Given the many voices on such a planning project, there are frequent disagreements about characteristics and features. Buying patterns may be determined by looking at customer receptivity for analogous features on the manufacturer’s or even competitors’ current instruments. Individual surveyors or groups of surveyors may be consulted. Results of questionnaires on what surveyors prefer or would like to see on future instruments may be reviewed.

Quite frequently, a new product process creates a line or series of instruments. And the relationship between the list price and the feature set of each model in the line may be furiously batted back and forth. Chief in the model differentiators is the angular and distance accuracy, if the product is a total station.