Synchronization & Ownership

Synchronization & Ownership underwent significant changes such as Automatic background synchronization and automated claim ownership. This section presents all the changes that have been made.

Online mode 

In "Online" mode, users can open any claim with a single click. The claims list automatically synchronizes, ensuring that all data is up to date. Users also have the option of manually synchronizing their claims list if required. In addition, users can choose to make certain claims available from "Work Offline" mode, ensuring that essential claims are accessible even without an internet connection. From the claims list, users can perform a global synchronization, updating all claims simultaneously.

Work Offline Mode

When users' login status is "Work offline", certain limitations apply. Only claims that have been explicitly made available offline are accessible, allowing users to continue working on claims without interruption. However, users cannot open closed claims or assignments when they have the "Working offline" status.

Automatic Synchronization

When users are "Online" and have Internet connectivity, synchronizations run seamlessly in the background, ensuring that all data is up‑to‑date and accurate without interrupting the user's workflow.

Upon login, a synchronization will be performed. This process involves updating company preferences and default settings, the claims list, default databases and user notifications.

When a user opens a claim or manually takes a claim offline, the system automatically downloads the claim. During this process, ownership of the claim is acquired, enabling the user to make updates. The system then downloads all items databases used for the current claim, as well as all photos and documents associated with the claim (assuming the user has the boxes in the ribbon checked to do so since the system defaults to having these options unchecked).

When the user exits a claim, the system automatically uploads the claim, ensuring that all modifications and updates are saved. Ownership of the claim is then released, making it available to other users.

In the event a claim has been manually taken offline for 5 days, ownership will be released automatically after those 5 days. An option to make claims available offline permanently is also present providing users the opportunity to maintain ownership of a claim until they manually release ownership. Please note that any claims owned prior to this release will have the "Permanently owned" setting applied to them.

At varying time intervals, the system will check for and download updates to different parts of the application, ensuring that all aspects of the application are kept up to date:

• Every 24 hours: Downloading of Company Default Item databases.
• Every 60 minutes: Synchronization of Company configurations, preferences, and options.
• Every 30 minutes: Synchronization of the Claim List to check for newly assigned claims.
• Every 15 minutes: Downloading of new internal user notifications.

Synchronization Status Bar

The progress bar in the bottom right‑hand corner of the Claims List has been enhanced to provide users with real‑time updates on the synchronization process. This progress bar displays the current synchronization stage, giving users clear visibility of which part of the synchronization is running. It also shows the overall progress of the synchronization, enabling users to monitor the completion of the synchronization process at a glance.

Synchronization Status Dialog

To further enhance functionality, users can now click on the progress bar to open the synchronization progress dialog. This dialog provides more detailed information on the current synchronization and allows users the ability to manually stop the synchronization while it is in progress.

Manual Synchronization

The Estimate platform still includes a manual synchronization function, giving users control over the synchronization process. A new button in the bottom right‑hand corner of the Claims List page enables users to force synchronization immediately. By clicking on this button, users can initiate a full synchronization at any time.

Claim Ownership

Claim ownership is now automatically acquired and released when a claim is downloaded/uploaded, eliminating the need for manual operation. This means that users no longer need to click buttons on the ribbon to acquire or release ownership and then synchronize. As claims are uploaded or downloaded, the system manages the transfer of ownership of the user's claim objects. In addition, the claim action column and synchronization progress bar have been updated to display claim actions as they pertain to ownership acquisition and release.

Timeline Entries

Whenever ownership of a claim is acquired or released, this action is automatically recorded in the timeline entries. This provides a record of ownership changes for each claim.

Option to Maintain Ownership for 5 Days

Estimate now offers the option to maintain claim ownership for up to five days. Claim ownership is automatically released after five days unless the user performs a manual release.

The "Make Available Offline" option is available to all companies, allowing users to access claims offline. The "Make Available Offline Permanently" option will allow claims to remain accessible offline indefinitely.

Claims List

On logging into the platform, the Claims List appears. Containing a list of all active claims in which the user is a participant, the Claims List is the central point where claims can be accessed and managed within the Estimate platform.

Claims will no longer appear in the Claims List once they have been closed or if the user has marked their assignment as completed.

Claims Table

The table part of the Claims List, among other things, allows users to enable options in the ribbon, select claims, see the state of a claim, and modify the table settings.

