Overview
Once you've found an iGuide Pro you like in the ION directory, there are two ways to get in touch: send a message with a quick question, or request a quote for a specific job. This article covers both, how a quote request compares to posting a job, and paying your iGuide Pro.
Still looking for the right Pro? See Finding and Filtering iGuide Pros.
You need an ION account to contact a Pro. Browsing is public, but messaging and quote requests require you to be signed in.
In This Article
- Contacting an iGuide Pro
- Send a message
- Request a quote
- Deliverables you can request
- Quote request or job posting?
- Paying your iGuide Pro
- Related articles
Contacting an iGuide Pro
Two options sit at the bottom of every profile. Both need you to be signed in. If you are not, ION prompts you to sign in and explains that the thread and their reply will live in your message centre.
Send a message
Best for a quick question: do you cover this postal code, can you do next Tuesday, do you handle occupied buildings. Type your question and select Send message. They are notified, and their reply arrives in your ION messages.
Request a quote
Best when you know what you need and want a price. Request a quote opens a form on the profile page with the same details as a job posting, plus a notes field.
| Field | Required |
|---|---|
| Industry | Yes |
| Location, the address of the property being captured | Yes |
| Property type | Yes |
| Approximate area, in ft² or m² | Yes |
| Number of floors | Yes |
| Date needed by, as a range | Yes |
| Price range | No |
| What do you need?, a completed iGuide and add-ons or raw project files | Yes |
| Deliverables | Yes |
| Capture requirements, horizontal and vertical scans plus interior and exterior tag assets | No |
| Additional notes | No |
Select Send quote request when you are done.
Use Additional notes. A job posted to the board has no free-text field, but a quote request does. This is where site access, parking, gate codes, occupancy and whether a ladder is needed belong.
Anyone can see this on a job posting, including people who are not signed in and have no account:
- The project city and state or province
- The industry, property type, approximate area and number of floors
- The dates needed by, and the price range
- The deliverables and capture requirements requested
- How many bids the job has received
Only the iGuide Pro whose bid is accepted can see:
- The project's full street address, released at the moment the bid is accepted
Only the Job Poster can see:
- The bid amounts. iGuide Pros can see how many bids a job has, never what they are.
Nobody else can see these at all:
- The Job Poster's name, company and contact details, which never appear on the listing
- Messages between a Job Poster and an iGuide Pro
- Delivered files
The address here is the property being captured, not the Job Poster's business address, and it is never made public.
Deliverables you can request
Start by deciding what you need back from the capture. There are two paths.
- A completed iGuide and add-ons. You receive finished, processed deliverables. What you can choose from depends on the industry you select.
- Raw project files (.tar). You receive the unprocessed capture data and process it yourself. Processing this data requires an active iGuide Operator account.
If you want completed deliverables, these are the options by industry.
| Industry | Base Package Available | Add-on(s) Available |
| Real Estate |
iGuide Standard iGuide Premium |
Site Plan |
| Design Build | iGuide Standard | Floor Plan (DWG) |
| iGuide Premium | Floor Plan (DWG) Reflected Ceiling Plan (DWG) Exterior Elevations (DWG) Roof Plan (DWG) Plotted Drawings (PDF) 3D Model (RVT) 3D Model (DWG) |
|
| Insurance and Restoration |
iGuide Standard iGuide Premium |
Xactimate (ESX) |
| Facility Management | iGuide Standard | Floor Plan (DWG) |
| iGuide Premium | Floor Plan (DWG) Reflected Ceiling Plan (DWG) Exterior Elevations (DWG) Roof Plan (DWG) Plotted Drawings (PDF) 3D Model (RVT) 3D Model (DWG) |
For full detail on what each package and add-on includes, see Packages and Add-ons in the iGuide Help Center.
Quote request or job posting?
| Request a quote | Post a job | |
|---|---|---|
| Goes to | One iGuide Pro you chose | Every relevant iGuide Pro in the area |
| You get back | One price | Competing bids |
| Best when | You know who you want, or you are re-hiring | You want options, or you do not know the area |
| Visible to | Only that iGuide Pro | Anyone, the board is public |
| Free-text notes | Yes | No |
Nothing stops you doing both. See Posting a job on ION.
You cannot send an existing job posting to a specific iGuide Pro. A job on the board has Save and Share but no way to direct it to someone. If you want a particular Pro to see it, either send them a separate quote request from their profile, or use Share to copy the link and send it to them yourself.
Paying your iGuide Pro
ION does not process or hold payments. The Job Poster and the iGuide Pro agree a price through the bid, then settle directly between themselves.
If the total was changed after booking, the final total saved on the job is the agreed amount.
Because payment happens away from ION, deposits, invoicing and cancellation terms are for the two parties to agree. Set them out in the bid note or in messages before work starts.
If the delivered work is not right, the Job Poster has two tools before the job is marked complete. Request a revision asks the iGuide Pro to redo or fix something. Flag as incomplete reports that the delivery does not match what was ordered. Both notify the iGuide Pro so they can re-deliver. Neither is available once the job is marked complete, so check the files first.
Disagreements about money are between the Job Poster and the iGuide Pro and are governed by the ION Terms of Service. iGuide does not hold funds and cannot reverse a payment made away from the platform. If you have any concerns about another member, contact iGuide Support.
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