Here's What's New in 4M: July 2025

Written by

Chris Garafola

Published on

August 4, 2025

Product

Table of contents

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July turned up the dial on clarity, control, and efficiency—with new tools that give Admins clearer visibility into project usage, expanded detection of on-surface assets like meters and control boxes, and statewide Foundation Data coverage in Illinois to make your day-to-day more efficient, more strategic, and a whole lot less manual.

New Features and Updates

This past month, we rolled out new tools to help Admins track project usage and keep teams aligned—part of our goal to bring every stakeholder together around shared, reliable data.

Project Segments

In 4M, each project is measured in segments based on the area:

Urban areas: 64 acres = 1 segment
Rural areas: 640 acres = 1 segment

When creating a project, users now see acreage and segment count before creating new projects for stronger transparency and visibility into segment volume used in each project.

Admin Alerts & Thresholds

Set project segment usage thresholds (e.g., 80%, 90%) in the Admin Dashboard and get automatic email alerts to stay ahead of your segment volume limit.

Once your organization’s project segment limit is reached:

Admins get notified via email and in-app
Project creators can create new projects but will not be able to get Foundation data. However, they may view a free heat map (no lines or data layers) in the project area.
Option to contact Customer Success to order more projects.

Need more project segments? Your Customer Success Manager is ready to help!

Learn more about monitoring usage in 4M

Object Detection: NEW Meters & Control Boxes

Two new object types are now available with our Object Detection feature: meters and control boxes.

Object Detection gives you a clear view of utility objects within your project area so you can make faster, more informed decisions right from 4M. With our detection capabilities and an integrated Google Street Viewer, you can easily identify utility objects and verify their location for further utility evidence and context.

Learn more about Object Detection

Foundation Data Launched in Illinois

4M’s Foundation Data has been launched in Illinois—delivering instant, reliable utility data to projects across the state.

See the map below for the current mapped states (gold) as of August 2025, and the states coming up in 2025 (grey). Up next: Foundation Data will be launched in Oklahoma in mid-August!

See you next month

Want to dig deeper into July’s updates? Head to our help center for all the details and a closer look at what’s new.

We’ll be back next month with more ways to help you build smarter, faster, and safer with the only Utility AI Mapping platform.

Chris Garafola

Brand and Content Leader

With over a decade of experience spanning agencies and innovative startups, Chris is a dedicated content marketing leader, driven by the belief that content isn't just about consumption; it's about leaving a lasting impact on the person who engages with it.

Inspired by 4M's mission to create the first online database of subsurface utilities in the U.S., Chris is eager to illuminate one of the infrastructure industry's most pressing issues and champion innovative solutions that deeply resonate with general contractors and civil engineers to address these challenges.