Humans are visual beings. When we look at an image, it has far more impact than we may consciously think. We process images quicker, we connect with them emotionally and – above all – we remember them.

It’s no wonder then that product images have such a crucial impact in the world of online sales. How we connect with a particular piece, what influence it has on us and what message it reinforces can all be fostered through great product visualization. To assist with this creative process, pCon.planner 7.5 implements a great new feature for the realistic presentation of individual products.

OSPRay’s newest setting Shadow Plane combines a neutral surface with a realistic shadowing effect, helping to imitate the characteristics of a lightbox photoshoot. Enable one simple setting in the latest pCon.planner and it can make a world of difference when visualizing your individual products.

But you don’t have to stop there. After all, what better way is there to sell a design then to help a customer imagine exactly how it could look in their very own space? Combine the shadow plane feature with a transparent background, and your product models can be efficiently integrated into any virtual scenario. What kind of scenes, you ask?

We’ve quickly thrown together some of our own examples to show how easy – and fun – it can be.

Light and airy in a living room setting.

Enjoying the evening view. (Background courtesy of aercnet.org)

Your furniture on a silver platter… or smartphone!

Let your imagination run wild…

To ensure the best settings when using the shadow plane feature, please see the pCon.planner Help Center. Don’t yet have the latest version of pCon.planner? Get it today!

*The download button is for the free standard version of pCon.planner. If you are a pCon.planner PRO or ME user, we ask that you wait to download the newest version until you receive the dialog prompt from pCon.planner informing you of an auto update. Please also note that the 32-bit version of pCon.planner is no longer supported.

Mobile OFML, expert advice. Plan spaces, present solutions – and all that where the action takes place: at the point of sale. With the pCon.box, you can configure, present and share your product solutions at the touch of a button, plus have all the article information you need directly on your tablet or smartphone. The focus here: successful customer communication.

New version, new features. The new pCon.box release* is now available and it’s bringing with it more efficiency and even more grounds – both literally and figuratively – for customer-oriented solutions.

*Please note: The pCon.box update for Windows will be available soon. Until then, you can communicate and visualize your projects with the current version of our sales app.

This version’s highlight:

• Gaining ground in the box.
  Most most beautiful products have no effect if they don’t fit into your customer’s space. From now on, you can load floor plans into the planning area and plan your solutions without sorry. It takes just a few seconds for your room plan to go from paper or the photo gallery into your plan – for fitting customer solutions.

Further improvements:

• Dive right in.
  The usabilitiy for the app’s first steps have been improved. Now, the user will start directly in the planning area when opening the app and can immediately begin planning. You no longer have to start by saving the project, instead you can choose to do so whenever you’d like.

• Project accessibilitiy secured.
  Projects now include all geometries and materials when saved. This allows you to access a project even when the OFML data is not longer available.

• Presentation from every angle.
  Furnishings can be highly detailed. And these details should be well presented, as they tend to make all the difference. To ensure interaction in the planning area that functions as desired, interactors have been optimized. Small changes, big effects.

• Efficient catalog searches.
  An alphabet scroller on the side of your manufacturer overview allows you to find catalogs faster. In addition, backwards navigation has also been optimized.

In the next blog, you can read more on floor plans in the pCon.box, your app for consultancy and sales.

Have fun with the new features!

Measuring Customer Solutions

Functionality is likely the most important aspect when it comes to office and contract furnishing. It indicates the availability of workspace and the zoning of office environments as well as features like lighting and room acoustics. But it also answers the seemingly trivial question that should be at the center of every plan: Does the desired product fit in the existing space?

Configuring in 2D Plans

Even with a yardstick in hand – a feeling of space can be difficult to convey. And those who consult in space planning can gain a great deal from being able to visually reference the size of a space. The best way to do this is with the customer’s own floor plan, the printed documentation of actual room boundaries and possibilities.

With the current version of pCon.box, our sales app, it’s now possible to import a floor plan. In just a few steps, you can load the customer’s plan into the pCon.box, scale it and adjust it. The plan makes it easier for the customer to make a size reference and better follow the consultant’s advice.

