# What's the best method for getting pics from the field?



## S&Kpropertyservices (Feb 19, 2013)

I am over staying up all night long processing pictures after my husband and our other crew get done for the day.  I want to find the best method for getting pictures sent from the field throughout the day so I can process as the jobs are completed. Preferably looking for something free (but willing to pay for a good, easy system if needed) and something that uses as little data as possible since we don't have unlimited data (AT&T). My husband currently takes his pics on his iPhone, so an app/program for that would be ideal

I've looked into:
~Dropbox - we're trying it out now, not bad, but uploads slow and uses a TON of data
~REO-Photo: don't know a whole lot about this, but may give it a try
~E-mailing photos: not sure how many separate e-mails he'd have to send for a job with 200+ photos, though...

I've even thought about buying a cheap laptop & aircard for him to use in the truck to DL pics & email me zipped files...

What methods have you found to work best for you?


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## Valley (Mar 12, 2013)

S&Kpropertyservices said:


> I am over staying up all night long processing pictures after my husband and our other crew get done for the day.  I want to find the best method for getting pictures sent from the field throughout the day so I can process as the jobs are completed. Preferably looking for something free (but willing to pay for a good, easy system if needed) and something that uses as little data as possible since we don't have unlimited data (AT&T). My husband currently takes his pics on his iPhone, so an app/program for that would be ideal
> 
> I've looked into:
> ~Dropbox - we're trying it out now, not bad, but uploads slow and uses a TON of data
> ...



We tried the methods you mentioned. They didnt work for us. So we do everything when we return to the shop.We use GE X400 cameras.We keep the PCR forms on laptops and fill them in while at the job.Photos and forms go into a folder marked for the job.Then we just plug the laptop in to the router and go to town. Works pretty nice for us


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## Ohnojim (Mar 25, 2013)

There's got to be some free WiFi somewhere on the route, like Burger King/McDonalds/Hotels, etc. With small photo size, they can easily put 200 photos in a zipped folder and E-mail. Even if they can't get you all of them throughout the day, they can likely get you a good head start. I keep track of all the open networks along my routes. Smart phones are nice, but photo editing and manipulation are a lot easier on a larger screen, at least it is for me.


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## wmhlc (Oct 8, 2012)

we use dropbox and have a mobil hotspot thru Verizon. I think its $25 a month for a lot of data. We send over 300pics a day and still run about 75% of our data plan. All my guys use smartphones and they go to my laptop.

The mobile hotspot is awesome, super fast speeds and works anywhere a cell phone works. The speed is actual faster than my cable line at the office. We are going to switch to another verizion hotspot at the shop as soon as my contract with at&t is up.


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## Zoly (Feb 2, 2013)

Pruvan app uploads to your Pruvan account as you take the photos or you can set to upload only when connected to wifi. It lets you organize pictures by work order and everything right on the app. On your pruvan account you put in the work orders then go out to the field, open the app and select the job you're at, select the task you're doing (trash out) then it uploads photos to the trashout folder on your account at home.

FAS has it set up automatically with pruvan. Or you can use google drive. Free with gmail, can make folders on the fly from your phone and upload the same way manually if you don't want to pay for pruvan which is monthly. REOphoto is pretty much a ghetto version of pruvan. We have a droid PREPAID which is way better than contract. $50 a month for unlimited call, text, data plus we rooted it so we can use the phone as a wifi hotspot for our laptops.

Pruvan works like this essentially.


Wake up.
Put Work orders on pruvan.com
Open pruvan app on phone when at first W/O.
Select what you're taking pics of, Debris Removal / Board Up / Clean, etc. It lets you set the tasks.
Select before, take pics. Select after, take pics. 
Pruvan uploads.
Go home at the end of the day and they are all organized for you.


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## ontimepres (Jan 4, 2013)

I am a Pruvan use and LOVE it! It doesn't use up a ton of data and it's super simple to use. Prior to Pruvan we were updating at all hours of the night and our crews were wasting time finding Wi-Fi and uploading rush jobs during the day. With this I can process my updates any time of day I like, and the crews don't have to sit down for any computer work once they're home. We simplified it a little from the person above, our crews simply enter an address when they arrive for the work order, so our office isn't spending any time creating jobs or tasks. We also just dump all the photos into 1 folder, vs. creating multiple folders for debris, locks, etc. Really you can use it whatever way works best for your company. 

Works with iPhone or Android and I'm pretty sure they offer a free trial, you should definitely give them a shot!


