Aligned Assets Release Risk Information Module For Local Government

Gazetteer specialists Aligned Assets are pleased to announce the release of a Risk Information Module as part of their local government gazetteer management system, Symphony iManage.

Being provided as part of their continual drive to provide the highest quality in local government software, the Risk Information Module will allow councils to store data pertaining to risks against each record in their Local Land and Property Gazetteers (LLPG).

The LLPG, which all councils will maintain, acts as a central repository for all address and property data within their administrative boundaries, and is the definitive source of address data used throughout council departments. The inclusion of the Risk Information Module will now allow for risk data to also be shared throughout these departments.

Example information that can be stored in the module includes: • Risk-based such as potentially violent occupants, asbestos or dangerous dogs • Person-based to cover information such as an immobile householder or vulnerable persons • Location-based to detail and aid staff when on site-visits such as with restricted access • Licence-based to include things such as liquor licences or fireworks storage • Miscellaneous fields for anything else

In most local authorities this information will be held somewhere, but until now there has not been an opportunity to centralise this essential data and make it available to all those who could benefit from it within the local authority or partner agencies. As such, the Risk Information Module will help in protecting members of staff who perform site-visits and prepare enforcement officers before they carry out their statutory duties.

The data can be easily imported from other systems into the Risk Information Module both as csv files or from GIS layers, and because each LLPG record contains a geographical coordinate, all the risk data will become mapable and thus provide an even greater level of use and analysis.

The module will also be enhanced to enable other agencies to enter proposed location based intelligence such as risks via a web form or web services, thus maximising efficiency in the sharing of information and making it more timely.

Speaking of the Risk Information Module, Managing Director of Aligned Assets, Andy Hird, explained, “This module was built in collaboration with the fire services and police forces of Great Britain for whom risk information is essential to their day-to-day operations.

“It became clear that there was also tremendous benefit for risk data to be more widely used in local authorities and with LLPG data already integrated into so many council departments it is the perfect place for this additional data to be stored, shared and put to very valuable use.”

For more information, visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk/rim

ABOUT ALIGNED ASSETS Aligned Assets are an industry leader in AddressBase, gazetteer and address management solutions. They supply software across the public and private sectors including over 100 Local Authorities, Fire & Rescue Services and Police Forces. In addition to software and data solutions, they offer a complete range of consultancy, training, bespoke development and project management.

Aligned Assets Bring AddressBase Premium Compatibility to Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service

Gazetteer specialists Aligned Assets are pleased to announced that after a competitive tender process, Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service have selected the Symphony Bluelight corporate gazetteer management system for the management of their Ordnance Survey’s AddressBase Premium data.

Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service have been using the precursor to AddressBase Premium, the NLPG, for five years and integrated it into many of their back office systems. With the phasing out of the NLPG and a desire to expand the integration into their control room setting using AddressBase Premium, they sought a new supplier that would enable them to achieve this expansion.

Symphony Bluelight, which is a range of gazetteer products designed specifically for use in the emergency services, compromises modules that will allow Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service to create, manage and enhance their address data, synchronise other systems using the UPRN (unique property reference number), and importantly to integrate AddressBase Premium into frontline and back office systems either through web services or automated exports.

This integration will be achieved using a combination of Symphony SinglePoint and Symphony Bluelight iExchange, and in addition to their Remsdaq Command and Control, integration will be initiated for their CFRMIS, IRS, Cognos and FSEC systems.

Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service also host a managed service for Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Authority and the Symphony Bluelight system will allow them to hold the two address datasets separately, but manage them through the one interface. The system will also enable the data to be integrated with Bedfordshire’s frontline and back office systems, which will include the Sophtlogic MIS, hydrant management system and their Internal Home Fire Safety Check System.

Speaking of the purchase, Katy Smith, Geo Spatial Intelligence Analyst at Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service said, “We are delighted to be working closely with Aligned Assets to transition from the NLPG to Address Base Premium. With the move to Symphony Bluelight, we will be able to expand and utilise Address Base Premium to its full potential in both our control and back office environments. The move will allow the service to streamline processes and release further cost savings, while allowing us to strengthen our working relationships with our partners.”

Managing Director of Aligned Assets, Andy Hird, concluded by saying, “When fully set up and all integrations are in place, the Symphony Bluelight system will provide both Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Services with the very latest in address data and gazetteer technology.”

To find out more, visit http://www.aligned-assets.co.uk/bluelight

ABOUT ALIGNED ASSETS Aligned Assets are an industry leader in AddressBase, gazetteer and address management solutions. They supply software across the public and private sectors including over 100 Local Authorities, Fire & Rescue Services and Police Forces. In addition to software and data solutions, they offer a complete range of consultancy, training, bespoke development and project management.

ADDRESS-POINT Compatibility Still Possible Through Aligned Assets

AddressBase specialists Aligned Assets are offering a solution to both the private and public sector that will allow them to migrate to the Ordnance Survey’s new AddressBase Premium product whilst retaining compatibility with the older, soon to be discontinued ADDRESS-POINT legacy product.

