ExampleIn development

Camera to structured next step

A homeowner finds water pooling under the water heater on a Saturday morning. Instead of trying to describe it on the phone, they send three photos and a short video to the plumbing company's number. Someone still has to look at it, work out what is being asked, and decide what happens next, and on a Saturday, that someone is usually the owner.

What does this demonstration show?

This example follows a homeowner's photos of a leaking water heater through to a booked visit. Deptly reviews the images, asks the safety and access questions the plumber approved, prepares a scoped intake summary, offers a real appointment, and briefs the technician. Final diagnosis stays with the qualified professional. It is labeled an example, not a customer story.

Signal to owner report, in eight steps

The same eight steps every flagship demonstration follows, including the approval gate, which is the step that separates a business partner from an automation.

Step 1 · Signal
A homeowner sends three photos and a short video of a leaking water heater to the business number, with the message: “Is this bad? What do you charge to fix it?”
Step 2 · Context Deptly considered
- What is visible in the photos and video, and what is not
- The approved safety and scope questions for water intrusion
- The plumber's approved pricing logic, and where it does not apply
- Whether the situation needs urgent human escalation
- Real technician availability for the next 48 hours
- Whether this address has service history with the business
Step 3 · Recommendation
Treat this as an urgent same-week visit rather than a quote-by-photo. Collect the model, age, location, and access details, give the approved starting range for a standard replacement, and make clear that the final call belongs to the technician on site.
Step 4 · Approval
The owner is asked to confirm one thing before anything is sent: whether to quote the approved starting range, or offer an inspection only. Everything else in this workflow is already covered by rules the owner approved.
Step 5 · Actions completed
- Asked the approved safety questions and confirmed the water was shut off
- Collected the model number, unit age, closet location, and access notes
- Sent the approved starting range with the professional-review caveat attached
- Offered the two real appointment windows the schedule actually had open
- Booked the Tuesday morning window the homeowner picked
- Sent preparation instructions: clear the closet, keep the pets away, leave the water off
Step 6 · Systems updated
- A new job created on the schedule for the Tuesday window
- The photos, video, and intake summary attached to the customer record
- The property's access notes updated with the closet location
Step 7 · Outcome
A vague weekend photo message became a scoped, booked job carrying the information the technician needs, and the homeowner got an answer within minutes instead of waiting until Monday.
Step 8 · What the owner received
A three-line briefing before the Tuesday visit: what the photos show, what was quoted and with what caveat, and the access details the technician should expect on arrival.

The workflow, step by step

Real product behavior with example names and details. The notes beside each step explain what is happening, including where Deptly asks instead of acting.

Saturday 8:42 AM
Homeowner
Three photos and a 20-second video of water pooling under a water heater. “Is this bad? What do you charge to fix it?”
Photo and video messages are the hardest kind of inbound to triage, because someone has to actually look. Deptly reviews the images and works out what is visible, and, just as importantly, what is not.
8:44 AM
Deptly
Thanks for the photos. That looks like active leaking, so first: is the water shut off at the valve? Also, roughly how old is the unit, and is it in a closet or the garage?
The safety question comes before the commercial one. These are the questions the plumber approved for water intrusion, asked in the same order every time, not improvised.
8:51 AM
Deptly
Needs your OK
Standard 40-gallon replacement, closet install, unit is 11 years old. Your approved range covers this. Send the range, or offer inspection only?
This is the judgment call, so it goes to the owner. Deptly has done the gathering; the decision about what to put in writing stays a person's.
9:03 AM
Deptly
Based on what we can see, a standard replacement is typically $1,450–$1,800: the technician confirms on site, since photos can't show everything behind the unit. We have Tuesday 8–10 AM or Wednesday 1–3 PM.
The range is the owner's own approved pricing logic, and the caveat is not optional. It is the guardrail that keeps a photo from becoming a diagnosis.
9:11 AM
Deptly
Tuesday 8–10 AM booked and confirmed. Preparation instructions sent, photos and intake summary attached to the job, closet access noted on the property record.
The job now exists in the schedule with the evidence attached, so the technician is not rebuilding context in the driveway.
Monday evening
D
Technician briefing
inbox
Tomorrow 8–10 AM, Delgado: 11-year-old 40-gallon in the hall closet, active leak, water off since Saturday. Quoted $1,450–$1,800 pending your look. Photos on the job.
The last step of visual intake is handing a person everything they need. The technician arrives informed rather than surprised.

What the owner brief says

You don't watch this workflow run. It rolls up into your weekly brief alongside everything else that was handled: what closed on its own, and the few things waiting on you.

A full sample brief lives on the proof and examples page.

Your weekly brief

deptly · weekly summary

Example

A weekend photo message became a booked Tuesday job; you approved the pricing range Saturday morning
Intake summary, photos, and access notes are attached to the job for the technician
Nothing else on this one is waiting on you

Example: how this workflow appears in your weekly brief

How it ended

How it ended: the request is scoped, the appointment is booked and confirmed, the evidence is attached to the job record, and the technician has been briefed, with the diagnosis itself still belonging to the person who shows up.

Closure means the loop is confirmed done, not that a message was merely sent. That standard, and everything behind it, is explained on trust and control.

The boundary this workflow ran inside

The steps above where Deptly asked instead of acting are the point, not a limitation. Every workflow runs within rules you approve, anything outside them waits for you.

Deptly handles

Routine steps like the ones above; replies, follow-ups, reminders, status updates, scheduling holds
Logging every action so the weekly brief writes itself
Chasing the open loop until it verifiably closes

Deptly asks first

Anything that touches price, scope, or an exception to your rules
Messages that fall outside the wording you approved
Situations the rules don't cover: flagged to you, not guessed at

Always human

Pricing, hiring, and how the work gets done
Sensitive customer conversations
Final say on anything Deptly flags

How those rules get set up in your first weeks is on how it works.

See this loop in context

Questions owners ask

No, and it should not. It supports visual intake, triage, scope preparation, and approved pricing guidance. Final diagnosis, safety judgment, and repair recommendations remain with the qualified professional. Every message it sends about a photo carries that caveat, because photos genuinely cannot show what is behind the unit.

It only quotes inside pricing logic you approved, and only for situations that logic actually covers. Anything unusual (an odd install, a brand you do not service, visible damage beyond the unit) comes to you instead of getting a number. In this example the owner still confirmed the range before it went out.

Then it says so and asks for what is missing: a wider shot, the model plate, a photo of the shutoff. Unclear evidence produces a question, never a guess. If the situation reads as urgent regardless, it escalates to a person rather than continuing to collect information.

The same shape applies wherever customers can photograph the problem: a cracked bumper, a stained carpet, a fallen limb, a damaged appliance. What changes is the approved question set and the pricing logic, both of which are yours. The professional-review boundary does not change.

As an example, and the status badge on this page tells you where visual intake actually stands today. We would rather show you the shape of the workflow honestly than imply it is already switched on for every customer.

Your workflows next

What would this look like in your business?

Answer a few questions about where work waits in your week and get an honest read on which loop Deptly should close first.

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