What Are Most Virtual Tours Missing?
· CommentsI’ve looked at quite a few virtual tours, and I’ve always thought that there was something missing. Was it the music? No, lots of tours have music. Was it good photographs or video? Well, sometimes. But, the production of many of the tours is good.
What I’ve always thought was missing was the personal touch – a person to relate to, and someone to help me focus on and understand what I’m looking at. There may be some people who can tell a Travertine floor when they see one. I’m just not one of those people.
But, I was interested to come across a company that is offering tours and property websites that include voiceover capability. The company is called VizzVox. They offer a number of services, ranging from do-it-yourself online tour creation, to professional script writing or a professional to do the voiceover for you, to statistics on the number of times your tour is viewed.
I liked one of the examples where the agent did the narration herself. What a great way to make an impression on your seller and become known to potential buyers! Take a quick look at that one. I found it much easier to interpret the tour with someone pointing out the key features in each room.
Another example had written “slides” toward the end that reinforced features of the home when they appeared in writing.
You can learn more about VizzVox at their real estate page. The fees as of this date are competitive with some other virtual tour companies – $99 for a “Vizzie To Go” and $149/year for a single listing website. The single listing sites don’t have as many bells and whistles as some I’ve seen, but I think the voiceover is a big advantage.
The other interesting thing is that they are offering a Free Personal Account that allows you to try their service and make up to 10 tours that can be viewed via a link to the VizzVox site. Those tours will show their advertising.
If you’ve ever watched a virtual tour and wondered where to look first, you might be missing the personal touch, too.
- Do you think a voiceover is an advantage on a virtual tour?
- Would you record one yourself?
- Have you ever used a virtual tour with a voiceover?
- If anyone has or does try this out, let us know what you think!
4 Comments
January 18th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
It seems this is the avenue Virtual Tour products are going down with further integrated features and a voice over option is a wonderful tool. While many products are transitioning towards voice, one feature seems to have fallen somewhat by the wayside, floor plans. Although it may seem self-evident or even a bit “old fashioned” by comparison, it is still quite important to allow a potential buyer the overview that a floor plan provides. A Virtual Tour, and even a voice guided tour with pictures, is a great way to visit the interior, but to get a good idea of the overall space is still very important. Some companies seem to have integrated this into their products and are still adding more and more interactive features as time goes on; one that springs to mind is http://www.planomatic.com. They also seem to fill the gap between do-it-yourself and professionally maintained Virtual Tours by allowing a level of both to combine in one product. What most Virtual Tour companies need is detailed feedback about what their clients most need and most want so they can design products that speak to them and their clients. But then again, what company doesn’t need that kind of information. Great article on VT’s, thanks for posting.
January 18th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
A2 Reviews,
Thanks for stopping by and for the comment!
I think floorplans can be a great addition. In fact, I’ve been collecting floorplan vendor names and I’ll add Planomatic to the list.
Are you associated with that company? It looks like they cover a fairly narrow geographic area.
Thanks again,
Kathleen
January 26th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
I think virtual tours are overated. Not to mention adding music to the mix makes it even worse people want to see facts, and qulity pics. It just think v tours are more hype than help.
January 26th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Neuhaus,
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment!
So, you prefer to use a “photo album” approach where the buyer can flip through a series of photos?
Do you think there are so many virtual tours around that a seller might expect one – what do your sellers think about them?
And, how about you other readers?
Kathleen