With the Ordnance Survey withdrawing ADDRESS-POINT from the Public Sector Mapping Agreement (PSMA) and One Scotland Mapping Agreement (OSMA) in October 2014, this will leave many organisations, including the Police, NHS Trusts, Fire & Rescue Services and utility companies unable to update many of their frontline and back office systems as they are not compatible with the new AddressBase format.

Without the ability to update, the address data they use will quickly go out of date, particularly with regard new housing developments, resulting in errors that will affect their ability to safely and effectively carry out their operational duties.

With the Aligned Assets solution, they will be able to keep these systems updated with all new-build properties, changes to property addresses such as houses divided into flats and also those properties that have been demolished.

Available as a standalone product or as a part of the Aligned Assets corporate gazetteer system, the solution works by feeding updates to AddressBase Premium into a central database, with these updates then automatically converted into the ADDRESS-POINT format and sent out to all recipient systems.

A tried and tested solution with numerous UK implementations, this conversion process will keep an organisation’s address data accurate and up to date whilst allowing those organisations sufficient time to invest in new systems rather than be forced into rushing upgrades that can incur additional costs and sacrifice core functionality.

“AddressBase Premium is the address data of the future, with a higher level of accuracy and coverage than anything that’s come before it,” explained Andy Hird, Managing Director of Aligned Assets.

“It is clear though that many organisations are going to struggle in upgrading all their systems before the October 2014 deadline and it is our solution that can give them that precious time in order to make the necessary changes, all the while continuing ‘business as usual’.”

To find out more, visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk/iexchange

Shared Services See Cost Savings at Christchurch and East Dorset Partnership

Gazetteer specialists Aligned Assets are pleased to announce that they are now supplying a shared service gazetteer management system to East Dorset District Council and Christchurch Borough Council.

The two councils will be using Symphony iManage with its specially designed shared service module to manage all address and property data across both councils – data that is an essential component in the delivery of council services.

By having one team, working across both council areas, using a single software interface as opposed to the two that were used previously, working practices will be simplified, accessibility will be increased, time will be saved on switching between software and money will be saved on training costs. Additionally, there will be savings through reduced licence fees and moving data to a single database will enable far better data management.

Future plans involve integrating the address data into other council systems as those departments also migrate to new software packages and through the use of a single system, East Dorset data and Christchurch data can more easily be shared.

This integration will most likely be achieved through the use of Aligned Assets’ Symphony iExchange module, which is currently being assessed by the shared service team. By allowing address data to be automatically exported to other systems, departments throughout both councils will be using the most accurate and up to date addresses, which will reduce errors and de-duplicate workloads, all without requiring additional resources due to the software’s automation.

Speaking of the purchase, Andy Hird, Managing Director of Aligned Assets explained, “Christchurch was an existing Aligned Assets customer, whereas East Dorset used another supplier for their gazetteer management. We’re delighted that the partnership opted for our solutions, which we believe demonstrates that we offer the best shared service options in terms of both functionality and price.”

To find out more, visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk/imanage

ABOUT ALIGNED ASSETS
Aligned Assets are an industry leader in AddressBase, gazetteer and address management solutions. They supply software across the public and private sectors including over 100 Local Authorities, Fire & Rescue Services and Police Forces. In addition to software and data solutions, they offer a complete range of consultancy, training, bespoke development and project management.

Aligned Assets Publish Two Case Studies on Local Authority Use of Business Data

Aligned Assets are pleased to announce the publication of two new case studies that focus on the use of business data in local authorities to drive efficiencies and increase revenue.

In addition to demonstrating the councils’ own use of innovation, both involve Aligned Assets’ business database, which is widely considered to be the most detailed and accurate one currently available.

The first case study focuses on Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council and their work surrounding the Government’s business rates retention policy that sees councils now able to retain up to 50% of all business rates revenue they collect.

In addition to a review of their existing processes and a project that saw council departments sharing data more efficiently, the Aligned Assets business database has been used to identify business premises that are potentially going unbilled for business rates. The case study shows that information provided exclusively from the business database has provided an annual revenue gain of £15,021, with a total revenue gain of £70,137 when including the retrospective collection of previously owed charges.

The second case study is about the London Borough of Harrow and the work they have done to counteract the common problem of seldom having the capacity or infrastructure to process the extremely high rate of change relating to business premises and names.

The work focused on using the Aligned Assets business database to supplement their LLPG (local land and property gazetteer), which is used to feed numerous council systems and projects with the most accurate address data available. Through the use of the Aligned Assets business database, the Council saw an increase of 128% in the amount of validated business name entries and with that an inferred saving of over £25,000.

Like Barnsley Council, Harrow will also be using the business database to aid in the detection of businesses unknown to, and therefore potentially unbilled by, their Business Rates team.

Andy Hird, Managing Director of Aligned Assets explained that, “Our business database has uses across the public sector, from aiding the emergency services in mobilisation through to helping local authorities in identifying unbilled business rates.”

“These applications are only possible due to the unique way our data is sourced, including a call centre of 65 people, which shows why it’s also the business data of choice for 118 118, Bing and the BT Phone Book.”

