Proof of delivery
Proof of file delivery, not a hope that it landed.
A crew sends the day's work to the office. The question that follows is always the same: did you get it, and can we prove it later? RoverDrop answers both. Every packet gets a numbered receipt the instant its files are verified, and that receipt is backed by checksums, a timestamp nobody can move, and an archive copy of exactly what arrived.
No account or email needed for the demo.
A read receipt is not proof
An email read receipt tells you a message was opened, by someone, on some device. It says nothing about which files came with it, whether they arrived whole, or whether anyone took responsibility for them. Most of the time you do not even get that much. The crew is left asking whether the office got the files, and the office is left guessing whether what it opened is complete.
Proof of delivery has to answer harder questions than “was this opened.” It has to say which exact files arrived, at what moment, and into whose hands, in a form that still holds up when someone asks months later. That is a record, produced automatically, not a feeling that things were handled.
What real proof of delivery requires
Four things have to be true at once. Miss any one and the “proof” falls apart the first time it is challenged.
The exact files, fingerprinted
01A SHA-256 checksum is computed for every file and verified on the server before the packet counts as submitted. The receipt is tied to those fingerprints, so proof is proof of the specific bytes, not just a filename.
A moment that cannot move
02The received time is stamped when the last byte lands and verifies, not when someone hit send. It is written to an append-only log that no one can edit after the fact, including an administrator.
A named party on each side
03The submitter is on the packet from the start. When the office accepts it, that person's name is stamped too. Proof of delivery is only useful if it says who delivered and who received.
A copy that outlives the packet
04At submit, every file is copied to a write-once archive. If anyone ever asks what was delivered, the answer is a stored file with a matching checksum, not a memory of an email.
These are the same records that make up a file transfer audit trail and a documented chain of custody. Proof of delivery is the moment those records begin: the instant a packet is verified and received.
Produced automatically
Nobody has to remember to make the proof
The record is a byproduct of the normal flow, not a task someone has to complete. A crew submits the way they always would; the proof assembles itself.
On the device
Each file is hashed as it is packaged. Uploads go straight to storage and resume if the signal drops, so a weak connection never produces a half-delivered packet that only looks complete.
At the server
Every file is checked against its hash before the packet flips to Submitted. The receipt, with number, file count, and verified size, is issued at that instant and shown to the crew.
After receipt
The received event, the checksums, and every later view, download, accept, and file are written to an append-only log, and a write-once archive copy is stored the same moment.
Because the receipt is tied to verified bytes, it means something. A packet is not “received” because an email server accepted a message; it is received because every file arrived whole and was confirmed against its fingerprint.
Where proof pays for itself
Any firm that hands files from the field to the office benefits from a receipt. It matters most where a missing file becomes a missing payment or a contested claim. For insurance restoration teams, the documentation packet is the claim; proof that every photo and moisture log was delivered, and when, is the difference between a clean approval and a fight. The same logic holds anywhere the record has to survive a dispute long after the job closed.
For a walk-through of building this into your own process, see how to create proof of file delivery for project teams.
Related
See it in motion
Watch a packet get its receipt
Submit a packet in the demo and see the numbered receipt appear the moment its files verify. Nothing to install, and no account or email required.