut that saves you prom having to select the door or window type, or opening shape from the Properties pane in the Wall Editor. Now you can simply select the Type from the context menu (tap-and-hold) for the door, window or opening then select the type to change to.

 

 

FEATURE 2073 – Ability to specify the height of LF items on wall 

Before, when a LF item was applied to a wall, the quantity generated was the length of the wall minus all subtractions that touch the floor. While this is fine for items like base molding that actually sit at floor level, it doesn't always calculate the correct quantity for LF items that are not at floor level, like chair rail. The problem occurs if there's a window on the wall to which the LF item is applied—the width of the window (and the window's casing) should be subtracted from the quantity of the LF item if it intersects the window. If the LF item does not intersect the window however, the window's width should not be subtracted. So it's important to specify the distance from the floor at which the LF is placed on the wall (as well as distance from the floor of the window).

 

Now you can specify the distance from the floor of LF items which are applied to a wall. When the item is first applied on the wall it is placed at floor level, and if you're viewing the wall editor, the "base molding" dropspot is highlighted. To the right of the wall's base molding you will see 0", which is the current distance from the floor. Tap it and enter the appropriate distance (using the Feet/Inches Gizmo or a Disto). The location on the wall will be indicated with an orange line and the quantity will accurately reflect any subtractions that are intersected.

 

 

FEATURE 3150 – Ability to not upload photos/voice annotations from certain claims when synchronizing 

Here are a couple more enhancements that cleverly address the reality of wireless Internet connections. On the mobile claims Claim List screen there used to be a checkbox at the top of the screen that would allow you to specify whether photos and voice annotations (the "large" parts of a claim, data-wise) should be uploaded to Symbility.NET when you uploaded a claim file. One drawback to that feature was that it had no effect when you released ownership of a claim—photos and voice annotations would always be uploaded as well. If you were on-site with a slow wireless connection and really had to release ownership, you could end up waiting a long time. The changes we've made are:

1. Now you can select whether to upload photos and voice annotations whether you are uploading a copy of the claim or you're releasing ownership.

2. Now you can independently select to upload photos and voice annotations for each claim file, instead of needing to specify for all claims or none. Each claim record that has photos/voice annotations that haven't been uploaded yet will display a checkbox beside the text Photos/voice annotations not uploaded. By default the checkbox is checked, so by default photos and voice annotations will be uploaded for each claim. If you have uploaded a claim without the photos/voice annotations previously, then at a later time mark the claim for upload and check the "Upload photos/voice annotations" checkbox, then synchronize. Any photos/voice annotations that you don't upload will appear as thumbnails to other users to acquire or download the claim.

3. At the top of the screen the checkbox has been renamed "Download photos/voice annotations" and now works when synchronizing in the opposite direction. By default, when downloading a copy of a claim or acquiring ownership of a claim the full photo or voice annotation is not downloaded to your device (only a thumbnail image is) but you can opt to download photos/voice annotations individually—only the ones you want to see, and save the precious wireless bandwidth (this is the same as before). If you have a good high-speed wireless (or wired) connection, then there's no reason not to download the full photos/voice annotations with the claim, so this checkbox "Download photos/voice annotations" allows that.

 

FEATURE 554 – Ability to automatically apply item modifications to all occurrences of the same item in the estimate 

When you change a property of a line item in an estimate that occurs in multiple rooms (cleaning walls, for instance), chances are the same change should apply to every room where the same item is applied. If you make the change to the item before adding it to the estimate (by placing the item in the Cart then making the change) or if you add the item to just a single room then copy the item to all other rooms, you would be OK (this was the workaround needed up until now). However if you made the change to the item after it already occurs in a dozen rooms, you would need to delete all occurrences of the item other than the one you just changed and then copy that item to the other rooms. That's too clumsy.

 

We had originally designed the software for this feature but it had never been implemented until now (the option was always there, it was just disabled). Now when you make a change to an item in the Item Properties dialog box and press OK to close the dialog, you are provided the option to save the changes you just made and apply those changes to all occurrences of the same item within the entire estimate automatically.

