Home and the command box

Home is where work starts. Say what happened, in a sentence or a paragraph, and Wave creates the job, starts the estimate, books the visit or adds the note. Add photos or talk instead of typing to get there faster.

Home is the first screen you see after you sign in. It has a greeting and one command box that reads "Create a job, make an estimate, schedule the crew, or add notes. Just say it." On a phone it reads "Tell Wave what you need…".

Tell Wave what happened or what you need

Write it the way you'd tell a coworker, then send:

• "New water loss for Jordan Park at 482 Sycamore, supply line burst under the kitchen sink"
• "Start a mold estimate for the Okafor job on Elm Street"
• "Send Luis to 482 Sycamore next Tuesday at 9"
• "Note on the Park job: homeowner says the leak started Friday night"

Wave creates the job and fills in what you said, starts an estimate on a job, books a visit on the Timeline, or adds a note to the job. If the customer or address is already in Wave, it asks which job you mean, or whether to create a new one. Adjusters use the same box to set up a claim, scope the loss and write the estimate.

You can also paste an answering-service note or an intake form. Wave fills in the job from it and keeps the note.

Jobs don't use estimate credits, and the free trial includes up to 3 jobs. An estimate uses one credit, and the receipt says so. If Wave isn't sure you want an estimate, it asks first and charges nothing unless you confirm.

Press the Up arrow in the box to bring back an earlier request. If you leave before sending, Wave saves your unsent draft so you can pick up where you stopped.

Add photos, videos or a PDF

1. Click the plus button (Add files), or paste an image straight into the box.
2. Add up to 10 files per request. Photos can be up to 20 MB each, PDFs up to 100 MB each and videos up to 200 MB each.
3. Add a few words about them, or send the files on their own.

Files you send stay with the job, in its Files tab.

Talk instead of typing

Tap the mic and talk. Each take runs up to 90 seconds, and the bars turn red as you near the end. Your words are added to the box, so you can record several takes and read them over before you send. If a transcription fails, Wave tries again on its own with the same recording, so there's no need to record again.

Receipts, quick questions and moving to Chat

When Wave finishes, a one-line receipt on the box tells you what it did, such as creating the job or adding a note, and takes you to where the work landed.

When Wave needs one more detail, like which job you mean, it asks a short question right on the box, often with buttons to tap. If you ask a general question, Wave takes you to the Chat page to answer it.

This month: your numbers or your team's

Once your company has made five estimates, This month appears below the box with Jobs created, Estimated value and Time per estimate. Switch between You and Team to see your own numbers or the whole team's. Teammates see this row. Click the eye icon to hide it for the rest of your session.

The Getting started checklist

For your first 30 days, a Getting started card on Home walks you through seven steps: Set up your letterhead, Create your first job, Add a site note, Build an estimate from the job, Schedule the crew, Export or share, and Invite your team. Click any step to go where you do it. Steps check off as you finish them.

Close the card and it returns the next time you load Home. The same checklist is behind the Getting started chip in the top bar, and the card goes away for good once every step is done.

Take the Tutorial

The Tutorial button at the bottom of Home walks you through a sample job in a dozen short, hands-on steps, from creating it to exporting it. Then it shows you how to drag a job on the Jobs board and the Timeline. It uses practice data, so nothing is added to your real jobs. You choose when to start, and you can skip at any time.

What's new, theme and help

Along the bottom of Home:

• What's new opens Wave's release notes. A dot means there's a release you haven't read.
• The theme switch flips between Light and Dark. To follow your device's setting, choose System in Settings > Preferences.
• Footer links open Docs, Resources, Terms and Privacy in a new tab. Contact us opens a message form to the Wave team.

The same box on Jobs and Timeline

Jobs and Timeline have the same command box docked at the bottom. Use it to create or update jobs from the board, or to schedule visits from the Timeline, without going back to Home.

The New job button, on every page except Home, opens Home with the box ready for you to describe the job.

Related

• Tour the Wave app: each screen at a glance
• Your first job, start to finish: a real loss, step by step
• Chat with Wave: questions that don't belong to a job
• Book a visit: schedule a teammate by dragging or by telling Wave