Over the past few months, there have been several changes to the way maps are provided to different websites. You may have noticed that when you click on Find Lot on the Customer window, it does not function the way that it used to. That service is not quite the same as it was before. Below we will look at two different options for measuring a property.

Fortunately, you still have the ability to measure properties and distances, and this is one way to get that information. When you go to a customer you can click on the Map button.

When you click on this button, a new window will open, and you will see the customer’s address, with a locator pin, in Google maps. 

While you can do the measuring from this point, it will be easier if you switch to the Satellite view, by clicking the aerial photo in the lower left-hand corner. 

Once you change to this view, you can zoom in and see the property in more detail. Now, right click any where on the map and it will open a menu, select Measure Distance. 

When you select Measure distance a dot will appear, drag this to the place you want to start measuring. 

From there, just left click on each additional point that you wish to measure. As you click, it will add dots and keep a running total as you add to the perimeter. You can also add multiple dots to follow a curved boundary. To close the area, click on the starting dot, and it will return the measurement for the property. The total square footage of the property is the Total area, and the perimeter of the property is the Total distance. 

The other way to measure a property is to use Find Lot. When you click on the Find Lot button, it still links to the same site, but the map API that they use has changed, as well as the way you measure a property.

After you click Find Lot, you should see a screen that looks like this.
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Note: that the instructions for setting markers has changed. You have to hold down the Shift Key and click to set a boundary marker. Your markers will appear as red dots on the screen.

When you set the second marker, it will give you the distance between the markers, and then from the third marker on, it will give you the area between the points. You can also use the radio buttons to toggle between Area and Distance.