Advanced Tours | FAQ


What are the benefits of a virtual tour?

For your business

    • A virtual tour is a very cost efficient marketing tool which boosts impressions of your business online.
    • Showcases the décor, ambiance and unique qualities of your business premises in an interactive way.
    • Increases engagement with your store online and encourages potential customers to look around.
    • Free to embed on web pages and share on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter.

 

For your customers

    • Your business is open online 24/7, 365 days a year to potential customers from all over the world.
    • Customers can walk through the front door virtually and experience your business as they would in person.
    • All tours are viewable on computers, smart phones, tablets and VR Headsets.
    • Allows customers to “see before they buy”, both in terms of products and viability of your premises.
    • Intuitive and straight-forward tour interface and navigation.


What features are available for Advanced Virtual Tours?
Advanced Virtual Tours are our most powerful, comprehensive and customisable tour type. You can feature navigational menus, info, audio and video hotspots, website links, social media links, interactive floor plans, aerospheres and more.

 

View examples of each feature.


What is a Hotspot?
A hotspot is an interactive graphic or area within the Advanced Virtual Tour.

 

By clicking on it, users can trigger a behaviour, such as moving to another panorama, playing a video, showing a photo, displaying information, listening to an audio, entering a website or showing and hiding elements of the interface. When creating your virtual tour we can add as many hotspots as you want and assign any of the aforementioned functions.


How long does it take?
Shooting time can vary from as little as 30 minutes for a micro business up to several hours for a large venue. It all depends on the number of camera positions and the size of your premises.

What is an Aerosphere?
An aerosphere is a 360° aerial panorama captured using a RPAS or ‘drone’. These are perfect for showcasing larger venues and environments from above. We can even connect multiple aerospheres to create a ‘sky tour’ experience.

Can I sell my products/services within the Advanced Virtual Tour?
Yes! You can integrate your booking system or online store and sell directly to customers within the Advanced Virtual Tour using hotspots. View an example.

Can I showcase multiple setups/themes for a single space?
Yes! We can capture a room in different theme configurations so that users can transform the space with a single click.

How do I prepare my business for the photo shoot?
In preparation for our visit please turn on all of your lights and present the area as you would like it to be seen for the best result possible. The aim of the tour is to show customers what they would expect to see if they visited your business on a normal day.

 

Depending on the size of the venue and where we are shooting from, we may need to vacate immediate areas whilst we conduct the photo shoot.


Will my business be disrupted?
We carry out all our photo shoots with minimum impact to the business. It is up to you whether or not your business is open or closed at the time of the shoot. Day or night, populated or not, we work with total consideration to your business’ needs.

How long will a photo shoot take?
Shooting time can vary from as little as 30 minutes for a micro business, or a number of days for a larger venue. It all depends on the number of 360° photo positions needed to sufficiently showcase your business. 

How fast will my Advanced Virtual Tour be online?
Depending on the size and complexity of the Advanced Virtual Tour, initial drafts can be ready for review within 5 business days from the photoshoot. Once you are happy with the final result, we will issue an embed code or the tour files, based on your preferred Hosting Option.

 

All of our 360° HDR photos pass through a quality control check to ensure all tours meet our consistently high production standards.



Do I need to provide any media for Advanced Virtual Tour production?
We capture, process & connect all HDR 360° panoramas for the Advanced Virtual Tour, create & optimise skin layouts and enable/disable specific functions. However, you will need to provide us with still images for photo galleries, floor plans and any specific business or marketing information (text) you would like included in the hotspots.

 

If you’re unsure what’s required on your end, you can always contact us to discuss your options in detail.


Will my tour work on any device, operating system and browser?
Yes. Thanks to our responsive virtual tour technology, which automatically adapts to the device, system and browser used by your clients, you don’t have to worry about display problems at all.

 

Your Advanced Virtual Tour will be visible on Windows, Mac, Android, iPhone, iPad and on popular browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Internet Explorer, without having to download any additional software, players or plug-ins.


Where can I display my Advanced Virtual Tour?
You can display your tour on your company’s website in order to improve your online appearance. Getting customers to interact with your Advanced Virtual Tour will give you a competitive advantage because it gets the user engaged. Tours can also be launched and opened in a dedicated browser window using a URL or hyperlink. 

Can I share my Advanced Virtual Tour on social media?
Of course. When using our internal Hosting service, you can get a link that you can post and share on any platform. Alternatively, you can upload the tour to your own hosting service and embed/link to the tour URL as you would any other post.

How do I add my Advanced Virtual Tour to my Website?
You can create a new webpage to embed and display only your Advanced Virtual Tour or you can add it to an existing webpage. Your Advanced Virtual Tour can then be seen by visitors of your page – without having to download any additional software or special players.

What is hosting? What options do I have?
Just like websites, Advanced Virtual Tours are ‘hosted’, or stored, on special computers called servers. Hosting, put simply, is the place where all the files of your Advanced Virtual Tour reside.

 

Hosting With Us
Suitable for:

    • Those who don’t have their own server(s) or don’t know how to upload files onto the internet using a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) program.
    • Those who require periodic updates/changes to the tour and ongoing technical support. Any updates/changes made to a tour will be reflected immediately where ever the tour is being displayed.

Deliverables:

    • We provide a direct link to the tour (URL)
      Responsive embed code (HTML) for embedding the tour on a website.
    • Ongoing technical support for duration of the hosting.
    • Minor updates/changes to the tour.

Associated Costs:

    • $15 per month per tour, charged annually.
    • Major updates/changes to the tour are charged separately on a case-by-case basis.

 

Hosting On Your Own Server

Suitable for:

    • Those who have their own server(s) and know how to upload files using a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) program.
    • Those who do not require any updates/changes to the tour or technical support.

Deliverables:

    • We provide all tour files, pre-organised into specific folders, ready to be uploaded to your server [no direct link (URL) to the tour or responsive embed code (HTML) for embedding is provided].

Associated Costs:

    • No hosting fees.
    • Additional costs will be charged on a case-by-case basis for all updates or changes to the tour. Note: All tour files will need to be re-delivered and re-uploaded to your hosting.


Can Advanced Virtual Tours be published to Google Street View?
Yes. For a small additional charge, we can publish to Google Street View which is a great way to extend your marketing so you and your business can reach an even bigger audience.

 

When searching for your business on Google, your customers will see the 360° imagery that the photographer captured and will be able to virtually visit your business. Learn More.


Can tours be viewed and used without an internet connection?
You have the option to allow your Advanced Virtual Tour to be downloaded as an App to Windows & Android devices for offline viewing.

 

Advanced Virtual Tour can also be exported as an auto-executable format consisting of one single file (.EXE for Windows & .DMG for Mac computers) that can be emailed or stored on services like Dropbox for fast and easy sharing.


Does my Advanced Virtual Tour need to be updated?
No. However, some businesses update periodically to reflect changes in design, have recently updated their stock or are taking advantage of our Room Transformation feature with on-going photo shoots and tour updates. 

How much does it cost?
Each Advanced Virtual Tour we create is unique and customised to your specific needs. Please contact us to discuss your options or schedule a free on-site consultation with one of our experts (free consults only available to businesses within 20 km of Sydney CBD).

Where can I find the Terms and Conditions?
View, print or download our Photography Terms and Conditions.

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