It’s Saturday night and you just finished documenting a large crash scene. You believe one of the drivers was exceeding the posted speed limit and you measured some skid marks that may help you estimate their speed. You know FARO® Zone 3D has all the calculations built in to estimate speed from skids… but you have not tried to use that tool before.
As a Public Safety professional, you may be called to a scene anytime, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You probably have a bunch of cases that all need to be finished as soon as possible, but you can’t call for technical support whenever you need help. How can you get help on how to use a particular software tool when you need it?
As a FARO Zone user, there are at least five ways to help yourself learn to use a feature. They range from the standard User’s Manual, to the FARO Knowledge Base, and multiple, self-paced video tutorial sessions available on FARO Academy. There is also the unique, new FARO Assist! tool which is populated with instructional documents and videos that can easily be located with a quick search.
Here are five options to help you become an expert FARO Zone user:
Option 1: Use FARO Assist!
Think of FARO Assist! as your personal technical support expert that is available to answer your questions 24/7. There are two ways to use FARO Assist:
Method 1: Type what you want to learn about in the box at the upper-right of the FARO Zone program window (next to the letters “Fa”). Start to type and a list is displayed of all items that meet your criteria, such as the Skid Analysis movie shown here.
Method 2: Click on the FARO Assist! icon – the letters Fa in the upper right of the FARO Zone window. This launches the FARO Assist! window where you can see all the available materials. Use the scroll bar at the right to scroll through the various categories or use the scroll button on your mouse. To search for a specific topic, type in search box at the top.
FARO Assist! is your number one resource for help on how to use a feature. It includes important documents, like release notes for new versions, “how-to” movies, downloads of body motion scripts, and links to FARO Academy and the FARO Knowledge Base.
Option 2: Browse the User’s Manual
Some people like to read books, some prefer to watch the movie. If you learn best by reading about a feature, open the FARO Zone Help Manual. This classic user’s manual explains every feature (except those newly released) in great detail, with illustrations. The User’s Manual is also available in several languages.
Option 3: Search the FARO Knowledge Base
The FARO Knowledge Base is a treasure trove of information about all FARO products. Select the Knowledge Base icon from the FARO Zone Start Page, from FARO Assist, or use this link to go directly to the FARO Zone section:
FARO Zone in the FARO Knowledge Base
From the FARO Knowledge Base, you can download the latest version of FARO Zone, check to see if you are covered by a software maintenance plan (go to the Support Portal), and learn about using point clouds. Scroll down to find tabs that contain links to several “How To” articles and training videos.
Option 4: Visit the FARO Academy Learning Center
The FARO Academy learning center is an online resource of training courses for all FARO products. There are free, self-paced courses for both FARO Zone 3D and FARO Zone 2D. After you create an account, you can select one of these training courses any time, according to your schedule.
Access FARO Academy by clicking the icon on the FARO Zone Start Page, in FARO Assist, or by clicking this link:
FARO Zone on the FARO Academy
Option 5: Instructor-Led, Online Training – It’s Free!
If you want to take a formal training course, FARO offers multiple online, instructor-led training courses. You can ask questions and get as much personal help as you need from a highly-experienced instructor. These courses are free to everyone, which means they fill up fast. Use the FARO Academy link (above), select “All Courses” from the menu at the top, then click on FARO Zone on the left. Select the desired course and click “Learn More” to see the available dates.
FARO Zone software is the first choice of Public Safety professionals around the world who need to document, diagram, analyze, and present forensic scenes. It is a very comprehensive program with many powerful features. If you find you need a little help learning to use it, these five steps show you where to go to get all your questions answered.
Of course, our amazing FARO Customer Support staff are also happy to help! Visit our Technical Support Center online for contact information: