Another Google Product: Earth Pro

As a producer working on commercial accounts, I’ve often found that presenting location information visually was a great way to communicate complex information quickly. When creating a carrier submission with multiple locations, I would often include a map containing the client’s various locations. I would then include the same information on my final proposal to the client.

The quality of geographic visualization tools have changed significantly over the last several years. One such tool is Google Earth. You may have even used it to swoop in to check out your house! Google Earth Pro is the professional version with a few additional features you can use.

Following are some features of Earth Pro that just might help set your agency apart:

• Advanced measuring tools: Quickly and easily measure and stylize complex polygons. You can quickly estimate the area and perimeter of a piece of property. Afterward, you can stylize the polygon so it’s easily seen on a map. You can also add height to the polygon that you’ve drawn on the property to simulate the height of the building.
• Save premium imagery: Save premium images of the maps you create in Earth Pro for inclusion in your submissions and proposals. For example, you can save the aerial image of the client’s specific locations and include it on the page describing the coverage for that property.
• Bulk data import: Import and stylize CSV files (with address or lat/long data), GIS shapefiles, or GPS data to include in the maps you create. You can export property location information from your system and then import and plot it on a map for a particular client or for all clients in the agency.
• U.S. premium data layers: Take advantage of the robust U.S. Demographic, Parcel and Traffic Count data layers that are part of Earth Pro. Fly to the location of your client’s project, use the parcel data layer to find the parcel number, and then use the parcel number to find specific property information. You can also add the geographic file information (in KML format) of local fire department locations so you can tell how far the property is from the closest fire department.
• Movie Maker: Quickly and easily create high-definition movies. You could create a visual tour of the client property locations countrywide to use as part of your proposal. Video can be very powerful.

Google Earth experts +Dan Cohen and +Alex Kain recently created a Help Desk Hangout On Air, demonstrating how to use Earth Pro to help you visualize your agency’s data. When you’re watching the full hour-long Hangout  be sure to look for the minute-by-minute breakdown in the description so you can easily skip around.

Google Earth Pro is licensed at $399 per user per year. Try it out by signing up for a free seven-day trial to see how you like it.