What is Spectora Academy?
Spectora Academy is your one-stop place to learn how to use your Spectora account. From easy, efficient videos to full-platform walkthroughs, learn everything you need to know about the industry's leading inspection platform.
Spectora Academy is broken down into 5 easy-to-follow modules. Each module will cover important settings and tools that will help you navigate Spectora, build your business, and improve your inspection process.
Let's dive right into the first module!
Module 1: Getting Started
Welcome to Module 1 of Spectora Academy. We'll jump right in and get started. In our first module, we cover:
Scheduling a Mock Inspection
Mobile App & Web Editor Quick Start
After watching these videos, you should feel confident to perform a mock inspection on your home, and we encourage you to do so before moving on to Module 2.
Scheduling a Mock Inspection
By the end of this video, you should feel ready to schedule a mock or practice inspection of your house (but watch our next video on the mobile app and web editor before you start inspecting.)
📹 Watch time: 5 minutes
How to Schedule a Mock Practice Inspection
A mock inspection offers a comprehensive view of the entire scheduling, inspecting, and reviewing process. You can utilize your own home address for this practice inspection and even designate yourself as the client to gain insight into how the report appears from that perspective. Follow these steps to schedule your first mock or practice inspection:
Click "Settings"
Click "Services & Fees"
Click "Residential Inspection"
Select your desired template from the "Templates" dropdown menu
Click "Dashboard"
Click the orange "+ New Inspection" button to schedule a new mock inspection
Set the date and time of your inspection
Enter an address - this can be your home address!
Select your Residential Services from the Services dropdown menu
You'll see your pricing, template, and agreement auto-populate
Click "Save Inspection" at the bottom
🌟 Pro-tip: if the Save button is grayed out, check the address to ensure that square footage and year built are filled out
You'll automatically be redirected to your new inspection
Now you're ready to start filling out your first inspection report! Keep reading to see how to fill out the report on both the mobile app and the web editor.
Mobile App & Web Editor
Now that you have scheduled a mock inspection, it's time to get to the fun part: inspecting! In this section, we'll cover how to start an inspection on the mobile app, report writing basics on the mobile app, and how you can make edits on the web editor.
📹 Watch time: 14 minutes
How to Navigate Your Spectora Mobile App
The Spectora Mobile App makes inspecting easy - your whole report is in the palm of your hand! With the mobile app, you can schedule new inspections, view past or future inspections, and even chat with our support team for help on the go. Follow along to learn how to use the mobile app.
After downloading the mobile app and logging in with your Spectora email and password, you'll see your mobile dashboard. This will show you inspections scheduled for today only.
The "+NEW" button will open the scheduling form on the Spectora web page. From there you can schedule a new inspection.
The "Saved" button will show you the inspections saved to your mobile app.
The "All" button will show you all the inspections that you have scheduled in the past, present, and future.
The green "Help" button will open the chat bubble and connect you with our Support Team.
Mobile App Settings
The Spectora mobile app has several settings to make your inspection process easier and smoother. We offer different camera options, auto-saving, CYA cameras, annotation, and more - all within the app. To see the mobile app settings and what each one does, check out the steps below and follow along in your mobile app.
Tap the 3 horizontal lines in the top left corner
Tap "Settings"
🔨 Tools
"Enable Chat Bubble" - Toggle this on to be able to send and receive messages directly with Sepctora's support team. Toggle off to disable.
"Enable Flashlight" - This enables a flashlight button in the mobile app footer so you can easily toggle your device's flashlight on and off.
"Enable gallery camera" - This enables a camera button in the mobile app footer to take photos that only save directly to your photo gallery/library. This is great to use for documentation/CYA photos that don't go in the final report.
"Search comments on" - This setting allows you to search comments in your report by title only or by title and comment text.
"Preferred map app" - If you have multiple map navigation apps on your device, this allows you to select your preferred app to use.
☁️ Live Saving
"Save Frequency" - This setting determines how frequently your app is auto-saving data to the web. You can choose 5-30 minutes or on-demand only.
📷 Photo Settings
"Enabled Cameras" - You can choose to use our single-shot camera, rapid-fire camera, or both.
"Backup photos to gallery" - This setting copies inspection photos taken in the app to an album in your device's photo gallery/library.