In just a matter of seconds, your customer’s plan can be loaded into the pCon.box. This can be done through the device’s photo gallery or taken live with the camera. Settings for saturation and contrast ensure the optimal display for your floor plan.

The Solution Lies in Interaction

Products may be easy to find, but a customer-oriented solution is often the result of intensive exchange. The pCon.box as a medium of support for sales talks not only provides reliable data (OFML) as a basis for planning, but it also allows the user to work together with the customer to find a solution.  The more active this is used during sales talks, the more promising the prospects for success. Ergo: Pass the tablet across the table and let those on the other side try for themselves! See, comment and customize – your customers are sure to be impressed with the flexible solutions you find.

Download the pCon.box on your tablet and/or smartphone or test the web version. And remember: the customer is king and communication is the key to success.

Emotions sell better. Modern sales pitch, innovative technologies, new consulting? For those looking to be successful at the point of sale, there’s one thing to keep in mind: detail-oriented sales presentations. But what exactly does a “detail-oriented” presentation entail? How do you find a fitting product solution for every customer? The answer is sometimes easier said than done: One needs the right combination of competence, trust and emotion.Emotional highlights require reliable information. Unlike online, face-to-face business gives you direct contact to the customer. Whoever is best able to convey the most positive feelings through a product presentation and consultation is one step closer to the final goal, as emotions always influence our decisions. That’s most certainly the case for purchasing decisions.

A customer’s ideal contact is therefore an authentic salesperson who takes the time to listen and, above all, knows the product in and out. One who can create a solution from a product that the customer loves. One who has all the necessary information for the product and can quantify this “love” with a tangible price and without unneccessary detours. Plain and simple, a competent consultant.

From product to solution through successful communication – there’s no reason not to use a strong standard like OFML at the point of sale.

OFML at the Point of Sale. A salesperson certainly needs to bring his or her own charm to the table, but when it comes to information and emotional highlights of a product, the pCon.box is a strong companion to have on hand for face-to-face business consultancy. With a smartphone or tablet, the box can assist with quickly choosing products for the customer, creating solutions and presenting detail-oriented products. With familiar smartphone interactions (swiping, tapping etc.), users can navigate 3D models and zoom in on product details. With this, sales representatives can quickly respond to customer requests, adjust product solutions and suggest alternatives – giving the customer the feeling that they are working together with the sales rep to find the perfect solution for his or her needs. This creates trust.

Try it yourself! The pCon.box is available free of charge and as app as well as web version.

The pCon.box brings OFML data to the point of sale. With the strongest standard on hand, your sale has all the information it needs and will radiate media competence – two solid steps on the road to a sales win!

And the best: The new version will be available in October! Subscribe to the RSS feed and do not miss any news.

If you believe the data from the U.S. market research company Super Data, more than 6 million virtual reality headsets were sold worldwide in 2016. So, is it just a fleeting trend or could this be the future of how we use and buy media? No one can know for sure… but if the numbers are right, than one thing is certain: the economic magnitude of this topic must be reevaluated – that goes for the office furniture industry, too.

Image source: http://www.vrs.org.uk

In a previous article, we wrote about a project from Actiu, which impressively showed how products can be interactively experienced. Thanks to web technology, it’s already possible to reach the masses, but we want to take things a step further. If we take a minute to step away from our smartphones and take a look at our desktops, we can graphically and interactively experience completely new perspectives. The visualization of a show room is no longer predefined from a particular standpoint, but rather from every conceivable viewpoint within the plan.

All Aboard

Image you had a computer and VR headset and, with less than 10 minutes of prep time, could give your customer the opportunity to walk through the plan themselves. Sound utopian? Not if you’re using pCon.planner! The program has everything on board that you need to prepare such a presentation.

Export your entire plan or even individual typicals in SKP or OBJ format to bring them to life. Virtual reality viewers such as the tool “Prospect” from IrisVR can read these graphical formats and display them in your VR headset at the touch of a button. You’ll be surprised just how fun it can be!

The Customer’s Sales Experience

Fun factor aside, a more serious question comes to mind: Where can such solutions actually be implemented? Many manufacturers run showrooms, where customers can view and try out products and solutions as well as receive consultation about them. So why not use such places of common exchange together with virtual assessment to gain information about the status of a project?

