Latest GeoXploit Map Analysis System is Easier to Use And Offers Better Value

The latest version 4.0 of GeoXploit, the user-friendly and accessible map analysis system from MapMechanics, brings users the benefits of a more modern and intuitive interface, inclusive training, and price reductions for multi-user implementations.

GeoXploit Logistics, the extended version designed for the transport and logistics world, benefits from the same advances.

GeoXploit is fast becoming known as the mapping system that makes complex geographical analysis quick and easy to do. It combines the power of a high-end geographic information system (GIS) with the usability of a more consumer-oriented product.

Users can get started much more quickly than with conventional GIS, because the new GeoXploit map analysis products are all pre-configured to enable users to undertake the most common business analyses with just a few clicks, from planning customer distribution to drive time analysis and territory management. The products also include a wide range of digital mapping, along with selected geodemographic and business data sets.

The “package deal” approach not only saves users the need to research and buy map data separately, but also brings significant price savings in comparison with buying all the components individually. These include the latest mapping and data from suppliers such as the AA, Ordnance Survey, NAVTEQ, Royal Mail, Microsoft Bing and the Office of National Statistics.

GeoXploit 4.0 consolidates and extends these benefits by incorporating the latest version 7.0 of GeoConcept, the GIS software that has always served as the functional heart of the system. MapMechanics supplies and supports GeoConcept in the UK.

Users will find a fully updated and intuitive Windows 7-style interface featuring the “ribbon” top menu bar seen in Microsoft’s Office 2010 products. GeoXploit also remains compatible with Windows Vista, XP and Server 2000.

Many other exciting new features of GeoConcept are now standard in GeoXploit 4.0. For instance, the new version is touch-screen compatible – ideal for building field applications or “whiteboard” interactive presentations.

A 3D capability is now also standard. The system can use data from terrain models to render mapping in three dimensions, giving extra impact to the display and making contours easier to understand.

Users can also present thematic mapping information in 3D form to help viewers understand relative volumes or sizes at a glance. That could mean 3D coloured bar charts or pie charts, for instance.

It is much easier in GeoXploit 4.0 to create, save, output and share reports based on analysis of maps and data. Suppose, for instance, you had to calculate optimised territories and then output a series of maps, each zoomed in to show the relevant territory; these maps can now all be generated and output in the desired format in a single process.

Because GeoXploit is pre-configured with regularly-used processes, users may well not need to create their own queries in order to use it, but part of the appeal of the product is that the full power of GeoConcept is always available for those who want to take their analysis a stage forward.

The new version makes this jump to custom analysis much smoother. Queries are even easier to create, and are also more versatile and interactive. Users will find a more logical and intuitive process for defining and saving information about people, assets or locations that they need to analyse.

Whilst GeoXploit is designed to be used straight out of the box, even by people without much experience of geographic applications, MapMechanics has always offered training to help users to start applying the system even more quickly and productively. Most users have chosen to have a full one-day course in addition to the online training previously included in the package.

Now a day training course at the MapMechanics training centre is included with every new GeoXploit purchase. “According to the feedback we’ve had, the product is easy to use,” says director Mary Short, “but all those users who attend a dedicated training course tell us they have more confidence, and are more able to get the most from their product. So we felt the product should take account of this, and help ensure that everyone has the opportunity to get the best return on their investment.”

MapMechanics has also been able to introduce price savings for businesses that opt for multi-user versions of the GeoXploit suite, which are becoming increasingly popular.

GeoXploit has users in a wide range of market sectors including retail, logistics, healthcare, marketing, telecommunications, milk production and sales territory management.

The GeoXploit Logistics version adds a range of specialist features such as enhanced drivetime calculation and editable vector mapping (invaluable for changing speeds on individual roads and adding road links). It also allows direct two-way data exchange with TruckStops, the company’s routing and scheduling optimisation solution.

About MapMechanics

MapMechanics has been providing innovative solutions in sales and marketing, digital mapping, geographic analysis and logistics planning for over twenty years.

MapMechanics is the UK distributor of the GeoConcept geographic information system, which is used extensively in a diverse range of fields such as depot planning, retail planning, marketing, healthcare, environmental planning and management, transport and logistics, site selection and territory allocation, telematics and command and control applications, policing and broadcasting, and central and local government.

MapMechanics distributes a wide range of data products including AA, NAVTEQ and Ordnance Survey digital mapping, as well as leading business and demographic datasets from many sources throughout the world. This data is listed on MapMechanics’ intuitive new transactional data web site, www.allmapdata.com, which is probably the most extensive and up-to-date listing of its kind in Britain.

MapMechanics develops, supplies and supports TruckStops, one of the world’s best-established routing and scheduling solutions, and its portfolio includes a wide range of optimisation solutions. Examples include specialist systems for optimising transport of full or part loads, for servicing a high density of calls on the same streets and for optimising use of pallet networks.

MapMechanics also uses digital map-based technologies to offer an extensive range of Web, desktop, paper and component solutions for a variety of business applications, from atlas production to business analysis, site selection, customer profiling and vehicle routing and scheduling.

Backing up its extensive product range, MapMechanics offers a comprehensive service of implementation support and training