 

 

FEATURE 6281 – Improved method of showing filtered items 

This feature is a usability improvement to the feature we introduced with v.2.3 (feature 4327, Ability to filter item database based on properties of doors and windows). Before, any items that were filtered from the list of items in the database would be completely absent from the list. Now, any items that don't match the conditions of the selected room/door/window/etc. are no longer absent, but they appear beneath all the matching items, and appear in grey text. This improvement means that you can see exactly what is filtered, and can still apply those items if you want, even though they're filtered.

 

 

FEATURE 6912 – Category/item description details panel

This feature provides a cleaner method for displaying the details about an item or category. We like this method so much that we've made it the default option (you can still use the old method if that's what you prefer). Before, the category or item description details would appear under the item in a blue bar. Users found that a little clumsy because it would shift the the position of items when the details were shown or expanded and required additional taps to hide the details again or consumed too much vertical space if you didn't hide the details after viewing them. We have rethought the design and come up with a much better method, one that shows a dedicated "panel" within the Database View of the Item Pane. This panel is resizable, and the content of it will update as different items/categories are selected. Eventually, graphics for items will also be shown in this panel.

 

 

FEATURE 1866 – Option to account for wastage by altering quantity instead of materials price

When Symbility's founders developed the Qirra Estimating System (the very first Windows-based estimating system, BTW!) they went against the grain and handled wastage by increasing the quantity of an item by the waste percentage. Every other estimating system accounted for wastage by increasing the materials price of the item, keeping the item quantity constant. When designing Symbility, we decided to follow the industry standard convention. Many Symbility users who were once Qirra users have told us that the "quantity" method that we conceived was in fact far superior, so as a result we are introducing the same feature in Symbility.

 

The option is available on the Loss Summary page in the Pricing section, so affects all items that are added to all estimates within the claim, and is set by the claim originator. The claim originator can set the default option in their Claim Defaults in Symbility.NET. Until the default is changed it will continue to be set to the previous option (wastage is calculated by increasing the materials price).

 

When the option to account for wastage by altering the quantity is used, an item's quantity is increased by the waste percentage, and the materials price stays constant. For example, the line item "Carpet, wool - Replace (Deluxe)" has a unit price of $45.54 per SY and a default waste value of 12%. If you apply this item to the floor of a 12'x12' room, the quantity that is generated is 17.92SY (the 16SY of floor space and 1.92SY of waste), the unit price is $45.54. With wastage accounted for the old way, the quantity that is generated would be 16SY and the unit price would be $50.30 ($45.54 plus $4.76 in extra material cost).

 

FEATURE 6423 – "Bi-fold" door type added

Adding a the new door type "bi-fold" automates what used to have to be done manually (adding a single folding door, making a copy, positioning the duplicate and reversing the hinges). By setting the door type to "bi-fold", all these steps are done for you automatically. The result is two folding doors, which will generate a quantity of 2 when an EA item is dropped on it.

 

 

FEATURE 6511 – Improved item search

Based on user feedback and extensive usability testing we have changed the way searching for items works. The common symptom we noticed was that most users, after locating an item within a category or subcategory would enter a keyword to search for, only have to have no search results returned.

 

The problem was, that what was intended to be a handy way to refine your search results was simply not intuitive. The search tool used to work only within the currently selected category/subcategory. Most users would not think to first select the category/subcategory to search within or to select no categories before performing a search.

 

Now you can search without leaving the category that is currently selected, and the entire database will be searched. To aid in locating the correct item, the category that returned items are in is shown in [square brackets].

 

 

FEATURE 6665 – Hyperlink to active estimate page from diagram 

This feature adds a really handy shortcut—the "active" estimate (the estimate to which items are added) label in the status bar at the bottom of the screen is now a hyperlink that will take you directly to the estimate without having to return to the Claim Explorer then open the estimate.

 

 

FEATURE 6111 – Alternate method to capture Disto measurements 

This feature provides an alternate way to capture measurements with your Disto, and in many situations is superior. With this method, you don't need to tap the screen of your Tablet PC or Pocket PC in order to capture the measurement, which means you can be holding the Disto while capturing the measurement, instead of needing to secure the Disto to the back of the computer. With this method, you interact directly with the Disto.

 

To capture the measurement without needing to tap the screen, do the following:

1. First, put the Disto into "2nd mode" (press the blue button on the Disto labeled "2nd mode"). The display will indicate that it's in "2nd mode". You only need to do this once, and can leave it in "2nd mode".

