The world of GIS companies and GIS does not just include mapping the terrain of the earth or the famous landmarks on it. As we have seen, the principles of GIS can be used to deploy in all sorts of applications, ranging from helping first responders get to a disaster site as quickly as possible, to helping clean up the unexploded landmines in the most remote regions in Africa.
But, there is one type of application in which GIS is still in popular demand and, in fact, continues to grow at an exponential rate. That is helping the average, everyday driver to find the best, most efficient, and hassle-free way to commute from Point A to Point B, and vice versa.
With the advent of Smartphone technologies, gone are the days when we have to log into MapQuest or even Google Maps in order to get the directions we need. Today, all we have to do is speak the address of our destination, and our iPhone, Samsung device, Android device, or even Windows mobile device will guide us.
Now, however, this is not enough. We want to use something much more interactive, with more details. In other words, having something like a “directions dashboard.” Yes. This is now on the way. It was recently announced that two GIS companies, HERE and Telogis, Inc., have formed a partnership in order to make this “driving dashboard” a reality.
This new technology is called the “Telogis Navigation and Route Planning Suite.” Some of the features of this new solution include the following:
- Historical data/real-time estimated time of arrival (ETA) updates
- Efficient route planning
- A comprehensive picture of current road conditions
- Route planning optimization, taking into consideration how traffic flows, historically, on the selected roadway at a given point in the day
According to Krishna Vanka, Vice President of Product Management at Telogis, “The accuracy and immediacy of HERE’s technologies enable Telogis to produce industry-leading navigation, route optimization, and response management results . . . combining historic traffic with specific truck attributes allow our customers to deliver higher levels of customer satisfaction and employee retention.” (SOURCE: https://www.directionsmag.com/pressrelease/5744).
GeoTel is a telecommunications research and GIS mapping firm that researches and provides telecom datasets for more than 6,000 cities in the United States and worldwide. GeoTel’s expertise includes specialists in economic geography, geospatial engineering, web GIS, and telecommunications GIS Data infrastructure.