"Save annotated images to gallery" - In addition to new photos, this setting also saves annotated versions of your photos to your device's photo gallery/library.
"Auto-annotate" - Decide if you'd like to go to the photo annotation interface never, all the time, or for deficiencies only.
Inspection Details on the Mobile App
With each inspection you schedule, the mobile app will make an appointment with all of the inspection information. The inspection details will show the date, time, price, client & agent contacts, and the associated reports. Follow along in your app to see how the inspection details show for your mock inspection.
Navigate back to the Dashboard by tapping the 3 horizontal lines in the top left corner > tap Dashboard
Tap into your inspection for today
Tap on the cover photo that is already there and take a new photo for your cover page
You'll see the date, the time, and the price of the inspection. You will see
your client or agent information as well. Simply tap into and contact them on-site
if need be.
Below the contact information, we have two orange boxes. One for payment required and one for agreements required. This indicates that
the client has not taken care of either of those things yet, but you can click
into both on-site to record payments and get the client to sign the agreement on
the mobile app.
Next, you'll see a few additional questions. These are our custom scheduling fields and additional inspector notes. These can be used for anything you want to log during the scheduling process, which is then sent to your mobile app to have handy on-site.
Using the Mobile App to Inspect
Now you're ready to start the inspection. Our mobile app makes it easy to navigate through the entire report, start to finish. You can note satisfactory parts of the home, as well as defects that need repair. Each comment allows you to add a photo or video, plus extra text information. The mobile app is designed to help you complete your inspection report quickly and efficiently. Follow along with the steps below to see how to use the mobile app to complete an inspection.
At the bottom, you'll see your template. Tap the report name to begin filling out the report.
You'll see a list of sections on the left. This will mimic everything in your template.
There are a few things you can do regarding the organization.
You can move the sections around to reorder them.
You can also slide your finger left on a section to duplicate or delete.
Towards the bottom there is also a + section button - this is where you can add any optional sections or add in another copy of any default section.
Tap into a section to begin filling out your report.
You'll see a list of items.
Tap into an item to see the comments associated.
Below the green informational comments, you'll see orange limitations and red defects.
Simply tap on the checkbox of the comment to log the proper information.
Comments are completely customizable in your
template.
You will see some icons below each
comment.
The orange flag allows you to flag a comment for later.
Adding locations allows you to specify where in the home the comment/defect was found.
You can take a single photo with the +Photo button or take multiple photos with the +Photos button.
You can take videos with the +Video button or upload a photo/video from your device with the Gallery buttons.
Once you've completed all sections/items/comments in your report, navigate back to the main inspection details page of the mobile app.
You can tap the orange Save button to push all of your data up to the web.
The orange Sync button will pull any data from the web to your mobile app.
The blue Summary button will show you a brief summary of your defects. This is great to give your clients an overview on-site of what you've found in the home.
Using the Web Editor
Now that you've completed the inspection report in your app, you're ready to review it on the web. The web editor is designed to help you review your report to ensure all information is accurate and easy to read for your clients. You can easily edit the report online with the web editor to change defect ratings, add new comments, or upload additional media files like photos or videos. Follow along with the steps below to see how to navigate and use the web editor.
Open up Spectora.com on your computer and log into your account.
Locate the inspection on your dashboard and click on it to open the inspection details.
Click on the report name in the Reports box to open your completed report
Just like the mobile app, your sections will be laid out on the left.
Click into a section > item to see your completed comments.
You'll be able to see any comments and defects you've selected, as well as photos and videos you added through the app.
You can easily check or uncheck any comments on the web editor to ensure you have the most accurate information in your report.
Within each comment, you'll see a +Photo/+Video button. This allows you to upload a media file from your computer.
You can also add or edit the location.
Easily add new comments by clicking on the green +Info button, the +Limitation button, or the +Defect button.
To see the full overview of your completed report, click "Preview/Publish." This will redirect you to the web report.
You can also see a PDF version of the report by clicking the "PDF" button on the right side.
Now you're ready to move to Module 2: Client & Agent Tools!
Click here to see the next module!
If you have any questions or feedback, write into our chat bubble or email support@spectora.com!