Both case studies are available for free download from www.aligned-assets.co.uk/clients/localauthorities

ABOUT ALIGNED ASSETS
Aligned Assets are an industry leader in AddressBase, gazetteer and address management solutions. They supply software across the public and private sectors including over 100 Local Authorities, Fire & Rescue Services and Police Forces. In addition to software and data solutions, they offer a complete range of consultancy, training, bespoke development and project management.

South Wales Police and Gwent Police Purchase Symphony Bluelight From Aligned Assets

After due consideration, both South Wales Police and Gwent police have opted for the corporate gazetteer management system from Aligned Assets

Gazetteer specialists Aligned Assets are pleased to announce both South Wales Police and Gwent Police as the latest customers of their AddressBase Premium compatible Symphony Bluelight corporate gazetteer management system.

South Wales Police is an established user of the Niche Records Management System and following a decision by Gwent Police to adopt the same system, ground-breaking work has been undertaken to create a single common Niche platform, hosted by South Wales Police, and accessible to both Forces.

An early requirement was for a common gazetteer service that underpinned the collaborative system and allowed migration to Ordnance Survey’s AddressBase Premium product – the UK’s most accurate and up to date address dataset. Through the use of Symphony Bluelight, the two Forces will both have access to AddressBase Premium and will be able to easily integrate it into both frontline and back office systems, including a dedicated web service into their collaborative Niche Records Management system.

The Symphony Bluelight Gazetteer, which sits at the heart of the system, will give the two Forces complete control over the address data they use. This will ensure that their address management processes, undertaken by Gwent Police's ICT collaborative provider, the Shared Resource Service, is not only structured and standardised, but also intuitive to use.

Populated with AddressBase Premium, the Symphony Bluelight Gazetteer will enable them to quickly import updates to this dataset, as well as build upon it with ‘local records’ such as motorway marker posts and other non-addressable locations. Each record can then be extended using Aligned Assets’ new Xtended Data Module (XDM) Police Template, which allows each property record to be appended with information such as the presence of a gun license, as well as bringing GIS layers into the gazetteer, so that each record can be enhanced with information such as the associated police beat.

Data integration will be achieved via Symphony Bluelight iExchange and Symphony SinglePoint, both of which are designed to enable all people, departments and systems within an organisation to access and use the address data from the shared, corporate gazetteer.

Through these products, the two Forces have the option to give access to the gazetteer via the SinglePoint web services, which is the preferred option of Niche, and also automated updates through iExchange, which is ideal for systems such as command and control that require an additional level of resilience.

In addition to the corporate gazetteer system, South Wales and Gwent Police have also purchased Aligned Assets’ business database, which will complement AddressBase Premium by providing information on the names of business premises i.e. the sign above the door.

Speaking of the new system, Martin Smedley, Assistant Director of Information Services at South Wales Police said, “After identifying the requirement for a corporate gazetteer management system, we studied the market and the software available from Aligned Assets was the clear industry leader.”

“They were the only company that could fulfil our requirements and we have been highly impressed with both the software and support services.”

To find out more, visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk/bluelight

ABOUT ALIGNED ASSETS
Aligned Assets are an industry leader in AddressBase, gazetteer and address management solutions. They supply software across the public and private sectors including over 100 Local Authorities, Fire & Rescue Services and Police Forces. In addition to software and data solutions, they offer a complete range of consultancy, training, bespoke development and project management.

Aligned Assets Announce AddressBase Webinar For Ambulance Services

On Thursday 28th November 2013, Aligned Assets will be hosting a webinar for the UK Ambulance Services on the Ordnance Survey’s AddressBase Premium

Gazetteer specialists Aligned Assets have announced an upcoming webinar that is to be held in association with the Ordnance Survey and North West Ambulance Service.

Focusing on the Ordnance Survey’s AddressBase Premium addressing product, the webinar will cover what it is, how to use it and how it is currently be used within the UK’s ambulance services. It is to be held on Thursday 28th November at 11am and although open to all, has been written for those working in the ambulance service.

As the most detailed of the product range, AddressBase Premium provides a complete view of an address or property, including its full lifecycle from creation to retirement. It contains all current addresses, alternative addresses, provisional properties and even historic property information where available.

With an unprecedented level of detail, AddressBase Premium is most suited to the emergency services for whom this level of detail is essential, but also for the utility companies who will benefit greatly from the prebuild, provisional addressing information.

Within the ambulance service, AddressBase Premium can be integrated and used in all frontline and back office systems including 999 and 111 computer aided dispatch systems and patient transport systems. Not only will it mean that operators and paramedics will be accessing the most accurate and up to date address data, but through the use of the UPRN (unique property reference number), data can be linked together to provide easy access to additional, vital information.

Speaking of the webinar, Managing Director of Aligned Assets, Andy Hird, said, “We already work with a large number of the emergency services in the provision of AddressBase Premium compatible gazetteer management systems, and along with the Ordnance Survey and North West Ambulance Service are looking forward to passing this knowledge onto to all people who can benefit.”