Check Boxes

Estimate now allows users to tick the check box next to one or more claims to be presented with the available claim actions in the top ribbon. In addition, a user working in "Online" mode can click anywhere on a claim line to trigger the claim download and automatically get ownership of that claim.

Claim State Column

This column has undergone a visual update, replacing the current folder icons with new ones representing the different states of the claim: "Downloaded", "Not downloaded", "Owned", and "Temporary". A tooltip will appear when the user hovers over these icons with their cursor, explaining what each icon represents.

Please note that this column is static and cannot be removed from the claims table or relocated within the claim table.

Claim Action Column

The action column for the claim gives users visibility of pending, ongoing or completed actions for each claim. Pending describes an action that, when a user is working offline, will be completed once connectivity is reestablished. These include actions such as downloading, releasing ownership, taking offline, uploading claims, photos or documents, and participating in a claim.

If there's a problem with a claim, the column will display "Error", and clicking on this label will show the details of the problem. Once the error has been acknowledged by the users, the "Error" label will hide.

It is important to note that the "Error" label has priority over all other applicable labels, since only one label or action will display at a time.

Table Settings

The table settings have been updated to offer greater flexibility in customizing the appearance and functionality of the Claims List. Users can select which columns to display by enabling or disabling them in the column list.

A new column option, the "Last Synch Date", is available but will be hidden by default. The Claim Properties dialog box, where this information would have been found previously is being removed in the new UI.

Sorting has also been improved, allowing users to click on any column header to sort the list according to that column. In addition, users can resize column widths by clicking and dragging horizontally and reorder columns by dragging within the table to a new location or by using the column selection window within the list.

Grouping options are also available, allowing users to group claims according to various criteria, or to leave the list ungrouped.

Claim Ellipsis Menu

The claim ellipsis menu continues to support the claim actions available on the ribbon and previously available through the right‑click functionality.

Please note that the ability to flag a claim has been removed from the new user interface.

Ribbon

The Estimate interface has been simplified, with tabs reduced from four to two: My Claims and Search Workspace. The remaining buttons and options have also been refined with fewer icons.

My Claims Tab

This tab now contains four sections that have been optimized for ease of use.

Claim

The main buttons in the Claim section remain in their current location and retain their existing function. Users can still create new or temporary claims and have quick access to the last 10 claims they have accessed.

Find

The Find functionality, previously located under the View tab (that has been removed), retains its existing behavior. Users can search the claims table using a drop‑down list that displays their last 10 search queries.

By entering a query in the Search field and pressing the Enter key, the corresponding result will be highlighted in the claims table and the box to the left of the claim will be checked. Pressing the Enter key again will take the user to the next matching result.

Download Options

The platform now offers greater flexibility with Download Options, allowing users to automatically download photos and/or documents when synchronizing with Claims Workspace.

The "Download Photos" and "Download Documents" options have been separated from the previous combined checkbox under the former Miscellaneous tab.

If voice annotations exist (from old claims), they will be downloaded when the "Download Documents" option is selected, although new voice annotations are no longer supported.

In addition, "Synchronizing Pricing" is enabled by default, ensuring that pricing databases and pricing database updates are automatically downloaded during synchronization with Claims Workspace.

Claim Actions

The Claim Actions section remains hidden when no claim is selected. Once a claim selection is made via the checkboxes, the same four buttons appear, activated according to the status of the selected claim(s).

Only the relevant options will be available based on ownership and participation status. The following options are available:

• Make available offline: This option allows users to maintain ownership of a claim for 5 days that they don't already currently own on the device they are working from, enabling them to make modifications to the claim with or without connectivity.
• Release ownership: This option allows users to maintain ownership of a claim for 5 days that they don't already currently own on the device they are working from, enabling them to make modifications to the claim with or without connectivity.
• Download claim: This action allows users to download a read‑only copy of the claim to their device.
• Stop participating: This option removes the user from participation in a claim, deleting the claim from the user's claims list in both Estimate and Claims Workspace.

Search Claims Connect Tab

The "Search on Claims Workspace" functionality has been relocated from the bottom of the page to the ribbon, but its functionality remains the same.

Users can search Claims Workspace via Estimate by entering an insured's name, policy number, claim number or file number.

Pressing the Enter key will execute the search, provided there is an active Internet connection, as this function is not available in offline mode.