In this way, planners and contractors can come together and, in a matter of seconds, find themselves in the middle of the future office. Maybe it’s at this time that they suddenly realize the collaboration zone they created just isn’t roomy enough. The customer will be sure to thank them!

Are you interested in using VR headsets in your planning office or showroom? Perhaps you have some questions about the technical details of VR technology in combination with the pCon.planner? Don’t hesitate to contact us!

Customers want customized solutions – across all industries. With possibility comes self-perception: customers expect tailor-made solutions and, when it comes to their interiors, don’t want to leave anything to chance.  Particularly cost-intensive products should be both functional and aesthetically pleasing. That goes for furniture, but also complex components like staircases. Those looking for a custom solution can surely find what they’re looking for with KENNGOTT, as the company’s product portfolio is far reaching. The best news: components can be put together according to the customer’s wishes. But how the product will look in the end, with all of its available possibilities, is often difficult to say. That’s where an expert consultant comes in!

From product to interactive product experience. The customer tends to buy what they have seen. With that in mind, KENNGOTT has a new staircase configurator on its website waiting to help. It will offers architect, contractors and engineering partners a strong instrument for successful consultancy. Just a few clicks – or taps for those using tablets and smartphones – and the concepts from your contractor can be easily implemented. After selecting the basic form, users can interactively and intuitively select parameters such as color, materials etc., and see them immediately. And since surroundings can also have an influence on the effect of the staircase, users can also create various room settings by changing the ambience and wall color. Free navigation in the 3D space and the ability to zoom in on details don’t leave any open questions. B2C – You buy with your eyes.

The new staircase configurator from KENNGOTT allows for the detailed arrangement of the desired staircase and the fast simulation of various ambiences. This allows for valuable visual contributions for consultations – for as we all know, a picture is worth a thousand words!

Emotional decisions, rational arguments. If the first impression is successful, the customer then wants reliable information and, ideally, something that he or she can “take home”. An article list overview of the latest configuration, which can be downloaded as a PDF, is available at any time. In addition to the description of the product details, pictures can also be easily downloaded and sent per e-mail. The ideal customer service: a win for the internal sales process, as this feature also provides value for the communication between the internal and external sales teams.

B2B – Needs-based communication with business customers. A CAD export function offers architects and planners the opportunity to read geometries for configurations (in DWG and DXF formats) and implement them into a professional plan. That way, further processing of the desired staircase in pCon.planner or other professional room planners does not stand in the way – An important step from product to product solutions and, in the end, to customer satisfaction.

Thanks to the CAD export function, architects and planner can further process the geometries of their created configurations in their CAD program. Seen here: a staircase planned in pCon.planner.

The Consultancy Tool’s Benefits at a Glance:

• Graphical product configuration online (24/7, worldwide)
• Mobile Consulting at the Point of Sale through tablet and smartphone use
• Bringing emotion to consultancy through the real-time visualization of customer needs
• Interactive presentation thanks to free navigation in 3D spaces as well as the possibility to zoom in on details

If you would like to learn more about the opportunities of mobile consultancy, please feel free to contact us.

We’ve been holding it back for some time now, but today we’re finally letting it out! With nothing short of strenuous training, we’ve been prepping for a marathon that’s just a few days away. Think it sounds crazy? Don’t worry, we’re talking about a release marathon!
For several months, our nerds developers have been working hard on new versions of pCon.planner, pCon.box, pCon.basket and much more, preparing them for their mid-October sweep across the finish line. We don’t want to give everything away, but it would be a bit mean if we didn’t give you at least a little sneak peek.

Professional pCon Users Gain the Most!

It’s, of course, no coincidence that our main products are being released at the same time. And since the whole is more than the sum of its parts, we’re not just putting together new features, but we’re improving the communication between the applications, too. Not only can you be excited about a connection between pCon products, but also between its users. Staying true to the motto: When pCon.planner and pCon.box understand each other well, so too can the in-house and in-the-field employees.