For more information about the webinar, visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk/events

Aligned Assets Customers Win Again at the 2013 Exemplar Awards

Aligned Assets customers have once again had a day to remember after collecting three of the major awards at the 2013 Local Government Exemplar Awards.

The big winners of the day were Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council who won the Local Government Association sponsored Improvement and Efficiency Award. The winning project involved a review of their internal business processes to ensure that they were maximising revenues ahead of the implementation of the Business Rates Retention Scheme that sees local authorities directly retaining up to 50% of all business rates revenue.

A key component of the project was the introduction of the Aligned Asset Business database, which they used to identify potentially unbilled properties, which could then be sent to the Business Rates team for investigation.

Also picking up major awards were Martin Laker of Bath and North East Somerset Council who won the Custodian of Year Award and Keith MacBean of Inverclyde Council who collected the Scottish equivalent.

Both Martin and Keith were nominated by their fellow Authority Address and/or Street Custodians and were recognised for their contributions to the community and achievements within their respective local authorities.

In addition to the major awards, Aligned Assets customers received 45% of the ‘Best in Region’ Awards and over one quarter of all councils awarded Gold Status were users of the Aligned Assets gazetteer management system.

Speaking of the success, Andy Hird, Managing Director of Aligned Assets said, “We provide market leading gazetteer management software, but these awards reflect the hard work and determination by the users of that software.”

“I’d like to take this opportunity to personally congratulate each and every winner and thank them for continuing to show what those in the public sector can achieve.”

To find out more, visit Aligned Assets

Two Dorset Councils See Cost Savings and Efficiency Gains Through Shared Service Gazetteer Management From Aligned Assets

West Dorset District Council and Weymouth and Portland Borough Council have recently moved to a shared service platform using a gazetteer management system supplied by Aligned Assets.

Remaining as two sovereign councils whilst utilising one staffing structure, the councils are taking advantage of Aligned Assets’ Symphony iManage, which is the only gazetteer management system with components specifically designed to enable shared services in the creation and management of address data.

In addition to Symphony iManage, the two councils have elected to also use Symphony iExchange from Aligned Assets, which will enable them to integrate their Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG) data into other council systems, and through that recognise additional savings and gains in efficiency.

Although working within the one team, each council will retain a dedicated LLPG custodian whose local expertise will be essential in ensuring all addresses are accurately created and maintained. However, by utilising Symphony iManage’s shared service functionality, all staff, irrespective of which councils’ gazetteer they are accessing, will be working through one system, seamlessly switching between gazetteers via a simple drop-down menu.

Not only will this reduce infrastructure costs and allow the team to work in a more efficient manner, but has the additional advantage of enabling team members to easily cover each other’s work during holiday periods or when site visits are required.

Whereas Symphony iManage will dramatically improve the gazetteer management functionality across both councils, Symphony iExchange will see these benefits shared across council departments. Previously having to manually update other systems with the latest address data, Symphony iExchange will automate this process, whilst its intuitive data transformation process will allow for many more systems to be integrated.

This will enable departments from council tax to refuse and recycling to access the most up to date address data and begin to utilise the UK’s definitive property identifier – the UPRN (unique property reference number).

“We are delighted to welcome West Dorset and Weymouth and Portland Councils onto our shared service platform,” said Andy Hird, Managing Director at Aligned Assets. “As local authorities continue to try and find savings where they can, Symphony iManage is ideally placed to allow these savings to be recognised within gazetteer management.”

To find out more about how Aligned Assets shared service software can help, visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk/imanage

ABOUT ALIGNED ASSETS
Aligned Assets are an industry leader in AddressBase, gazetteer and address management solutions. They supply software across the public and private sectors including over 100 Local Authorities, Fire & Rescue Services and Police Forces. In addition to software and data solutions, they offer a complete range of consultancy, training, bespoke development and project management.

ABOUT WEST DORSET DISTRICT COUNCIL AND WEYMOUTH & PORTLAND BOROUGH COUNCILS SHARED SERVICE
The Shared Services Partnership between West Dorset District Council and Weymouth & Portland Borough Council has created a single workforce serving two sovereign councils covering 165,000 residents. Over the past two years a new staff structure has been agreed, senior management appointed and over 600 staff transferred to a single host employer. New office accommodation has been built in Dorchester to facilitate new ways of working and a similar approach taken in Weymouth. The partnership has already enabled over £2.0m of savings to be realised and was key to the successful hosting of the 2012 Games Sailing Events at Weymouth and Portland.

Aligned Assets Announce Autumn Events Schedule

Gazetteer specialists Aligned Assets are looking forward to an event filled autumn with the announcement of both their Symphony User Group meeting and a Street Naming and Numbering training course scheduled for September.

The Symphony User Group is on Wednesday 18th September and the ever-popular ‘Law of Street Naming and Numbering’ training course will be held the week after on 25th September.

The Symphony User Group, or SUG as it is affectionately known, has been running since 2006 and is open to all local authority users of Aligned Assets’ Symphony Suite of gazetteer software. In order to maximise user participation and to offset the limits on travel caused by public sector austerity, this meeting is to be held as a webinar.