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## S&Kpropertyservices (Feb 19, 2013)

Thanks for all of the great replies!

What's the data usage like for Pruvan? He used up 2 GB of data today alone uploading to dropbox so that's not going to work. We only have a 10GB data plan. lol


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## Zoly (Feb 2, 2013)

S&Kpropertyservices said:


> Thanks for all of the great replies!
> 
> What's the data usage like for Pruvan? He used up 2 GB of data today alone uploading to dropbox so that's not going to work. We only have a 10GB data plan. lol


I would highly recommend looking for an android phone on craigslist and having someone flash it if it isn't already. Pretty much any store that sells cell phones will do it or the phone might already have it done. It literally takes 2 minutes. Anyways, get that done and get off the contracts. $50/phone for unlimited everything is amazing. 

As for data, use smaller pictures. The 640 size are what the companies usually want and they aren't as large. If he has a modern phone then the camera is most likely, by default set to a huge resolution that makes a huge file.


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## Zuse (Nov 17, 2012)

We use one of these it can be accesed from anywhere anytime with internet connnect.

It can be accesed over the internet with a phone,laptop,tablet or any pc from any where.Comes with MS server software with 25 secure accounts,which gives up to 25 people secure access to drop folders with pics in them, or just pics, or pdf, word, documents.

No fee's just buy it and plug in to the router at home and its easy to set up.

Did i say no monthly fee's

And it backs up all the pc's on the home network too.

A map of all the free WIFI spots in South Charolina.


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## GTX63 (Apr 12, 2012)

We're still old school with our yard photos but the equipment is paid for.


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## Cleanupman (Nov 23, 2012)

We've upgraded a little bit...


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## Zuse (Nov 17, 2012)

This does the same thing but at a lower cost.

Cloud Storage


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## Zoly (Feb 2, 2013)

You really don't need cloud storage as google drive does the same thing and uploading from the field to your server /hdd does takes the same data. You can get TB's of storage for less than the price of a server and it's scalable. I wouldn't recommend a personal system for a few reasons.

If it's damaged you lose all of your data. Google drive is free and the download and upload speeds aren't limited by your internet connection. If you have a 10mb connection at home then that is the ultimate limit of your server.


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## warranpiece (Jun 15, 2012)

Smart phone and Pruvan. Doing it any other way is living in the dark ages.


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## 68W30 (Sep 8, 2012)

rooted droid and a netbook type laptop we put it on the hood of the truck while doing the next job


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## pjpalm (Mar 27, 2013)

Thanks Zoly! Pruvan is working hard to make your life easier. Keep up the great work everyone! Let us know what we can do to help.


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## J.J. (May 22, 2013)

Pruvan totally! I have over 300 vendors in our data base and I can honestly say 3/4 of them have it. People Friendly, easy to use, as long as your crews do not accept the pics you can QC them from your desk. You can block them from doing that in the tools section. . Its very rare when vendor agree on a technology issue. I am totally ignorant when it comes to this stuff but Pruvan is so easy, it GEO tags your destination, gives directions how to get there, you label the photos and send. Good Luck, Feel free to use my name if you want, I'm not important and do not get anything for it but my image is pretty strong and it may expedite things for you.


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## mtmtnman (May 1, 2012)

I have used my Samsung Galaxy SIII in the past when the camera was forgotten or i ran out of batteries and 3 issues come to mind. 

#1. The flash SUCKS for basement pics!
#2. Battery life is HORRIBLE if doing more than 1 initial secure in a row!
#3. Taking exterior pics, half are messed up because i can't see the screen well enough in the sun to see if it's focused properly or even what i want to take a pic of. Also with the mower running you can't hear the shutter click so i have missed pictures i though i had taken. I'll stick with my camera till something better comes along.....


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## Craigslist Hack (Jun 14, 2012)

This is an interesting thread. Thanks for the feed back guys.


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## plt (Mar 4, 2013)

We use Dropbox - works great! Nice and simple. Orders come in; file is made. While in the field, crew takes pics. (Side note - husband won't use Iphone for pics so we use an EyeFi SD card in camera that automatically uploads all pics to Iphone.) From Iphone using mobile app, all pics get uploaded to Dropbox in correct file. Just takes a few mins even on large jobs. From there, office pulls pics and uploads. We only have 4G data plan with AT&T and never use half of data. Pictures MUST be made smallest resolution to move quickly.


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