And since we know a lot of our room planner users are also reading, we’ve got a few more vague insights for you, too. The newest pCon.planner:

• gets along with others (export)
• listens carefully (acoustic)
• makes precision beautiful (layout)
• is a stickler for detail (small features, big effects)

Stay tuned…next week will be here before you know it!

P.S.: We certainly love our developers!

It’s the golden season of the year and so it is for pCon!

While we have to slow down on the roads now that fall has arrived, we can go full speed through the pCon world. With the new release of pCon.planner we are introducing the PEC format (pCon exchange format) which opens up the expressway from pCon.planner to all other pCon applications. Additionally, as a PRO user you can now visualize acoustics within your design. SOUNDS good to you?

Then head on over to the pCon.planner Help Center, where you’ll find detailed information on all the newest functions of pCon.planner 7.6. Plus, stick around… feature blogs are on the way!

And now it’s time for you to discover the latest functions of pCon.planner 7.6.

*The download button is for the free standard version of pCon.planner. If you are a pCon.planner PRO or ME user, we ask that you wait to download the newest version until you receive the dialog prompt from pCon.planner informing you of an auto update.

Smart Presentation for Consultation-intensive Products. Planning interiors, presenting solutions – and all that exactly where the action takes place: at the point of sale. With the pCon.box, you can configure, present and share customer solutions at the tap of the screen. Plus, you’ll have all your article information with you at all times on your smartphone or tablet. In the spotlight: successful communication with your customers. Mobile OFML, expert consulting.

From Product to Customer Solution in No Time. A new version of our Sales App is now available and is bringing with it a fast and comfortable path from product to holistic customer solutions.

New Version Highlight: Importing the Entire Solution

• Solutions created in pCon.planner can be easily and quickly imported into pCon.box thanks to a new exchange format (PEC). In addition to graphic representation, this format also includes commercial data. That means there’s nothing standing in your way of further processing the information within the sales app – both before the sale and with the customer. Read more in our newsletter.

Additional Features

• Leave Your business card. Those creating solutions can leave more than just an impression. Professional users can now look forward to branding their creations, as well. Article lists, images, etc. will be furnished with the user’s name and organization.

• From product selection to calculation. Thanks to a new Excel export, article lists can be transferred into Excel and further edited on request.

• Visualization without 3D geometries. The new version of pCon.box also supports purely commercial articles without 3D visualization. Articles consisting solely of text and image information are inserted into the plan as small markers, and can be positioned like any other 3D model. The catalog image is also shown in the article list.

• From pCon.box into AR and other apps. Graphical symbols (DWG,3DS, FBX) from your plan can be opened in other apps directly from the pCon.box.

Learn more about the new features and use cases over the next few days on the pCon-Blog.

Have fun!

Starting point for solutions. Wherever complex product knowledge is concerned, the right amount of detail and focus is also required. Customers expect impressive presentations of solutions tailor-made to their needs, and such success all starts with preparation. After all, those who have access to sophisticated planning solutions during their presentation, rather than individual products, will reach their customer solution goal that much faster.

From the plan to the customer pitch. Thanks to the new exchange format (PEC), typicals can be transferred from pCon.planner into the pCon.box – and therefore directly to the point of sale – and further edited. This offers the in-house sales team the opportunity to prepare and configure individual, detailed planning solutions before the actual customer pitch. These can then be presented by the sales representative in the field on his or her tablet and can be further customized to fit the particular needs of the customer. With this feature, the settings created in the room planner can be saved to any cloud, transferred and then loaded into any pCon.box project using the import function or can be opened as a new project – in the configuration created in pCon.planner, of course.

This video shows how a solution can be imported from the planner into pCon.box, and therefore to the point of sale – presentation-ready thanks to the transfer of all plan details. Thanks to ASSMANN BÜROMÖBEL for that inspiration.

PEC – Archive format with internal value and external effect. The exchange of entire planning solutions creates a stronger connection between the internal and external sales teams. Of course, the sales representative who prefers to plan in pCon.planner while also utilizing mobile technology during the customer pitch can also benefit.

The pCon Exchange Container (or PEC) not only brings value to face-to-face customer communication, but also to order processing. This archive format supports graphic and commercial data – as well as manual articles – and functions as a link between all pCon applications, both on and offline. That means the planning solutions aren’t limited to use within the pCon.box, but also for further processing in the pCon.basket and the room planner itself – both as an import and an OFML catalog.

