BY News Editor ON 05/03/2007 00:00

Today we are proud to launch version 4 of Inter-est - with a link to eScribe and some new technology behind the scenes.

The first thing you'll notice is that the login box is no longer embedded in the web site, and has been replaced by a clickable link. This is a consequence of our changing Inter-est from using Java to Microsoft's .NET technology. Apart from this, though, Inter-est still looks and works the same!

To log-on, simply do the following:

1. Click on the Inter-est 4 Logon link. After a few moments a message box will appear.
Click Open or Run this program from its current location.

2. If this is the first time you have run a .NET program you will be prompted to install the .NET Framework. If this happens click the Accept button to proceed and the installation will happen automatically. You will then be prompted to install the Visual J#.NET Extensions. Again, click Accept to install it automatically.

3. The Inter-est 4 application will then downloads to your PC and automatically install. This will take a couple of minutes, and will only happen once.

4. Finally you will see a warning that you are about to run Inter-est. Click Open or Run this program from its current location. The Inter-est application will appaear with the log-on box in front  Log-on as normal


As an example of the exciting things that moving to .NET enables us to do, Inter-est 4 also includes a linke to Thatcham's eScribe product. If you have installed eScribe then you'll notice a new Methods Manual button on the parts tab. Clicking this displays the eScribe methods manual page for the currently selected part.

BY News Editor ON 15/08/2006 00:00

Over the past few weeks we been working hard on improving the way that Inter-est handles digital images - and the results of this work are now available for all users.

First we incorporated all the features of the stand-alone InterView application into Inter-est itself, then we made them better!

You can now add higher resolution images (up to 2MB in size), and the maximum number of images per estimate has been increased to 32.

To add images to an estimate you should now click the new Add Images button on the images tab. Browse to the directory containg the images and, for each image to be added, click the Add button to add it to the list of images to add. You can see a thumbnail view of an image before or after adding it. Click Ok when you've added all the images.

Just click the image thumbnail to see a full-size preview of an image - and you can also add comments and temporarily lighten/darken the image. To delete an image simply hover the cursor over its thumbnail and click the red X button. Remember that, once sent images cannot be deleted.

Please note that InterView will cease to be a supported product on 31st October 2006.

BY News Editor ON 15/08/2006 00:00

We'd like to tell you about two small changes to Inter-est.

Firstly, we have changed the way the comments are recorded in the estimate. The summary tab now has seperate text boxes for repairers and work providers. Click the Add Comments button to add a comment - but note that comments can not be changed or deleted once added. A third text box records comments and messages generated by the system, and is not editablel.

Secondly, supplementary changes to an estimate are now recorded. Supplementary parts or panels are displayed in on screen and in reports with a "(s)" suffix. Supplementary additions or removals are noted noted in the system comments too.

BY News Editor ON 02/05/2006 00:00

We hope you'll like the new DVLA lookup feature that goes live today. Simply enter the vehicle registration number and click the DVLA Lookup button (on the vehicle tab) to automatically match the vehicle with the correct Thatcham variant. This saves you time by filling-in most of the vehicle details, including VIN and paint colour, for you! If a vehicle can't be matched to a single variant then a range of variants will be displayed for you to choose from.

Another useful feature is non-OEM part buying. These parts offer comparable quality to manufacturer's parts at a lower cost. Estimates for some work providers will now offer the choice of alternative non-OEM parts when buying a part, where the job meets specific criteria. When the estimate has been approved, simply click the Order Parts button (on the vehicle tab) to send an electronic parts order to the appropriate part supplier(s).