The primary focus of the user group will be the on-going development of the software and, as in previous years, will be set up to allow for attendees to feed directly into the development priorities. A central component of Aligned Assets policy, it is felt that the users are best placed to influence development and the SUG’s agenda will duly reflect this.

Like the SUG, the Law of Street Naming and Numbering training course is also focused on the needs of the attendee and is designed to equip the delegate with all the knowledge and skills required to legally fulfil their statutory duties in Street Naming and Numbering.

As an essential component of local government, Street Naming and Numbering plays a crucial role in everything from the collection of council tax to the registration of electors. Despite its importance to many of the modern functions within local government, the law governing it dates back to 1847 and in order for the process to operate correctly and within the confines of the law, understanding the legalities involved is of the utmost importance.

For the opportunity to register or to find out more, visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk/events

ABOUT ALIGNED ASSETS
Aligned Assets are an industry leader in AddressBase, gazetteer and address management solutions. They supply software across the public and private sectors including over 100 Local Authorities, Fire & Rescue Services and Police Forces. In addition to software and data solutions, they offer a complete range of consultancy, training, bespoke development and project management.

Two More Fire and Rescue Services Select Aligned Assets’ Symphony Bluelight

Wiltshire and Dorset Fire and Rescue Services have both decided to procure the Symphony Bluelight Suite of gazetteer management software from industry leader Aligned Assets.

The system, which has been developed specifically for use in the emergency services, is designed to enable the creation of corporate gazetteers that can feed all frontline and back office systems with the Ordnance Survey’s AddressBase Premium – the Country’s most accurate and up to date address data.

Both Wiltshire and Dorset Fire and Rescue Services will be using the software as part of the Networked Fire Control Services Partnership (NFCSP) that will see collaboration between Wiltshire, Dorset, Hampshire, and Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Services.

The four brigades will each maintain their own local control rooms, but are working together to create a greater level of resilience through the ability to be able to take emergency 999 calls for other Control Rooms within the partnership and mobilise appliances for them if necessary. As a consequence, they have all moved to using Symphony Bluelight in order to facilitate a greater level of interoperability.

“We now have over 30% of all English Fire and Rescue Services using products from the Bluelight range of gazetteer solutions,” explained Andy Hird, Managing Director of Aligned Assets. “With the only gazetteer software on the market designed specifically for, and in collaboration with the emergency services, we look forward to many more joining the Aligned Assets family.”

To find out more, visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk/bluelight

Shared Service Gazetteer Management From Aligned Assets Is Benefitting Two Oxfordshire Councils

South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils are using the Symphony iManage gazetteer management system from Aligned Assets to drive forward efficiency savings via its new shared service module.

By enabling easy access to multiple local authority gazetteers through the one user interface, one team can manage more than one authority's gazetteer data without the need for multiple applications.

The two councils have been able to merge their previously disparate gazetteer teams, simply selecting which gazetteer to manage via a drop-down menu within the software. In doing so they are able to save time, increase efficiency and dramatically cut both capital and revenue costs due to shared licensing, reduced infrastructure requirements and lower consultancy fees.

In addition to Symphony iManage, the councils are also using Aligned Assets’ Street Naming and Numbering module, enabling them to quickly and simply manage the complete lifecycle of naming a street or numbering a property. Symphony SNN comes complete with a shared service option to allow any street naming and numbering officer to move seamlessly between cases, irrespective of which authority they come from, and easily customise the software to allow the user to follow almost any working methodology they so choose.

“We looked at a number of different gazetteer suppliers, but the combination of price and quality made Aligned Assets the obvious choice,” explained Sally-Anne Worsley, Data Monitoring Manager for South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils.

“Aligned Assets have proved to be more than just a software supplier and have consistently demonstrated their willingness to work as partners to our two councils. The software is under constant development and importantly, this development is overwhelmingly driven by customer needs and requirements.”

The Aligned Assets pricing structure for shared services has been designed to better represent the economies of scale that shared services are intended to achieve. The pricing is no longer a flat fee per authority, but instead reflects the number of authorities involved.

To find out more, visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk/imanage

Aligned Assets To Develop GeoStore Spatial Data Warehouse

Aligned Assets and Pitney Bowes Software (PBS) are pleased to announce the technology transfer of PBS’s GeoStore Spatial Data Warehouse to the Woking-based gazetteer specialists.

As of March 2013, all support, account management, billing and future development passed to Aligned Assets, who have expressed their intention to invest extensively in the product.

GeoStore is a geographical data store that enables users to share geographical information across departments and with external organisations. It simplifies the administration, management and the import/publishing of spatial data, allowing this data to be easily integrated into both desktop and browser-based applications.

It is able to import, store, manage and publish common spatial formats such as Shapefiles, DWG and MapInfo TAB, as well as GML, XML and CSV.

Speaking of the transfer, Managing Director of Aligned Assets, Andy Hird said, “We are delighted to add the GeoStore application to our existing range of gazetteer solutions.”