PECs created in pCon.planner can be further processed in all other pCon applications. For example, the pCon.basket can revert the OBX data contained in the archive format and can automatically display all available commercial data in the article list.

Further technical information regarding PEC have been summarized here. For questions regarding the exchange format and how it can be used in individual pCon applications, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Every year anew, the imm cologne kicks off the furniture year. Which trends will make it to the stores, which innovations await the interior business?  Interior enthusiasts and business insiders will find the answers in January on the fairgrounds in Cologne.
Together with Koelnmesse, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Energy and Industry of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and the RFID GmbH by Geschwister Flötotto, the initiative “let’s be smart” presents a modern, design-oriented Smart Home. The special exhibition vividly depicts how those living in a “smart” home can live safer and more comfortably through a variety of technical refinements.

A sneak peek at the Smart Home at imm cologne 2018.

We are part of the party, too. You will find us in the office area of the Smart Home – equipped with innovative K+N SMART.OFFICE furniture, giving a glimpse into the smart office and working culture of the future. Also aboard: our Virtual Reality set.
Visit us and experience the fascination of virtual reality for yourself. Explore virtual worlds or see how you can visualize and present ideas with pCon.planner or the pCon.box.

imm cologne
15.-21.01.2017
Smart Home
Hall 4.2 Stand D-10

PS: If you buy your tickets before January 15 2018, you will profit from the advance sale prices.

Impress with your design. Great designs deserve to be seen from all perspectives. Or even more: They want to be explored, and that most likely interactively. impress brings your 360° panoramas and 3D models alive and makes it easy for you to share your ideas with other people. For a literally vivid impression. It’s more than just a viewer for spherical panoramic images – impress is for those who love to touch others emotionally with amazing presentations and let their design talk for itself.

Spherical images convey a sense of space with a 360° view. And with just one click, the VR mode is activated for the special experience. Planning © Haworth

Share with others and pimp your presentation. An interior design is not just chic, but exactly the solution that the customer – or your own four walls – expect from you. Professional planners and interior designers know that there are many ideas and even more clicks between a first sketch and the final draft – which makes it all the more important, that even the smallest details of the design find their place in the presentation. How does it work? Add emotional highlights to your presentation and invite people to interactively explore your designs! 360° panoramas and 3D models from the pCon.planner are particularly well suited for this. And now impress comes into play.

And this is how it works. All you need to share your ideas or use them for presentations is a public link to your 360 ° panorama (JPG, PNG) or 3D model (PEC file). Such a link is e.g. generated by cloud services (Dropbox, GoogleDrive or One Drive): save your media, share the link and enter them into impress.

Navigate around the model, zoom in to details. No questions will be left.

Once the content is in the viewer, various functions are available for further use via the impress menu. Whether embedded (as in this blog) or as a visual treat in Sway presentations e.g. – you will surely leave a vivid impression!

Get ready to impress! Let your design speak for itself.

With the motto „let’s be smart – future of intelligent homes“, we once again attended the international furniture fair imm cologne this year. As a longtime partner of let’s be smart we were able to give the visitors a feeling that a smart home is not just the finished house, which is built with all the refinements and gadgets, but that it already starts one step before – with the smart planning.

And this is where pCon.planner comes in: We were able to plan the entire Smart Home of the fair beforehand. With the help of our new VR plugin (thanks to our partner CMC), the booth could be visualized in the VR environment at the touch of a button. With this solution, end-users as well as architects and designers can create virtual showrooms that provide an interactive experience of sizes, shapes and materials as well as complete kitchen, home-office or living room solutions.

But not only the stationary solution was well received by the visitors, also the mobile app pCon.box aroused interest, because it can be used to configure furniture from well-known manufacturers from Assmann, König + Neurath to Vitra and Zumtobel on the tablet or smartphone. So you can try out which furniture could later fit into your own Smart Home.

We are pleased about the successful trade fair and thank all visitors for their interest in our solutions! Finally, here are some impressions of our stand.

