One of the first computer mapping software programs was created in 1964 at Northwestern University. However, in recent years it’s come into its own and is used by an increasing number of businesses to gain helpful insights, increase sales, and improve operations.
Mapping software is a computer system that allows users to map, model, analyze, and share copious amounts of data using a single database. Location data is turned into interactive maps that allow you to visualize data in a more user-friendly way.
This invaluable geospatial data is used by a wide range of businesses and allows them to operate more efficiently, lower costs, and improve market strategies.
Let’s look at some businesses that are making the most of this technology today.
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Distribution Companies
In the wholesale sector, distribution companies use geospatial mapping to help manage sales territories and improve customer satisfaction.
Distributors can use this type of tool to visualize where customers are located and better analyze the market.
Mapping software can be used to highlight the hottest markets as well as the areas that are underserved or oversaturated. With this information, wholesalers can work out how much of an item to supply, thereby reducing losses.
Mapping software is also beneficial for the customer because wholesalers can make their deliveries more efficiently. The software provides information on the fastest routes to take during delivery hours.
HVAC Companies
HVAC companies benefit from using mapping data and technology in several ways. It helps them identify areas where there are potential clients, both commercial and residential.
In addition, it provides access to specific location data for identifying areas most likely to experience service disruptions due to power outages.
If an area has been identified as having a high level of such outages, HVAC companies can manage their resources better to service high-priority clients. For example, rather than having service personnel in one central location, they can spread the personnel around where they’re needed most.
Insurance Companies
Mapping software can be an immensely powerful tool for insurance companies because it allows them to better analyze their clients and the locations that they serve.
Insurance agencies can use mapping data together with demographic data to pinpoint the more densely populated areas where there are clients who are more likely to file claims. The software can also be used to determine which areas carry an elevated risk and which should carry higher premiums.
In addition to the above functions, mapping software also identifies neighborhoods or areas with an unusually high level of claim anomalies, including questionable and false claims.
All this available data allows insurance companies to check for factors that may have a causal link to fraud, such as income and education. From there, they can make more informed decisions when making risk assessments.
Using features such as map symbolizations such as area color-shading and heat mapping, HVAC companies can see which areas use the most heat and air conditioning. In addition, they can identify locations with the highest energy bills and the most HVAC maintenance issues during a particular season.
With this information, the companies can determine the most lucrative areas concerning service calls.
Emergency Medical Services
Medical businesses are better able to serve their communities thanks to mapping software. For example, emergency medical technicians (EMTs) can plan routes by analyzing traffic flow and disruption.
With the help of mapping data overlays, EMTs can make decisions based on information about the shortest and fastest routes, levels of congestion, and the availability of alternative routes.
Legal Offices
Legal offices are another type of business that’s making the most of mapping software. It allows them to fine-tune their marketing and analyze based on geo-mapping data. It also allows law enforcement agencies to alter their coverage accordingly.
To help attorneys decide which areas have people who need their services, the software gives them access to ZIP code profiles.
Using data mapping, lawyers can pinpoint areas with high rates of crime, and categorize areas according to crime figures. Such information is invaluable for criminal lawyers as it means they can target their marketing to the right demographic.
Along the same kind of lines, lawyers can analyze available geo-mapping data according to their specialties. For example, a lawyer specializing in bankruptcy could use business type of financial history information to identify potential clients.
Law enforcement agencies, on the other hand, benefit from data mapping because it allows them to create maps of areas with the highest crime rates. Historical data could overlay the maps with information about the time-of-day crimes that are more likely to occur. With the help of such data, police departments can ensure staff are available in areas where more coverage is needed.
As you can see, data mapping and associated software come with many benefits and an increasing number of industries are using it to their advantage.
