Virtual tours
Virtual tours have quickly become an essential requirement since students haven’t been able to access campus for in-person viewings and will continue to remain a priority for students who live overseas or are unable to travel in person. The ability to view the full facilities on screen showcasing different room types, communal and social spaces significantly aids the overall research and decision-making process. There are many professional companies who now specialise in producing 360s and virtual tours providing high quality content which can easily be hosted on accommodation webpages.
Virtual tours permit the user to inspect the accommodation from a chosen angle which is not available on video tours. The view-point may be enhanced by selecting further options such as 3D and floor plan modes.
The tours should complement existing high quality photography, copy and videos as a secondary source of information. Users are more likely to access the tours once they are at the consideration point of the journey and can be a key point of the decision making process. The tour can answer further questions such as the size of the bed, storage facilities, location of radiators etc. resulting in a reduction in these types of enquiries. Measuring tools are an additional feature to provide approximate measurements of rooms which is particularly useful for international students who are unable to visit the accommodation. However, these are often difficult to use on mobile devices.
Key points for virtual tours are:
- Tours must be quick to load
- High resolution, the tour should be consistent with the standard of photography available on the website
- Room to be dressed and styled professionally
- Well lit
- Accessible on mobile formats and social media
- Floor plans, storage areas and bed sizes are key features to highlight where possible
Virtual events
The use of virtual open days and events has dramatically increased recently and has firmly become an integral part of the digital offering which students now expect which allows content to be accessible on demand. Following a mystery shop of a wide range of events the list below outlines some of the most engaging features of these events:
- Live chats with current students
- Live accommodation tours – including dressed rooms and communal areas
- Accommodation specific talks – including talks from current residents
- Live streamed question and answer sessions
- Step-by-step application process
- Interactive maps to explore accommodation locations in your own time
- Accommodation webinars available after the event
Some institutions now retain their virtual events and make them accessible on websites throughout the year, rather than on specific dates which then enables the virtual tour and pre-recorded sessions to be viewed on-demand. It’s important to ensure that accommodation content is represented across any university-wide activities to gain high profile and presence.
Nottingham Trent University produced a comprehensive virtual tour for their open day. Accommodation: NTU Virtual Open Event
Live chat instant messaging
Live chat facilities are useful for answering questions quickly and also providing analytics which may be used to improve service and website content. Web chat is particularly useful if there is a query that needs answering rapidly, such as an application process question. Providers such as LiveChat and ZenDesk also offer opportunities to pro-actively engage with users if a certain amount of time has elapsed on a certain page.
Live chat facility allows the team to:
- Save responses to frequently asked questions
- Add tags to chats to understand what topics are arising
- Consider the use of answer bots to provide answers when a staff member is unavailable
To the right are some live chat examples from the University of Nottingham, the Student Housing Company and Unite.