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Mobile computing, corporate data sharing, more tightly-targeted demographic analysis and more powerful real-world routing and scheduling – these are among the diverse yet inter-related range of products and capabilities on show on the MapMechanics stand (no 29) at AGI 2005, which runs at Chelsea Village , London from 8 to 10 November. They are supported by a range of new products such as Flash downloadable mapping. The range of resources on display, all of which see new developments this year, reflects the growing strength of MapMechanics as an all-round supplier of original and innovative software, data and added-value services for the world of geographic information systems.
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Underlining MapMechanics’ continued role as a major supplier of digital data products, at AGI 2005 it will give away copies of its highly-regarded full-colour Data Catalogue 2005, which introduces various new datasets, especially in areas such as neighbourhood classification (ACORN, Personicx and Cameo data) and twenty-first century lifestyle (New Technology database), and adds digital mapping of extra countries (Iraq and Afghanistan, for instance), as well as reflecting price reductions in some datasets.
Typical of the innovative spirit behind the company’s range is MapMechanics Mobile, a new product which provides the missing link between office-based routing and scheduling (any mainstream system) and in-vehicle navigation, and is ideal for managing the movements of staff such as field service engineers, sales staff and similar mobile workers.
Using well-understood and easy-to-implement wireless mobile data technology, it delivers precise coordinates for each scheduled call point transparently from the office to the mobile worker’s PDA (personal digital assistant), where the data is fed to a satellite navigation system such as TomTom or AA Navigator, and translated into journey instructions.
The system can also capture data from the vehicle in real time, helping office staff to reschedule problematic deliveries promptly and keep customers informed of progress. It even serves as a basic real-time vehicle tracking system, using GPS to capture location.
The latest release of TruckStops, the leading routing and scheduling system from MapMechanics, introduces enhancements such as the ability to show routes more clearly on screen, identify individual call points more easily, and set up their system to reflect real-life operating experience more closely.
Precision in scheduling can be enhanced by MapMechanics’ exclusive GB Speeds digital mapping. The company has calculated speeds for every road segment, using real-world road speed data gathered by ITIS, the traffic measurement specialist. The new version uses twice the previous number of samples – 2 billion, taken over two years. MapMechanics’ traffic volume data, created from the same source, is ideal for users needing information on potential passing trade (for instance, for planning retail or catering facilities or poster sites).
Businesses using GIS to determine catchment areas or isochrones showing true daytime demand can do so with much more confidence with the new street-level demographic data from MapMechanics. This combines information from the 2001 Census and Business Universe employee data, and takes advantage of the fact that the 2001 Census for the first time includes data on where people are during the day (whether at home or elsewhere). As standard, the information is shown on NAVTEQ street-level map data, indicating the expected numbers of people on each segment of street.
Daytime neighbourhood profiling is also now available – using the home profile of the worker population to determine what types of people are likely to be present during the day.
Linking all these geographic-related technologies together is Intranet Intelligence, MapMechanics’ corporate system for harnessing the dispersed data in an organisation without the need for centralisation, and delivering just those components that are relevant to individual users – in a format appropriate to their needs, and in a normal Web browser.
This is backed by GeoConcept Internet Server, here deployed in an intranet form to allow users within an organisation to access, analyse and manipulate remote data locally.
Form and function are both enhanced in the Flash mapping feature developed by MapMechanics for GeoConcept for downloading and displaying interactive maps in Web browsers. This uses the Flash vector file format developed by Macromedia (now Adobe) to present the mapping, offering a range of benefits over technologies such as Java.
Attractions include progressive on-screen rendering, more seamless transitions or “dissolves” between different map views, smaller files (and hence faster downloads), and new opportunities for developers to add animation effects and other interactive features. |