Open Office – Unrestricted Communication. More and more, shared offices are giving way to open office spaces. They foster creativity, exchange – communication. These spaces, however, have one drawback: Wherever people are talking, typing and sorting papers, or telephones are ringing and printers are chirping, it can get loud. It’s not only disturbing, but it also affects performance and health.

Soundproofing ensures a good atmosphere. To counteract this issue, furniture manufacturers and acoustic solution specialists offer a wide variety of products – from partition walls to pictures and roll-down blinds – that work to improve the room’s acoustic atmosphere. The number of partitions, pictures or blinds one needs depends on the particular room setup and design and should be taken into account with the initial planning of the room. In the end, the main concern for room planning is the comfort of those who will be using it. Planners have been aware of the idea that acoustics play a large part in this comfort for quite some time, and focus on holistic spatial solutions for that reason.

Acoustic Planning in pCon.planner. With Version 7.6 of pCon.planner PRO, you can visually display the acoustic effects of various room designs and materials. So, how does it work? It’s possible with the help of our acoustic partners Schall & Raum and the import possibility of a specifically-developed exchange format (CNIVG). To visualize acoustic parameters such as sound pressure level, reverberation time and speech intelligibility within your room plans, all you need to do is transfer your plan to Schall & Raum. Based on the plan provided, acoustic parameters are calculated with the professional software CadnaR, which can then be imported into the room plan in the form of an interactive acoustic map and visually displayed. In addition to the map, Schall & Raum will also provide you with an analysis of the calculations and general information regarding room acoustics.

In the Properties Editor, you can determine which acoustic size should be displayed in the map. The different colors on the map, symbols for the various values, and the value ranges can all be individually customized. The respective map key can also be easily created.

Great sound in the layout area, too. The acoustic map, along with its properties and various settings, can also be displayed in the layout area. Aesthetic and functional, you can also create impressive presentations for the acoustic conditions of various designs.

In addition to renderings and floor plans, you can also aesthetically and effectively display the speech intelligibility or reverberation times of a room thanks to acoustic maps – in the plan itself or the layout area.

Room acoustics in pCon.planner: Stronger value for your plans, stronger arguments for your sales team, stronger service for your customers.

If you believe the data from the U.S. market research company Super Data, more than 6 million virtual reality headsets were sold worldwide in 2016. So, is it just a fleeting trend or could this be the future of how we use and buy media? No one can know for sure… but if the numbers are right, than one thing is certain: the economic magnitude of this topic must be reevaluated – that goes for the office furniture industry, too.

Image source: http://www.vrs.org.uk

In a previous article, we wrote about a project from Actiu, which impressively showed how products can be interactively experienced. Thanks to web technology, it’s already possible to reach the masses, but we want to take things a step further. If we take a minute to step away from our smartphones and take a look at our desktops, we can graphically and interactively experience completely new perspectives. The visualization of a show room is no longer predefined from a particular standpoint, but rather from every conceivable viewpoint within the plan.

All Aboard

Image you had a computer and VR headset and, with less than 10 minutes of prep time, could give your customer the opportunity to walk through the plan themselves. Sound utopian? Not if you’re using pCon.planner! The program has everything on board that you need to prepare such a presentation.

Export your entire plan or even individual typicals in SKP or OBJ format to bring them to life. Virtual reality viewers such as the tool “Prospect” from IrisVR can read these graphical formats and display them in your VR headset at the touch of a button. You’ll be surprised just how fun it can be!

The Customer’s Sales Experience

Fun factor aside, a more serious question comes to mind: Where can such solutions actually be implemented? Many manufacturers run showrooms, where customers can view and try out products and solutions as well as receive consultation about them. So why not use such places of common exchange together with virtual assessment to gain information about the status of a project?

In this way, planners and contractors can come together and, in a matter of seconds, find themselves in the middle of the future office. Maybe it’s at this time that they suddenly realize the collaboration zone they created just isn’t roomy enough. The customer will be sure to thank them!

Are you interested in using VR headsets in your planning office or showroom? Perhaps you have some questions about the technical details of VR technology in combination with the pCon.planner? Don’t hesitate to contact us!

