Capturing a VIN from your phone

Summary

A VIN (vehicle identification number) is the 17-character code on the VIN plate, the windscreen label, the door pillar and the V5C. It gives Haynes Pro a much better starting point when you identify a vehicle. Most records have no VIN because nobody wants to type 17 characters at a desk. Phone capture fixes that. Click Capture from phone on the vehicle record or the work order (technicians also get a link beside Identify on the job card and My Jobs), scan the QR code with any phone or tablet, and photograph the VIN. The photo appears on the computer straight away. Type the VIN from whichever screen is handier, or let the AI read it for you, then save. Nothing reaches the vehicle record until a person checks it and taps Save VIN.

Prerequisites

• Your role can edit vehicles or includes Identify vehicles for HaynesPro. Technicians, service advisors, managers and owners have one of these by default.
• A phone or tablet with a camera. It does not need Torqueflow installed or a sign-in.
• For the AI read: credits on your account, and the Read the VIN from a captured photo setting not set to Off.

Steps

Start a capture

1. Open the vehicle record, or the work order for the car. The vehicle panel has a VIN row.
2. If no VIN is recorded, the row says Not recorded. Click Capture from phone. If a VIN is already there, click Re-capture.
3. The Capture the VIN from a phone window opens. It shows the registration, make and model, a QR code and a countdown: “Code expires in” followed by the time left. Each code lasts 15 minutes.
4. Scan the QR code with any phone or tablet camera and open the link.
5. Already on a phone or tablet? Tap Open on this device instead. The QR code is tucked behind Show QR code, because a phone cannot scan its own screen.

On the phone

1. The page asks Is this the car? and shows the registration, make, model, colour and your garage name. Tap Yes, this is the car. If it is the wrong car, tap No, wrong car, close the page and tell whoever showed you the code.
2. If the vehicle already has a VIN, the page says “This vehicle already has a VIN. Saving a new one replaces it.”
3. Tap Take photo and photograph the VIN plate, or the VIN on the V5C. Use Choose a photo to pick one you already took. To skip the photo, tap Type it instead.
4. The photo uploads. On the computer, the line changes from “Waiting for the photo” to “Photo received” and the photo appears.
5. Under Type the VIN from the photo, check the photo. Use Zoom in and Fit photo to read small print. Tap Rotate if the photo is sideways.
6. Type the 17 characters. The box groups them in fours as you type. A VIN never contains I, O or Q, and the box tells you if you type one.
7. Tap Save VIN. The phone shows “VIN saved - this page can be closed”. Tap Back to the job or close the tab.

Each code takes up to 5 photos. After that, the page says “Too many photos - type the VIN instead”.

Saving from the computer instead

The person who took the photo does not have to type it. The computer shows the same photo under Photo from the phone with its own VIN box.

1. Type the VIN from the photo on the big screen.
2. Click Save VIN. The window shows “VIN saved” and the VIN row updates.

Whichever side saves first wins. The other side shows “Already saved from the phone” or “Already saved from the workstation”, with the VIN.

Checks before saving

Before it saves, Torqueflow compares the VIN with the record. If something does not match, a Check this VIN box explains it, for example “This VIN looks like a Ford, but this record is a Vauxhall.” Some VINs also carry a model year or a check digit that can be tested. Choose:

• Retake photo to take a clearer picture.
• Edit VIN to correct a character.
• Save anyway if the VIN is right and the record is wrong.

Let the AI read the VIN

The AI can read the VIN from the photo so nobody types it. It is a suggestion. It never fills the box or saves on its own.

1. After the photo uploads, the phone and the computer both show Read the VIN from the photo (1 credit if you use it). Tap it on either screen. The first tap starts the read.
2. “Reading the VIN… you can type it now.” appears. You can keep typing while it reads.
3. The result appears above the box: “Read from the photo:” followed by the VIN, with “Check every character against the photo.”
4. Tap Use this VIN to put it in the box. Compare every character with the photo. A misread 8 and B look equally convincing.
5. Tap Save VIN.

If the read is wrong, tap This VIN is wrong, type the correct VIN and save. That tap is feedback that helps us measure accuracy. It does not move any credits. Tap Undo if you marked it by mistake.

If the AI cannot read the photo, it says “Could not read the VIN from this photo. Type it below, or take a clearer photo.”

Choose how the AI read works

An owner sets this under Settings > AI Settings, in Read the VIN from a captured photo:

• Ask each time (recommended): the default. The phone and the computer offer the read, and it runs only when someone taps it.
• Always read: the read starts by itself after every photo.
• Off: no read. The VIN is typed from the photo.

The setting applies to every capture, including technicians capturing from the job card and My Jobs. A read costs the same whoever runs it (see “When the AI read costs a credit” below).

