We've just developed an audio tour for Prestongrange Museum a large open air site. In addition to being delivered via MP3 players which can be used when the museum buildings are open, the tour is available through visitors' mobile phones 24/7/365. I'm just in the process of putting the accompanying web site together. It should be up by Friday at http://tour.prestongrange.org/ with more information. I understand that this is a first for a heritage site in the UK. I suspect all our future audio tours will use this technology, as it removes the need for expensive equipment on site and the need to take deposits for its safe return. I'm not sure how feasible this would be in the US, but here in Scotland the market penetration of mobile phones is such that it is quite viable. The setup costs were surprisingly small (about £200 - say $300 - to set up the phone line). The most expensive parts were research and writing and the printing of 20,000 leaflets to promote the facility. Best wishes Pete -- Peter M Gray Museums Officer -----Original Message----- From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Jessica Harris Sent: 04 June 2004 16:25 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Audiotours Susan, Hi! We have just completed our audio tour project and had them out for use starting Memorial Day weekend. We charge a separate fee (give them an option to use it or not). Because we have just offered the audio tour we don't have percentages yet. It's just now catching on, but people are quickly picking them up. Response is positive. We market the audio tour starting at the front door with signs. We have saturated the museum with signs and advertised through our quarterly membership magazine. The audio tour is offered to the visitor at the admissions desk before tickets are purchased. Whoever is there has an audio wand laying out with the guide. The wands are stored in a locked cabinet at the admissions desk and the charger is underneath, out of sight. We purchased our equipment through Soundtracks, Inc. Good luck!!! Jessica Jessica Harris Exhibitions & Collections Coordinator Dr Pepper Museum 300 S. 5th St. Waco, TX 76701 254-757-1025 Fax: 254-757-2221 www.drpeppermuseum.com <http://www.drpeppermuseum.com/> Service is the rent we pay for being. It is the very purpose of life, and not something you do in your spare time. Marion Wright Edelman At 10:05 AM 6/4/04, you wrote: To the Museum-L Community: My museum is considering developing an audiotour for the first time, and I have some questions for art museums who offer audiotours of their permanent collection. * If you offer such a tour, do you charge a separate fee, or is the fee built into admission? * What percentage of your visitors use your permanent collection audiotour? * What is the visitor response to the permanent collection auditour? * How do you market the audiotour? * Where do you store the audiotour equipment? * Do you lease the equipment, or did you purchase it? Any additional feedback would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance for your response. Susan Susan Baley Curator of Education Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art University of Oklahoma 410 West Boyd Street Norman, OK 73019-3002 405.325.3270 (phone) 405.325.7696 (fax) [log in to unmask] ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). ______________________________________________________________________ This email has been scanned by the MessageLabs Email Security System. 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