Customers want customized solutions – across all industries. With possibility comes self-perception: customers expect tailor-made solutions and, when it comes to their interiors, don’t want to leave anything to chance.  Particularly cost-intensive products should be both functional and aesthetically pleasing. That goes for furniture, but also complex components like staircases. Those looking for a custom solution can surely find what they’re looking for with KENNGOTT, as the company’s product portfolio is far reaching. The best news: components can be put together according to the customer’s wishes. But how the product will look in the end, with all of its available possibilities, is often difficult to say. That’s where an expert consultant comes in!

From product to interactive product experience. The customer tends to buy what they have seen. With that in mind, KENNGOTT has a new staircase configurator on its website waiting to help. It will offers architect, contractors and engineering partners a strong instrument for successful consultancy. Just a few clicks – or taps for those using tablets and smartphones – and the concepts from your contractor can be easily implemented. After selecting the basic form, users can interactively and intuitively select parameters such as color, materials etc., and see them immediately. And since surroundings can also have an influence on the effect of the staircase, users can also create various room settings by changing the ambience and wall color. Free navigation in the 3D space and the ability to zoom in on details don’t leave any open questions. B2C – You buy with your eyes.

The new staircase configurator from KENNGOTT allows for the detailed arrangement of the desired staircase and the fast simulation of various ambiences. This allows for valuable visual contributions for consultations – for as we all know, a picture is worth a thousand words!

Emotional decisions, rational arguments. If the first impression is successful, the customer then wants reliable information and, ideally, something that he or she can “take home”. An article list overview of the latest configuration, which can be downloaded as a PDF, is available at any time. In addition to the description of the product details, pictures can also be easily downloaded and sent per e-mail. The ideal customer service: a win for the internal sales process, as this feature also provides value for the communication between the internal and external sales teams.

B2B – Needs-based communication with business customers. A CAD export function offers architects and planners the opportunity to read geometries for configurations (in DWG and DXF formats) and implement them into a professional plan. That way, further processing of the desired staircase in pCon.planner or other professional room planners does not stand in the way – An important step from product to product solutions and, in the end, to customer satisfaction.

Thanks to the CAD export function, architects and planner can further process the geometries of their created configurations in their CAD program. Seen here: a staircase planned in pCon.planner.

The Consultancy Tool’s Benefits at a Glance:

• Graphical product configuration online (24/7, worldwide)
• Mobile Consulting at the Point of Sale through tablet and smartphone use
• Bringing emotion to consultancy through the real-time visualization of customer needs
• Interactive presentation thanks to free navigation in 3D spaces as well as the possibility to zoom in on details

If you would like to learn more about the opportunities of mobile consultancy, please feel free to contact us.

We’ve been holding it back for some time now, but today we’re finally letting it out! With nothing short of strenuous training, we’ve been prepping for a marathon that’s just a few days away. Think it sounds crazy? Don’t worry, we’re talking about a release marathon!
For several months, our nerds developers have been working hard on new versions of pCon.planner, pCon.box, pCon.basket and much more, preparing them for their mid-October sweep across the finish line. We don’t want to give everything away, but it would be a bit mean if we didn’t give you at least a little sneak peek.

Professional pCon Users Gain the Most!

It’s, of course, no coincidence that our main products are being released at the same time. And since the whole is more than the sum of its parts, we’re not just putting together new features, but we’re improving the communication between the applications, too. Not only can you be excited about a connection between pCon products, but also between its users. Staying true to the motto: When pCon.planner and pCon.box understand each other well, so too can the in-house and in-the-field employees.

And since we know a lot of our room planner users are also reading, we’ve got a few more vague insights for you, too. The newest pCon.planner:

• gets along with others (export)
• listens carefully (acoustic)
• makes precision beautiful (layout)
• is a stickler for detail (small features, big effects)

Stay tuned…next week will be here before you know it!

P.S.: We certainly love our developers!

It’s the golden season of the year and so it is for pCon!

While we have to slow down on the roads now that fall has arrived, we can go full speed through the pCon world. With the new release of pCon.planner we are introducing the PEC format (pCon exchange format) which opens up the expressway from pCon.planner to all other pCon applications. Additionally, as a PRO user you can now visualize acoustics within your design. SOUNDS good to you?

