This past December, Interactive Aerial rolled out our new Customer Portal, which became the new hub for existing Zenith customers. There, customers can now find all training material, software updates, and the new online shop. In a series of blog posts, we will be highlighting the major aspects of the portal. Our first two blogs featured the Online Shop and Training Center. Up next we will take a deeper dive into our Software Update page.
THE NEW ZENITH MENUS
In June our team will begin shipping Zenith’s with our first major hardware upgrade. This upgrade completely replaces 100% of the internal electronics in all 3 devices: the Zenith unit, controller, and winch electronic control box. Paired alongside this hardware upgrade is a major overhaul to Zenith’s menu software. Traditionally, a user had to go through many layers of Zenith’s LCD menu to access various functions and features. Now, users can access many of those functions directly from the home screen, with just the press of a button or two.
A Few Highlights Include:
- Most Zenith functions being accessed directly off the LCD home screen. This simplified access results in a major reduction of submenus in the controller & winch.
- A quick “depth to bottom” reading driven by the LIDAR in the gimbal, displayed in feet or meters.
- The ability to quickly toggle between imperial and metric units from the LCD screen.
A BETTER SOLUTION
Another major software change that accompanies the new version of our hardware is an automation menu overhaul. This highly anticipated release changes the way automation is set up, going away from users doing math & inputting a photo value, to users answering questions about their asset instead, giving Zenith the responsibility to do the math for you.
Not only will Zenith now calculate automation values, but the menu is now dynamic, it will change the next question based on what you answered from the previous question. This results in a drastically simplified set up process, requiring less time training, and more time inspecting.
We have also added new modes & features to automation. A helpful new feature is our Status Bar for time and progress. Before your automation pass begins, it will indicate how many photos Zenith will collect and how long that will take, so expectations can be set prior to beginning the pass. And new modes like “Upper & Lower Dome” which is ideal for photographing the top and bottom of an asset – whether that be flat-bottomed, a cone, or dome shaped.
The latest & greatest?
Ensuring your team has the latest Zenith software has never been easier. In the last two blog posts, we reviewed the Online Shop and Training Center from our new Customer Portal, the third major element to the Portal is our Software Updates page.
This simple, yet effective page, allows a user to verify they have the latest version of both our computer-based software and our Zenith operating software. If users determine they are running an older version of either software, this page has a clear download button to instantly receive the latest type. This page talks about what is new with this version, which bugs it addresses, and the release date.
Another way our customers are being alerted of a new software version is through our existing customer newsletter – The Zenith Update. The Zenith Update will be the Part IV (four) focus of this blog series, we are excited to share that with you next!
If you would like a demonstration of any feature from the Interactive Aerial Customer Portal, please reach out to our sales team through the link below: