How AI job appraisal works
The two separate AI paths in VanMan — assessment from photos, and estimate from booking data.
VanMan uses AI in two distinct ways on a job. Understanding that they are separate is the key to using them well.
There are two independent AI paths, and they do not feed each other:
- Assessment from photos — you photograph the interior, click Ask Daz AI, and it produces an assessment (type of move, awkward items, access, a size estimate).
- Estimate from booking data — opening the appraisal tab can auto-select an appraisal template and pre-fill the numbers, working from the booking request text, not from photos.
Crucially, the items the AI detects in photos are not mapped to your materials or pricing. Editing detected items does not change the estimate. Any belief that "the photos build the quote" is mistaken — they build the assessment; the estimate comes from your appraisal templates and the booking data.
The assessment path
On a job's appraisal tab (your account may label it Estimate or Appraisal), you upload interior photos to the Interior drop zone and click Ask Daz AI. It analyses the images and returns an assessment: type of move, awkward items, owner-prep needs, access per address, and a size estimate (boxes, large items, volume).
For the full assessment it also pulls Street View and satellite imagery of the addresses automatically. Video can be uploaded but is not analysed — only interior stills are.
The estimate path
Separately, VanMan can build an estimate by choosing one of your appraisal templates and filling its numbers. This works from the booking request's text (what they're moving, the addresses, the distance, your truck fleet) — not from the photos. The estimate's materials come from the template's linked materials at their default quantities.
What the AI actually is
It runs on Google's Gemini via Vertex AI. It reads interior photos and booking text; it does not read your Sent folder, your invoices, or anything outside the job.
Automatic modes
Two settings at Settings > AI automate these — see configuring AI and auto-appraisal. There is no per-job opt-out button; the switches are account-wide.
Tutorial: understand what you're looking at on a job
Open a job's appraisal tab and read it correctly.
Open a job. The tab may read Appraisal or Estimate depending on your settings — it is the same tab. It appears when the job is in an appraisal-type status or already has an appraisal.
The photo/assessment part (Interior drop zone, Ask Daz AI, the assessment cards) is one thing. The estimate card (template pills, number of men, rate, service time) is another. They live on the same tab but do different jobs.
Uploading photos and clicking Ask Daz AI gives you an assessment — a read on the move's difficulty. It does not put line items on the estimate. If you edit the detected items, the estimate does not budge. This is the single most important thing to know here.
The estimate is built from an appraisal template and the booking data. If the numbers look wrong, the fix is the template (or the booking details), not the photos.
Use the assessment to judge a tricky job — stairs, a piano, a long carry — before you commit a crew. Use the estimate to produce the price. They inform your judgement together, but through different mechanisms.
You can attach video, but the AI does not analyse it — only interior stills. Video is a record for your team, not an input to the assessment.