Then head on over to the pCon.planner Help Center, where you’ll find detailed information on all the newest functions of pCon.planner 7.6. Plus, stick around… feature blogs are on the way!

And now it’s time for you to discover the latest functions of pCon.planner 7.6.

*The download button is for the free standard version of pCon.planner. If you are a pCon.planner PRO or ME user, we ask that you wait to download the newest version until you receive the dialog prompt from pCon.planner informing you of an auto update.

Smart Presentation for Consultation-intensive Products. Planning interiors, presenting solutions – and all that exactly where the action takes place: at the point of sale. With the pCon.box, you can configure, present and share customer solutions at the tap of the screen. Plus, you’ll have all your article information with you at all times on your smartphone or tablet. In the spotlight: successful communication with your customers. Mobile OFML, expert consulting.

From Product to Customer Solution in No Time. A new version of our Sales App is now available and is bringing with it a fast and comfortable path from product to holistic customer solutions.

New Version Highlight: Importing the Entire Solution

• Solutions created in pCon.planner can be easily and quickly imported into pCon.box thanks to a new exchange format (PEC). In addition to graphic representation, this format also includes commercial data. That means there’s nothing standing in your way of further processing the information within the sales app – both before the sale and with the customer. Read more in our newsletter.

Additional Features

• Leave Your business card. Those creating solutions can leave more than just an impression. Professional users can now look forward to branding their creations, as well. Article lists, images, etc. will be furnished with the user’s name and organization.

• From product selection to calculation. Thanks to a new Excel export, article lists can be transferred into Excel and further edited on request.

• Visualization without 3D geometries. The new version of pCon.box also supports purely commercial articles without 3D visualization. Articles consisting solely of text and image information are inserted into the plan as small markers, and can be positioned like any other 3D model. The catalog image is also shown in the article list.

• From pCon.box into AR and other apps. Graphical symbols (DWG,3DS, FBX) from your plan can be opened in other apps directly from the pCon.box.

Learn more about the new features and use cases over the next few days on the pCon-Blog.

Have fun!

Starting point for solutions. Wherever complex product knowledge is concerned, the right amount of detail and focus is also required. Customers expect impressive presentations of solutions tailor-made to their needs, and such success all starts with preparation. After all, those who have access to sophisticated planning solutions during their presentation, rather than individual products, will reach their customer solution goal that much faster.

From the plan to the customer pitch. Thanks to the new exchange format (PEC), typicals can be transferred from pCon.planner into the pCon.box – and therefore directly to the point of sale – and further edited. This offers the in-house sales team the opportunity to prepare and configure individual, detailed planning solutions before the actual customer pitch. These can then be presented by the sales representative in the field on his or her tablet and can be further customized to fit the particular needs of the customer. With this feature, the settings created in the room planner can be saved to any cloud, transferred and then loaded into any pCon.box project using the import function or can be opened as a new project – in the configuration created in pCon.planner, of course.

This video shows how a solution can be imported from the planner into pCon.box, and therefore to the point of sale – presentation-ready thanks to the transfer of all plan details. Thanks to ASSMANN BÜROMÖBEL for that inspiration.

PEC – Archive format with internal value and external effect. The exchange of entire planning solutions creates a stronger connection between the internal and external sales teams. Of course, the sales representative who prefers to plan in pCon.planner while also utilizing mobile technology during the customer pitch can also benefit.

The pCon Exchange Container (or PEC) not only brings value to face-to-face customer communication, but also to order processing. This archive format supports graphic and commercial data – as well as manual articles – and functions as a link between all pCon applications, both on and offline. That means the planning solutions aren’t limited to use within the pCon.box, but also for further processing in the pCon.basket and the room planner itself – both as an import and an OFML catalog.

PECs created in pCon.planner can be further processed in all other pCon applications. For example, the pCon.basket can revert the OBX data contained in the archive format and can automatically display all available commercial data in the article list.

Further technical information regarding PEC have been summarized here. For questions regarding the exchange format and how it can be used in individual pCon applications, please don’t hesitate to contact us.