Astera launches new website

Wireless LED lighting manufacturer Astera launches a vibrant new multi-lingual website optimised for all devices, action packed with product information, full of technical specs, news, useful tips and tricks, invaluable troubleshooting advice, plus a wealth of information about the company, its people, products, and ethos.

Essentially everything you need to know about Astera in one erudite, fast, easily navigable, stylishly designed portal.

Astera sales director Sebastian Bückle explained that when the previous website was launched, they had three lighting fixtures and 10 accessories available. There are currently 11 unique and innovative Astera luminaires and an impressive 150 handy accessories … all of which deserve their own pages complete with videos and downloads.

“Our objective was to empower our users by creating the smartest web page in the industry containing a mine of relevant information explaining products and answering all questions.”

The project was started during the Covid lockdowns when remote support became a vital service.  

Each Astera Accessory now has its own page with text, specs, videos, pictures, downloads etc. which helps showcase the accessory and its capabilities and applications.

A new Support section has a smart FAQ area with links to all the key places holding related information.

With the live show and event industry back to full speed and more, “we fully appreciate that technicians, gaffers, crew, designers, etc., need to get good and accurate info in seconds, so we focused on embracing this with practical design and the streamlining of basic elements like the menu systems which are logical and intuitive,” notes Sebastian.

Having good and comprehensive technical support is vital for Astera as the lights become increasingly complex with more features, so the website is designed for all users to find answers to their questions – at any time and from any place in the world.

Some excellent resources are online to help people with their needs, including the Astera Academy which offers great tutorials with chapters comprehensively covering most features on all the products.

The Astera User’s Group – currently 5000+ and growing – is replete with friendly and knowledgeable members who share expertise and assist each other daily.

The Interactive FAQ is brand new, and functions almost like an intelligent chatbot. It responds with a predefined answer to typed-in questions. Aware of how some chatbots can be slow, annoying, and frustrating, this tool will be under constant development and able to answer more and more questions over time. Instead of offering just a simple answer, it can cross reference to a particular chapter of a tutorial or offer links to a relevant download.

Also new is a Shopping Cart with “get a quote” functionality that will be forwarded to the respective regional dealer / distributor.

With online shopping well established, while Astera sells via global dealership network, this feature makes it super easy to connect with the relevant local distributor. Demos can also be arranged via the distributor.

A new Buy & Rent page shows distributors, service centres and rental companies on a world map, also making it quick and straightforward to source Astera products locally.

The News section features a diverse array of Astera projects in action around the world. From music tours and festivals to industrial events and art exhibitions – this trove of info includes lively articles and stunning picture galleries, videos, and other illustrations, all with valuable insights into how the products are being used creatively and imaginatively by designers working in different disciplines.

Available in several key languages, Astera wanted to ensure this resource was accessible to everyone, from big rental companies to the numerous smaller customers internationally who might buy a handful of lights or rent lights for one gig.

“We want to make sure everyone can fully understand and appreciate the scope of the products and their features, and while translating the website is a vast amount of work, we have a great team who come from our industry and know all the right terms, lingo and colloquialisms in each language,” stated Sebastian.

Building a big website like this from scratch has involved a lot of energy, commitment, and resources, but “it will save time for the whole Astera community in the long run,” stated Sebastian. 

In the pacey world of digital communication, the website conveniently answers so many questions or refers people to the correct locations to get support, and is available 24/7, so rather than having to potentially wait to get through to Astera HQ or the distributor, solutions can be found with a few clicks.