Identify the vehicle with the VIN

When the VIN is saved, the capture window offers the next step to anyone who can identify vehicles:

• Identify vehicle now if the vehicle is not identified yet.
• Re-identify using the VIN if it already is. Your existing pick stays until you choose a new one.

The picker then says “These matches come from a photographed VIN. A VIN narrows the choice; check the details before picking.” A VIN gives you fewer, closer candidates. It does not always give one exact match, so you still pick the right one.

From the job card or My Jobs

Technicians can start a capture from the place they identify the vehicle. When a vehicle has no VIN recorded, a link appears beside the Identify button in three places:

• the Identification section on the job card’s Vehicle tab;
• the vehicle’s card on the My Jobs board, on its own line under Identify;
• a request under Open requests on the My Jobs board, above its buttons.

The link reads Capture the VIN for a closer match. On a vehicle that is already identified it reads Capture the VIN.

1. Tap the link. The same Capture the VIN from a phone window opens. On a phone or tablet, tap Open on this device.
2. Photograph the VIN and save it, as above.
3. When the VIN is saved, tap Identify vehicle now (or Re-identify using the VIN). The picker opens with matches based on the VIN.
4. Pick the right match and confirm. The link disappears, because the vehicle now has a VIN.

The link is optional. Tapping Identify without a VIN opens the picker exactly as before. Closing the capture window without saving changes nothing.

On an open request, capturing the VIN does not take the request. Identifying the vehicle does, and identifying it closes the request as usual.

Expected Outcome

• The VIN row on the vehicle record and the work order shows the VIN in groups of four, with Copy VIN to copy all 17 characters.
• The next Haynes Pro identification for that vehicle starts from the VIN.
• If the AI read was used and its VIN was saved unchanged, one credit shows under AI VIN reads in your credit usage.

Troubleshooting

Problem: The phone page says “This code has expired. Ask for a new one at the workstation.” Cause: Codes last 15 minutes. Uploading a photo adds a little extra time for saving. Fix: Click New code in the capture window. If the photo already reached the computer, you do not need a new code. The computer says “The phone’s code has expired, but you can still save the VIN here from the photo.” Type the VIN there and save.

Problem: I closed the capture window by accident. Cause: Closing the window does not cancel the code. The phone can carry on. Fix: Click Capture from phone again. The window picks up where it was and says “A capture is already in progress.” It cannot show the same QR code again. Click New code if a phone still needs one.

Problem: The phone says “This photo could not be prepared - type the VIN instead, or try a different photo”. Cause: Some phones save photos in a format the page cannot convert. Fix: Tap Type it instead, or try a different photo.

Problem: The capture window says “Phone capture is not configured” or “Phone capture is not available on this deployment”. Cause: Phone capture is not set up for the site you are using. Fix: Contact support. In the meantime, type the VIN in Edit Vehicle on the vehicle record.

Problem: There is no Read the VIN from the photo button, or no “Reading the VIN…” line appears. Cause: The setting is Off, your account has no credits, your garage has reached its daily limit of reads, or the read is unavailable for a moment. Fix: Type the VIN from the photo. Typing always works. To turn the read on, see “Choose how the AI read works” above.

Problem: Someone else opens capture on the same vehicle and sees “A capture is already in progress.” Cause: One capture runs per vehicle at a time, whoever started it. A colleague started one first, so the window joins theirs and shows no QR code. It does not say who started it. Fix: Ask around and let the first person finish. Clicking New code starts a fresh code and stops the first person’s code, so check with them before you do.

Problem: There is no Capture the VIN for a closer match link on the job card or My Jobs. Cause: The vehicle already has a VIN, so Identify already uses it. Or there is no Identify button for you, because your role does not include Identify vehicles for HaynesPro or Haynes Pro data is not switched on. Fix: If the VIN is there, tap Identify as normal. Otherwise ask the owner to check your role.

Problem: There is no Capture from phone button. Cause: Your role cannot edit vehicles and does not include Identify vehicles for HaynesPro. Fix: Ask a colleague who can, or ask the owner to change your role.

Notes

• When the AI read costs a credit. A read costs 1 credit only when the VIN saved is exactly the VIN it read. It costs nothing if a different VIN is saved, a new photo replaces it, the capture is cancelled or expires, or the AI could not read it. There is nothing to refund, because nothing is charged until the read is used.
• Starting a new code cancels the old one. Anyone using the old code on a phone is stopped, and a photo they have not saved is lost. Cancel this code does the same without starting a new one.
• Photos. The photo behind a saved VIN is kept with the vehicle as evidence. Other photos from the same capture are deleted. Photos from a capture that was never saved are deleted after 24 hours.
• The phone page shows very little. It shows the registration, make, model, colour and your garage name, and nothing about the customer.
• Changing the VIN in Edit Vehicle also refreshes the Haynes Pro search for that vehicle, so the next identification uses the new VIN straight away.