“We have always focused on the corporate use of data in order for customers to make gains in efficiency, and through that save money whilst delivering a better service to the customer. What GeoStore can offer is exactly in line with this philosophy.”

“For existing GeoStore customers this is a very positive development as we are able to draw on our vast experience in developing industry leading software products, an experience from which GeoStore can only benefit.”

James Buckley, Senior Vice President & General Manager Customer Data and Location Intelligence at Pitney Bowes Software added, “We are thrilled to now have a solid future for GeoStore and our GeoStore customers. Aligned Assets brings a wealth of expertise in the spatial data management space and we too believe it is a great fit within the Aligned Assets portfolio”.

Aligned Assets will be engaging directly with every GeoStore customer to determine a development priority list and plans to hold the first user group meeting within the next few months.

For more information visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk/geostore

Aligned Assets Business Data Helping to Locate Unbilled NNDR Properties

Due to the change in legislation surrounding the retention of business rates, Aligned Assets are set to make their business database available to business rates teams across local government.

The new legislation will see local authorities retaining up to 50% of all business rates collected and the Aligned Assets database can assist in locating unbilled businesses and thereby generating new revenue.

Containing over two million records and updated daily by a call centre of 65 people making in excess of six million validation calls each year, the business database is currently used by emergency services to assist in locating 999 calls made in commercial areas, and is also the source of directory information for organisations such as 118 118 and Bing.

Announced on 21st November 2012, the new policy will come into effect on 1st April 2013. According to Brandon Lewis MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government:

“The business rates retention scheme will enable local authorities to retain a large proportion of locally collected business rates to help fund the services they provide, thereby creating a direct link between business rates collected and local authority income, and reducing local authorities’ dependency on central government grants. The scheme will give all councils a strong incentive to go for growth and could add approximately £10 billion to the wider economy by 2020.”

“In 2011/12 there was over £21 billion in business rates after billing reliefs collected from approximately 1.8 million businesses,” explained Managing Director of Aligned Assets Andy Hird. “This equates to an average of £11,500 per business, which means that even if a council was to use our data and locate only one unbilled business, the return on investment would be almost 100%.”

To find out more, visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk/businessdata

ABOUT ALIGNED ASSETS
Aligned Assets are an industry leader in AddressBase, gazetteer and address management solutions. They supply software across the public and private sectors including over 100 Local Authorities, Fire & Rescue Services and Police Forces. In addition to software and data solutions, they offer a complete range of consultancy, training, bespoke development and project management.

Aligned Assets Present a Practical Strategy for Adopting AddressBase Premium

Gazetteer specialists Aligned Assets have released guidance to assist both public sector and private sector organisations in implementing AddressBase Premium from the Ordnance Survey.

With the majority of existing datasets such as AddressPoint, AddressLayer 2 and the NLPG being withdrawn in 2014, the document draws on the necessity for organisations to act sooner rather than later in their migration to AddressBase Premium.

Titled ‘A Practical Strategy for Implementing AddressBase Premium’, the document demonstrates how any organisation can start using AddressBase Premium without the immediate need to change their existing systems over to AddressBase-compatible versions.

It is these existing systems that present the main obstacle to change as they are often large, complex and critical to the organisation, yet will be based on older address datasets or sometimes no structured dataset at all. It is this issue that the document looks to address.

Andy Hird, Managing Director of Aligned Assets, explained more, “The process described involves initially bringing AddressBase Premium into an organisation and access being given to it via a browser based search engine. With this, technical staff can begin to familiarise themselves with the format and structure of the data, whilst non-technical staff can begin to adapt to elements such as UPRNs and property classifications.”

“Once in place, the process would move to using Aligned Assets’ data conversion software, Symphony iExchange, which can take AddressBase Premium and convert it into standard and non-standard formats. In doing so, changes to the AddressBase Premium data can be exported to the non-AddressBase systems, thereby keeping them updated.”

“This gives an organisation the benefits of AddressBase Premium but in a staged and controlled manner that does not result in major upheaval, and buys time for other suppliers to modify their systems to take native AddressBase data.”

‘A Practical Strategy for Implementing AddressBase Premium’ is available as a free download via the Aligned Assets website and is relevant to the emergency services, local and central government, the NHS and organisations across the private sector such as insurance, utilities and banking.

To find out more, visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk or email solutions@aligned-assets.co.uk.

Shared Services Made Easy With Aligned Assets

With a dramatic increase in the number of shared services in local government, gazetteer specialists Aligned Assets have released a shared service version of their award winning gazetteer management system, Symphony iManage.

Designed to allow local authorities to easily manage multiple gazetteers through the same, user-friendly interface, Symphony iManage for shared services respects the GeoPlace requirement to retain separate gazetteer databases, but provides the convenience of working as though they were one.

In addition to Symphony iManage, their Street Naming and Numbering module now also comes complete with a shared service option to allow any street naming and numbering officer to move seamlessly between cases, irrespective of which authority they come from.

The Aligned Assets pricing structure for shared services has also been modified to better represent the economies of scale that shared services are intended to achieve. The pricing is no longer a flat fee per authority, but instead reflects the number of authorities involved and joint contracts or procurement.

