Adding Tours

Adding Tours

Adding tours happens almost entirely from the mobile device and involves selecting a tour name, adding an optional image to identify the tour and adding checkpoints. Once those steps are done, simply sync changes to your other devices and you are ready for a property tour. Let's break down these steps and explain each in detail:
Setting up a new tour in SOVA:
  • Open the admin dashboard from SOVA mobile and tap "Add / Edit Tours"


  • The tour "Edit Tours" screen opens. Tap the plus icon "+" to add a new tour:


  • Give the tour a name, description, and optional picture. The picture could be the front entrance to the business, shopping mall, etc. or you can include a map with the areas highlighted in a color that represents the area that the tour represents. For those with some Photoshop experience, there is an article in the Knowledge Base on how you can use the web app to generate a map with pins that represent each checkpoint. Take a screen grab and pop that into the tour edit screen in the web. If interested, search for that. The image below shows the new tour screen completed in SOVA Mobile. Be sure to tap save after you fill in these fields:


  • The scan screen opens immediately after clicking save as the app assumes that you will add checkpoints next. You can click the back button and add RFID checkpoints later if you wish. For this example, we will continue by installing an RFID checkpoint and scanning it with the mobile device. After scanning an RFID checkpoint, you screen looks like below:


  1. In the Edit Button screen shown above, the button ID should already be filled in, if you scanned a tour checkpoint (button) to get here. If the words "N/A" show instead of a series of letters and numbers, tap the blue "Change Button" link and scan an RFID button
  2. Give your checkpoint a name
  3. If this is a new checkpoint that you are adding, check this box to give SOVA a chance to identify your physical location. If you are outside, this should be fairly accurate. If you are indoors, this will most likely be inaccurate as GPS signals do not penetrate concrete and steel. Don't worry too much about this for now, After all checkpoints are added, we will geolocate tours checkpoints from the web console. NOTE: if you are simply replacing a tour checkpoint that you have already Geolocated, do NOT check this box or the button GPS coordinates will be overwritten.
  4. Next we will add location hints and a location hint image. For both, we tap the location hints field to see the screen below:


  1. In the Location Details screen above, provide a text hint for the location. It's best to be descriptive here, and more detail is better.
  2. If this is the first button added for the tour, tapping the "Nearest Button on this tour" will not yield any results in the dropdown. However, if you have other checkpoint buttons that you have already added to this tour, they will be shown here. Select the checkpoint in this tour that is closest to the one you are currently adding
  3. Select a floor number. If you have other checkpoints already added, tap the fields to indicate the "Nearest Button Distance" and indicate the approximate distance to the nearest checkpoint that is already added to this tour. The details that you add in the nearest button distance are optional values that will be appended to the end of your location hint, giving additional details to new officers specifically so that they can orient themselves and learn their routes.
  4. "Long press", or hold your finger on the camera image for a second, until the popup screen appears. Select "Take a photo with camera"
  5. The device camera activates. Compose and capture an image.
  6. After you confirm your image, your screen looks like below. You now have the option to drag an arrow over the image to indicate exactly where in the image the checkpoint is located. Your screen should look like below before you position the arrow:


HINT: Try to take a distance shot if possible, so the context of the area around the checkpoint is known to the officer on tour. A close up of a door frame would probably show the actual round checkpoint, but likely this image would look very similar to other doors in your facility. By backing up 10-20 feet, you will be able to capture the sidewalk, plants, street signs, building characteristics that can assist an officer figure out where the checkpoint is. The location hint image should tell a story, and the goal is that every officer would immediately know where the checkpoint is by looking at your location hint image. The goal for every checkpoint you add to SOVA should be a great image coupled with a very detailed location hint. Having both is a very powerful training tool, and should significantly reduce the time spent training your officers when it comes to learning their tour routes.

  • Now, we will locate the arrow on the image. Drag an arrow from below by holding your finger on the screen over the top of the arrow briefly until you feel a slight vibrate. Now, with your finger still touching the screen, slowly drag the arrow until the arrow is pointed directly at the checkpoint that you have added. Release your finger from the screen. Your screen should look like below:


  • If you want to re-position the arrow, repeat the prior steps and long press the arrow over the image, and move it to a new location. Once you are finished, tap the Save button to be taken back to the previous screen
  • Back in the Edit Button screen, click the save icon at the top to save the checkpoint
  • If you want to add tasks to the checkpoint, read the article Adding Tasks to a Checkpoint.
  • Back at the Admin Dashboard, be sure to sync your changes by tapping the "Sync to Web" button. The screen below shows that you have some changes in the mobile device that need to sync with the server. Tapping this tile will cause a sync, and after a few seconds, providing there is a WiFi connection, the "Local data changed" button should disappear. If if does not disappear, then the sync process did not complete. Try again. If you have issues syncing the device, after trying a few times, please open a ticket.


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