If you want to revolutionize your market, you need to constantly analyze what you do, think about new improvements, and turn them into reality. DEKRA did exactly that in 2014 and they are still doing that today. They imagined a modern solution that would allow them to inspect damages remotely, process more claims faster, and be easy to use for both their agents and end-customers. What they recognised is that they needed to find a partner who would help them develop this idea into a project plan and eventually into a reality. The reality was called DEKRA i2i Remote Inspection.

But let’s start from the beginning.

And in the beginning, there were… ideas, lots of ideas!

In our first meeting in 2014 we sat down and listened to the ideas that DEKRA had for their business. It was clear they wanted to stand-out from the crowd with an innovative and first of its kind remote claims & inspection tool. A solution that was both easy to use and full of functionalities to support multiple use cases. A solution that was solid yet scalable. A branded experience for their end customers whilst enabling white-label options for DEKRA partners and sister companies. And the list went on!

However, one first requirement was clear. End customers needed to easily use the end solution. That’s why the solution had to be easy to use and supported on all devices. On top of that, the solution was intended to report and inspect damages – something that their customers obviously don’t do daily. That being the case, they didn’t want their customers to download any apps (why download something, if you’re only going to use it once). This meant we had our first project requirement –  the solution had to be WebRTC enabled and work on any device that connects to the Internet.

Identifying core functionalities

Through good conversation we identified with DEKRA that the following functionalities needed to be a part of the solution.

• Show geo-localisation of participants
• Take HQ Pictures
• Have a Video Recording Function
• Annotate on screen
• Be built on REST API for integration purposes
• Be flexible to add new features in the future

What DEKRA wanted to achieve with DEKRA i2i Remote Inspection?

We also understood that in order to build a solid software solution we needed to analyse and dissect the use cases they wanted to achieve. During our workshop we learnt a lot about their business cases, current processes and identified areas where the software solution could offer high-value gains. These included:

• • Loss Adjustment
  • Remote Claims
  • Remote Inspections
  • Damage appraisals
  • Remote certification
  • Remote auditing

We know what the goal is. But what about the challenges of remote inspections?

As with any good partner after understanding their goals and identifying the core functionalities, we deep-dived into what are the challenges from both a technical and business perspective. There were numerous challenges to overcome. Starting with:

• Ideation: DEKRA needed a partner which could help turn their idea (and future ideas) into solid project plans.
• Video Engine: Research what’s the best, secure, reliable and high-quality video engine.
• Compliancy: Solution had to be compliant with mobile devices from different vendors
• WebRTC: We don’t want to create a mobile app. We need to create a WebRTC tool, that would be supported on all the devices without the need to download.
• Easy to use: Make the tool simple for the customer and DEKRA agents, so that they have no problem with using it.
• Multi-lingual: Since the vision is to expand the solution across the globe we needed to have the option to easily add new languages as well as start off the base solution with English, German, Dutch and French.
• 24/7 Global Support: The goal is for DEKRA to offer this solution to all departments in all countries – this includes a good support system.
• Global Deployment of resources to minimise latency & meet local requirements
• Centrally managed by DEKRA Service Division: DEKRA Service Division wanted to maintain control and manage the solution internally, this meant we recommended a structure by which they could monitor real-time the usage, users as well as have monthly meetings with Yameo to discuss any issues, new changes and for us to suggest possible new features & functionalities.
• Real-time monitoring of usage and quality: A real-time dashboard to monitor usage, users and to ensure quality throughout.
• Solution architecture to support continual development: With DEKRA looking towards the near and long-term future they made clear that continual development and new features would be a key of their solution. This would be a stark contrast to off-the-shelf video inspection solutions where you aren’t in control of the development.
• REST API: Using REST API’s we would offer integrations with DEKRA systems.
• Secure Storage Options: Offering various storage options so that despite the solution being used in multiple countries, each entity can store data according to the national regulations of their country.
• Branding & Custom Notifications: Extensive branding for end-customers so they know they are dealing with DEKRA.