“Everything we do at Aligned Assets is focused on providing solutions that people want and delivering them in ways that make them cost effective,” explained Managing Director of Aligned Assets, Andy Hird.

“There are already a number of local authorities benefiting from our shared service solutions, not only from the greater efficiencies created through the software, but also cost savings through the new pricing model.”

To find out more, visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk

ABOUT ALIGNED ASSETS
Aligned Assets are an industry leader in AddressBase, gazetteer and address management solutions. They supply software across the public and private sectors including over 100 Local Authorities, Fire & Rescue Services and Police Forces. In addition to software and data solutions, they offer a complete range of consultancy, training, bespoke development and project management.

Law of Street Naming and Numbering Course Announced by Aligned Assets

Woking, Surrey 3rd December 2012 – Gazetteer Specialists Aligned Assets are pleased to announce the next date for their ever-popular ‘Law of Street Naming and Numbering’ training course. The only course of its kind in the UK, it will be held at Conway Hall in London on Tuesday 29th January 2013 and will be instructed by James Richardson, a trained solicitor with over twenty years of local authority experience. Street naming and numbering is an essential component of local government, playing a crucial role in everything from the collection of council tax through to waste and recycling. The laws governing the street naming and numbering process date back to 1847 and in order for the process to operate correctly and within the confines of the law, understanding the legalities involved is of the utmost importance. The course will examine the various laws such as The Towns Improvement Clauses Act 1847, The Public Health Act 1925, The London Building Acts Amendment Act 1939 and The Local Government Act 1972. In addition to specific legislation, the course will also look at the investigation and prosecution of cases, the role of the Local Government Ombudsman and to which elements of street naming and numbering a charge can be applied. Speaking of the upcoming course, Managing Director of Aligned Assets, Andy Hird said, “This will be the fifth time we’ve run the Law of Street Naming and Numbering training course and we’re proud to say that to date there is a 100% record of attendees rating it either Very Good or Excellent.” “At a time when progressively more councils are looking to charge for street naming and numbering services, it is absolutely critical that the law is understood and it is this course that can provide that knowledge.” To find out more, visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk/events ABOUT ALIGNED ASSETS Aligned Assets are an industry leader in AddressBase, gazetteer and address management solutions. They supply software across the public and private sectors including over 100 Local Authorities, Fire & Rescue Services and Police Forces. In addition to software and data solutions, they offer a complete range of consultancy, training, bespoke development and project management.

Aligned Assets Bring Address Point and NLPG Compatibility to AddressBase Premium

With the release of Symphony Bluelight iExchange, gazetteer specialists Aligned Assets can now offer the emergency services a method by which they can automatically convert AddressBase Premium into Address Point and NLPG (National Land and Property Gazetteer) formats.

Designed to allow the emergency services to start working with AddressBase Premium, without the requirement to wait until other systems have been modernised, Symphony Bluelight iExchange will enable a greater level of data integration, efficiency and joined up working.

As a core component of Aligned Assets’ emergency service corporate gazetteer system, Symphony Bluelight iExchange is designed to work alongside the Symphony Bluelight Gazetteer, which enables full management of AddressBase Premium and the creation of local records, plus Symphony SinglePoint, which provides a series of web services for further integration options.

Many emergency services have systems, such as Command & Control, that still run off address data in either the Address Point or NLPG formats, which means they are currently waiting on these systems to be updated before moving to AddressBase Premium. With AddressBase Premium being the most accurate and up-to-date address data currently available, it is important that they can start using it sooner rather than later.

Symphony Bluelight iExchange allows for changes in a corporate AddressBase gazetteer to be automatically converted to Address Point or NLPG and then exported to other systems at set frequencies – daily, weekly, or even hourly if required.

“Symphony Bluelight iExchange will enable emergency services to have one central source of address data and integrate this data into their third party systems,” explained Andy Hird, Managing Director of Aligned Assets.

“Although Symphony Bluelight iExchange is designed to be fully customisable, Address Point and NLPG formats are common amongst the police, ambulance and fire services, which is why we made the decision to have these integration options as standard.”

“By 2014, all users of Address Point or NLPG will be expected to migrate to one of the AddressBase products, but at least now with the release of Symphony Bluelight iExchange, some of the concerns surrounding this migration have been removed.”

To find out more, visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk/bluelight

ABOUT ALIGNED ASSETS
Aligned Assets are an industry leader in AddressBase, gazetteer and address management solutions. They supply software across the public and private sectors including over 100 Local Authorities, Fire & Rescue Services and Police Forces. In addition to software and data solutions, they offer a complete range of consultancy, training, bespoke development and project management.

ABOUT THE ADDRESSBASE PRODUCTS
AddressBase contains Royal Mail PAF® addresses, both commercial and residential matched to the local authority Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN) and structured in a flat file model. You will be able to link additional information about a property to a single address. It also provides further enhancement to the Royal Mail PAF data by assigning an X and Y coordinate to every address, allowing you to place it precisely on a map, together with a summary classification.