2. Tap the dimension you want to measure as usual.

3. Press the DIST button (large red button) on the Disto to begin the capture. The laser turns on. Position the Disto so the proper distance is measured.

4. Press the DIST button again to complete the capture. The measurement captured will be displayed on the Disto's LCD screen. If you want to redo the measurement capture, repeat steps 3 and 4 again.

5. Press the ENTER button on the Disto to send the captured measurement directly to mobile claims.

 
FEATURE 5597 – Ability to apply items with default surface links to other surfaces 

Nearly everyone agrees that our concept of "default links" is a wonderful efficiency feature. You may not even be aware of this feature, but you'd notice it if it was gone. Basically, certain items that are "typically" applied to a specific surface include a default "link" to that surface in the item's definition "behind the scenes". This allows you to drag-and-drop an item like "Floor - Clean" to a room quickly, without really paying attention to where you drop it, and know that the quantity that is generated will be that of the floor surface area (it's this kind of efficiency that is necessary for software intended to be used on a pen computer at the loss site).

 

However, the surfaces that items are typically applied to aren't necessarily the surfaces that the item is always applied to, and for some items users found this feature too restrictive. For example, "Germicide treatment" is normally applied to the floor, but in some cases it is necessary to apply it to walls or the ceiling or even doors, windows, etc. Our design philosophy is that efficiency should not compromise flexibility, but should co-exist with it. So our response to this is to change the behavior such that the efficiency of being able to quickly drag-and-drop items is retained but the flexibility of being able to apply the item to any surface is restored.

 

So, for any items that have default links, you can now apply the item to any other surface if desired, using the normal dropspots for items. For example, items with a default of "walls" can be applied to the floor or ceiling by dropping it onto the "C" or "F" instead of dropping the item in the middle of the room.

 

 

FEATURE 6565 – Ability to hide category modification factors from participants from other companies 

If desired, the claim originator can now hide any category modification factors used in a claim from all other participants from other companies. To do this, uncheck the new "Visible to participants from other companies" checkbox available in the Category modification factors window (in both Symbility.NET and mobile claims).

 

 

FEATURE 7013 – Only approved estimates contribute to the "Totals (All)" page 

The unique aspect of Symbility claim files that allow multiple estimates from multiple vendors in a single claim file also caused some confusion regarding the value of the claim. Once we completed our Analytics feature (v.2.2) and insurance companies started to make use of it to create many valuable management reports, a design flaw in the Totals (All) page was exposed. The Totals (All) page was meant to consolidate the financials from estimates within the claim onto one summary view, and in effect is intended to show the claim financials—as opposed to the individual estimate financials. In short, the bottom-line value on the Totals (All) page represents the settlement amount for the claim. For that reason, it should consolidate financials only from estimates that have been approved. For instance if three different vendors have completed estimates for the claim, the settlement amount will not be the sum of these three estimates, it will be the single winning bid, the one estimate that gets approved.

 

Therefore now only estimates that have the status of "Approved" will contribute to the "Totals (All)" page.

 

 

FEATURE 7266 – Ability to specify estimates of a particular status when using financial criteria in the Advanced Search panel 

When filtering your claim list using the Advanced Search tool, if you are including any of the Claim Financials criteria in your search, you can now specify which estimates the criteria should apply to—those in progress, completed, approved or any combination thereof. Selecting all three estimate status types is the same as selecting none.

 

 

FEATURE 4766 – Ability to filter events from the New Activity box 

Do you constantly participate in many claims...claims which have an enormous amount of activity, and find that the New Activity box on your home page, which used to be so useful is now suffering from information overload? If so, then this feature was tailor made for you. You can now specify exactly what makes it into your New Activity box, and what doesn't.

 

To do this, use the new Customize Home Page command in the Preferences menu of Symbility.NET. You will see a list of all the events that could be displayed in the New Activity box. Uncheck those that you don't care about.

 

 

FEATURE 7675 – New unit component price columns added to the estimate 

We have added the option to show unit price components for materials, labor and equipment for every item on the estimate. Before you could show the total materials (which is the unit materials multiplied by the quantity), total labor and total equipment.

 

The three new columns are options that can be selected from the View menu, labeled "Unit materials", "Unit labor" and "Unit equipment".