FAQ
Guide To Go

A POI (point of interest) is an information point. Examples can be a statue, a memorial stone, a building, a landmark, a place, a hotel, etc.

A route is a collection of POIs. When a route is downloaded, all the POIs in the route are downloaded to the mobile phone.

How do I create a POI?
POIs are created by you or us in the publishing tool Publisher, by uploading text, images, audio files, links, and placing the POI on the map.

In the publishing tool you can easily click the language button and add new tabs for new languages. Text, audio, and links belonging to the chosen language are added here.

In the publishing tool you define an activation circle around each POI. The radius size of the circle is optional. A statue, for example, will have a relatively small radius (e.g. 10 meters), while a lake may have a radius covering the roads along the lake (e.g. 2500 meters). The content entered in the publishing tool is reflected in the Voice Of Norway app, which the end user interacts with. When the end user moves inside the circle of each attraction on the map in the app, the POI is played automatically.

A POI can be set with Remote Play on or off. When Remote Play is on, the user does not need to be physically at the POI location to play it.

With Remote Play turned off, the POI will not play until the user moves inside the activation circle.

A public POI will be visible in the map in the Voice Of Norway app for all users. You can find the map at the bottom right by tapping Auto. A public POI does not need to be in a route to be played.

A private POI will not appear on the map in Auto mode. Private POIs only become visible after you have downloaded the route(s) the POI is part of.

An active POI will be available for playback.

You can make a POI inactive at any time. Then it will become “invisible” in the app.

Routes can also be active or inactive. An inactive route will not be displayed in the app.

If the POIs in the inactive route are set to Active and Public, they will still appear on the map under Auto.

Both POIs and routes can be specified to be active between two dates, if desired. This function is useful for time-limited information, for example in connection with festivals or other events.

Access to the publishing tool
It is fully possible for the customer to get access to the publishing tool. You will have full freedom to create POIs and downloadable guide routes, make adjustments, add/remove information, etc. The Voice Of Norway team is available and happy to assist you in the process.

In some cases, our customers prefer that Voice Of Norway handles the preparation of guide routes.

It is up to you, as the customer, what you want to communicate. We recommend that each object, attraction, sight, and place is described with about 150 words. You write the script in Norwegian and may use Voice Of Norway’s Writing School and Examples of Good POIs for support. As a customer, you get free access to these resources. When the script is complete, it is sent to Voice Of Norway for quality assurance. After quality assurance and any suggested adjustments, the script can be submitted for translation into different languages.

We recommend that your audio guide is made available in English in addition to Norwegian. This opens up for a much larger audience for you as a content provider. Which languages different municipalities and tourism actors want varies from region to region.

You are welcome to do translations yourself or use a third party. Voice Of Norway offers translation services in 12 languages (English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Ukrainian, Russian, Mandarin, and Japanese) at regular market price.

The Voice Of Norway app is free to download and is available on App Store and Google Play. The content (audio guides and POIs) is also free to download and stream. As a customer and content provider, you have the option to set a code on your guide route. It is up to you how you want to share codes with your guests and visitors.

Auto mode allows the app user to stream POIs without downloading an entire route. POIs set as Public will be available in Auto mode. By pressing the Auto button at the bottom right of the app, you enter the map – and are then in Auto mode.

Each POI can have one or more predefined categories linked to it. The eight categories are: Activity, Art, Culture & History, Nature & Geography, Construction, Industry & Infrastructure, Hotel & Accommodation, Food & Drink, Information, and For Children.

An old historic hotel can, for example, have the following categories: Hotel & Accommodation, Food & Drink, Art, Culture & History.

In the app, the user can filter categories and tailor the guide experience depending on what type of information is desired.

A guide route can take many forms. It can be a guide tailored for a train line, a specific bus trip, a city guide, or perhaps a boat trip along the coast. To make it easy for the app user to navigate and find downloadable guides, we have placed each guide into one of the following Types:

City Guides, Norwegian Scenic Routes, For Kids, Road Trip, By Train, Walk & Parks, and By Boat.

To become a customer of Voice Of Norway, you must first order a subscription. A subscription runs for two years and is renewed annually after that. Once you are a customer with an active subscription, you will gain access to the publishing tool and resources for POI and route production.

We offer the following subscriptions: ENTRY (up to 10 POIs), BASIC (up to 100 POIs), PREMIUM (up to 200 POIs), and ENTERPRISE (unlimited POIs).

It is fully possible to upgrade your subscription. Example: You have the BASIC subscription, which allows you to create up to 100 POIs. You already have 80 POIs and are now going to produce 50 new ones. You then upgrade to the PREMIUM subscription, which allows up to 200 POIs.