AddressBase Plus contains current properties and addresses sourced from local authorities, Ordnance Survey and Royal Mail matched to the UPRN and structured in a flat file model. It has more records than AddressBase as it includes objects without postal addresses such as places of worship and community centres and objects in multiple occupancy buildings. It also enables you to locate an address or property precisely on a map, by cross referencing to the information in OS MasterMap® products via the OS MasterMap Topography Layer and Integrated Transport Network™ (ITN) Layer Topographic Identifiers (TOID®s).

AddressBase Premium provides the most detailed view of an address and its lifecycle. It contains all the AddressBase Plus information and functionalities, such as the ability to cross reference the information with OS MasterMap products via the OS MasterMap Topography Layer and Integrated Transport Network (ITN) Layer Topographic Identifiers (TOIDs).

But the real benefit of this product is that it provides a range of information relating to an address or property from creation to retirement or demolition. It contains local authority, Ordnance Survey and Royal Mail addresses structured in a relational database model. The product is based around the UPRN, the current (approved) addresses; and alternatives for current addresses (reflecting the changes in addresses); provisional addresses (proposed planning developments) and historic information for addresses (including historic alternatives) where available.

The AddressBase products are created by GeoPlace, a public liability partnership between Local Government Association and Ordnance Survey.

Aligned Assets Customers Dominate for Second Year Running at the GeoPlace Exemplar Awards

Woking, Surrey 30th October 2012 – After dominating the 2011 Exemplar Awards, users of the Aligned Assets gazetteer management system have received countless accolades at the 2012 Awards.

At a ceremony in London to recognise outstanding achievement in the use of local authority address and street gazetteer data, Aligned Assets customers won four out of the six major awards, including London Borough of Harrow being announced the winner of the Overall Exemplar Award.

The London Borough of Harrow had earlier in the day won the Integration Award for their innovative project that saw the use of gazetteer data significantly increased across the authority. In a vote by all 320 delegates, it was this project that was considered to have achieved the most in terms of gazetteer usage and so awarded the top prize.

Other victories included Worthing and Adur Councils who won the Best Example of Street Naming and Numbering Policy Implementation Award, Bath and North East Somerset Council who won the Services Award and Inverclyde Council who were Highly Commended in the Scottish Gazetteer Custodian of the Year category.

The London Borough of Enfield was Highly Commended for Street Naming and Numbering Policy and was also recognised as Best in Region for both Address and Street data. In addition to Enfield, Aligned Assets customers won a further six Best in Region Awards and a total of 34 were given Gold Awards for either their address or street updating.

“All of us at Aligned Assets are delighted for those customers whose hard work and dedication over the past twelve months has been formally recognised,” said Managing Director of Aligned Assets Andy Hird. “Although we would acknowledge that having great software helps, it really is down to the people using that software to make the difference.”

The Exemplar Awards took place during the ‘Everything Happens Somewhere Conference’, which was organised by GeoPlace and held on 25th October at Friends House in London.

To find out more, visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk

ABOUT ALIGNED ASSETS
Aligned Assets are an industry leader in AddressBase, gazetteer and address management solutions. They supply software across the public and private sectors including over 100 Local Authorities, Fire & Rescue Services and Police Forces. In addition to software and data solutions, they offer a complete range of consultancy, training, bespoke development and project management.

Aligned Assets Release the Symphony Blackbox

Woking, Surrey 18th September 2012 – Gazetteer specialists Aligned Assets can today announce the release of its latest software product – Symphony Blackbox.

Designed to allow local authorities to easily share their central address databases with other council departments, and in doing so reduce costs and increase efficiency, the Symphony Blackbox can be used by any council, irrespective of which other software systems they have installed.

Aligned Assets are the first UK company to offer this level of integration, which is based on technology already in use by over 50 local authorities.

Up to 100 different council systems use address data and in many cases the creation and management of those addresses are untaken within each department. This expensive duplication of work can result in a multitude of errors as different addresses are entered with different spellings and formatting. These errors inhibit joined up working and can see a reduction in services to the taxpayer.

Each council in Great Britain will maintain a central database of all addresses within their administrative boundaries known as Local Land and Property Gazetteers (England and Wales) or Corporate Address Gazetteers (Scotland). Symphony Blackbox works by allowing changes in these single databases to be automatically exported to other systems, thereby removing both duplication of work and the errors that result from it.

Managing Director of Aligned Assets, Andy Hird, said, “We’ve calculated that the Symphony Blackbox has the potential to save each council tens of thousands of pounds every year.”

“It’s compatible with existing infrastructure, so requires no restructuring or upheaval, and its flexible, intuitive design means that those savings can start to be recognised almost instantly.”

For more information visit: www.aligned-assets.co.uk/blackbox

ABOUT ALIGNED ASSETS
Aligned Assets are an industry leader in AddressBase, gazetteer and address management solutions. They supply software across the public and private sectors including over 100 Local Authorities, Fire & Rescue Services and Police Forces. In addition to software and data solutions, they offer a complete range of consultancy, training, bespoke development and project management.