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Technology

Delivering complete aerial map measurement tools for solar and roofing industries

Nearmap, premium global location content provider specialising in high-resolution aerial maps, have introduced a complete measurement toolset in MapBrowser for the solar, roofing and other rooftop industries.

An Australian-first, the new tools allows users to measure roof-pitch, height, width and area, enabling roofers and solar installers to confidently measure rooftops and structures from high-resolution oblique aerial images.

The MapBrowser helps customers significantly reduce onsite visits during the quoting and planning stages of projects and complements their remote roof/site inspection workflows, giving many small businesses the power of expensive systems, which usually only large companies have access to.

Nearmap’s aerial imagery is delivered to the cloud within days of capture and allows roofers, solar companies and other small businesses to carry out assessments from the comfort of their own office.

“When dealing with building proposals, putting clear and accurate imagery in front of customers can raise the chance of you processing more leads because customers are going to be confident that you have done your estimating competently,” said Tony Agresta, Nearmap’s executive vice president of product.

“The roofing industry is the clear beneficiary of this. We have hundreds of customers in the roofing industry, both in the US and in Australia, and this is going to be really important in the residential roofing space because you have more construction that has pitch, whereas in the commercial space, you are really dealing with a lot of flat roofs.

“If you are a small business, it really changes the entire way that you work. In the past, these organisations didn’t have access to cloud technology and they’d have to go and drive on site and put people on ladders to measure and to estimate, which is a very time-consuming process.

“Now, they can do this without having to leave their office. Users can access the MapBrowser from tablets, so if they wanted, they could present it to a customer while they are in front of their house, without having to go up on a ladder. This means proposals can be created faster.”

The new features provide businesses of all shapes and sizes with the tools they need to save time, plan and estimate more accurately at a fraction of the price.

Nearmap’s aerial imagery can help users to show context for work being done, and the imagery can be annotated with notes, drawings and measurements that provide details of the plan.

Nearmap Oblique imagery can be accessed through a standard web browser using Nearmap’s intuitive MapBrowser application. In addition, Nearmap Oblique photos are published at sub-7.5cm Ground Sampling Distance (GSD) – better than satellite imagery, which allows users to see better detail.

“Our MapBrowser interface is simple enough for anyone to use without prior knowledge of geographical information systems, and I can’t think of any product that is comparable out there,” Agresta said.

“We plan to take our 3D content and make it accessible via the MapBrowser. We’ve already captured all of the major cities in Australia and 43 of the major metropolitan areas in the US in 3D.

“Moving forward, we will continue to make the MapBrowser easier to use and add even more powerful functionalities within it to make it more easily-adaptable and relevant for the current market.”

By using Nearmap’s latest tools, roofers and solar companies will have the ability to:

  • Prospect more efficiently by viewing and expanding opportunities through aerial maps, instead of other, more traditional ways;
  • Process more leads, more quickly by qualifying prospects prior to visiting a potential job;
  • Reduce costs associated with the qualifications and proposal stages;
  • Create better proposals using up-to-date, high resolution photos, giving companies a better chance at winning a client’s business;
  • Close more sales with the most accurate and competitive quotes; and
  • Increase revenue without adding systems or headcount.

Businesses in construction, home building, painting, insurance and other industries can also benefit from these new tools to accurately measure areas on properties in three dimensions.

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