The History of Desktop Reports

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Desktop Vehicle Damage Assessments

Desktop reports are common place now, sometimes called Virtual Reports, simply Desk or Remote Video Inspections.  It’s a very quick & efficient way of providing a vehicle damage assessment report and has been adopted by insurance companies, accident management companies, the motor trade & over the last few years some of the more technologically advanced solicitors.

MD Nik Ellis & Engineer Manager, Richard Green, were instrumental in the development of Desktop reports, working alongside BT in 1996 at Howard Basford’s flagship site in Ellesmere Port.  They helped trial Desktop Assessments as early adopters of what was known as Remote Video Inspections (RVI) with insurers like Guardian Royal Exchange, The Royal Insurance & Sun Alliance. Data heavy it used three ISDN lines (cutting edge technology in the days of Oasis, Blur & The Spice Girls) linked to the engineer via a long umbilical cord, connecting him with the Insurance Assessor.

Two & half decades later it has evolved into a significantly more usable form as technology has progressed. Nowadays we use a 1TB internet connection to handle hundreds of image & video inspections, assessed by fully qualified engineers at our head office.  The double advantage of engineers being together rather than solitary is the ability to discuss tricky or unusual repairs with colleagues.

We now give our clients API connections; a simple interface that can be set up in hours to connect our two systems.  This ensures 100% accurate transfer of data, instantaneously, 24/7.  It means our clients see what we see, so like an open kitchen in a restaurant we are policed by our clients not just our managers & KPIs.  The reports are all Civil Procedures Rules complaint as well as adhering to the ABI’s General Terms of Agreement.  As such they are widely accepted by insurers, the repair trade & Courts.

For more information please contact us here or call 0151 342 9961.

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