New address management systems for the emergency services

There are many factors involved in the work of the emergency services, all of which play an essential role in their ability to not only respond to emergencies, but assist in reducing further risk.

A fundamental component underpinning all of their work is accurate address data, with the proper management and utilisation of that data equally vital. From mobilisation through to analysis, having an accurate address cannot only save lives but prevent risk long into the future.

Building on their vast experience of working within the FiReControl project, in addition to their work with the British Transport Police (BTP) and more recently with Kent Fire and Rescue Service, gazetteer specialists Aligned Assets have created three new address management solutions, designed specifically for use in the emergency services.

Collectively known as Symphony Bluelight, there are three distinct options available, Symphony Bluelight Enterprise, Symphony Bluelight Professional and Symphony Bluelight Search, each addressing the varying needs of the emergency services.

Symphony Bluelight Enterprise

Symphony Bluelight Enterprise is the complete corporate gazetteer system, which will support front line response, whilst all the while aiding in cost cutting and efficiency gains. It is based upon the gazetteer solution rolled out at Kent FRS, who had a requirement to implement a new system that placed accurate addressing at the heart of the Brigade.

In addition to being a secure, central depository of data, Symphony Bluelight Enterprise offers a complete, embedded Geographical Information System (GIS) in order to give the data a spatial component. This GIS enables full location analysis and is an important tool in strategic planning.

Importantly, Symphony Bluelight Enterprise allows for the synchronisation of all back office systems, enabling the user to ensure that each system contains identical address data. It creates direct links to these systems so that when updates to the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) are received, these are automatically disseminated throughout the organisation.

It allows for all non-NLPG address data in other systems to be tagged with Unique Property Reference Numbers (UPRNs) so that these numbers can be used as a comprehensive system of cross referencing, giving confidence that all departments are using the same address. The same process also allows for back office data to be geocoded, by which geographical coordinates are attached to the address. This gives the data a spatial component, which in turn allows for that data to be analysed through GIS.

As well as being able to fully exploit the NLPG, Symphony Bluelight Enterprise allows for an infinite amount of user defined fields to be attached to each record within your corporate gazetteer giving the user a wealth of information essential in all emergency service activity.

Once the fields are populated, for example in the case of the Fire & Rescue Service you can see instantly if there is there a fireworks factory behind the 20ft fir trees; whether the house next door has an elderly lady who is dependant on her oxygen tanks or whether the building next door has a Black Powder or Gun powder license?

Through the use of the intuitive management console, the user has numerous options for creating and importing data from other systems and schemas, and including them alongside the NLPG. With Symphony Bluelight Enterprise, the user can derive data from a set of Oracle GIS Layers by spatial reference to a Property. This means that every time the Property geometry changes, the data created by spatial relationship is automatically updated.

Symphony Bluelight Professional

Designed for those services looking for a phased approach to implementation, at the core of Symphony Bluelight Professional is an industry leading BS7666 compliant gazetteer management system. It is a tried and tested solution used in both local government and the emergency services, is the gazetteer of choice for the FiReControl Project and is backed up by over twelve years of address management and GIS expertise.

It has been built to allow for the creation of local records, which are records that would not normally be included in the NLPG, but have significant value to the emergency services. They can be accessed alongside the NLPG data in supporting both back office analysis and frontline incident response.

To enable the further exploitation of the NLPG, Symphony Bluelight Professional is designed to allow for the validation of all your other address data against the NLPG through its address matching components. Just as with Symphony Bluelight Enterprise the geocoding functionality allows for your organisation to have a more complete usage of GIS as it will enable other department’s data to have an accurate spatial component.

Key to both Symphony Bluelight Professional and Symphony Bluelight Enterprise is the inbuilt method for creating and processing candidate records. This allows the user the ability to feedback changes in the NLPG data for future inclusions, which is yet another method by which the data can be constantly improved and kept up to date.

Symphony Bluelight Search

Irrespective of the data source and method of managing that data, the one thing that is absolutely essential to the emergency services is the need for fast and accurate. The quicker data can be accessed, the quicker it can be used and the better the emergency response.

Based on the solution designed and built for the BTP, Symphony Bluelight Search is a flexible, web-enabled search engine that allows the user to search their address database (NLPG, ADDRESS-POINT®, OS MasterMap® Address Layer 2) and return results in sub-second time.

With a look and feel that is similar to an internet search engine, Symphony Bluelight Search primarily consists of a simple, one line search bar in which the search terms are entered. It allows for ‘wildcard searches’ if the user is unsure of the complete search term and ‘fuzzy searches’ that means words will be found even if misspelt.

Symphony Bluelight Search provides a web service that gives complete, corporate access to your central address database, giving all departments access to the same, consistent data. It can be accessed via a web browser, embedded within your own application or even added as a customised search engine in Internet Explorer, so quite literally giving every member of an organisation access. All of this reduces costs, reduces the risk of errors caused by inconsistent data and ultimately allows the user to offer a safer, more efficient and higher level of service to the public.

More than just an address search engine, through the use of adaptor technology, Symphony Bluelight Search can index, compress and search a whole variety of data sources alongside your core address data. The most common use for this is to search a names database, alongside the address data, giving the user access to both names and addresses via one search, which was one of the primary requirements of the BTP.

With Symphony Bluelight Search, the user will have access to huge amounts of departmental data at the touch of button as well as a resource by which different address datasets can be search simultaneously e.g. ADDRESS-POINT®/NLPG/Bespoke Gazetteer. It could even be used to search the PRUFOS (Police Reporting UFO Sightings) database!

Conclusion

The needs of the emergency services vary from that of other organisations and they require specialist tools in order to function effectively and efficiently. The Symphony Bluelight systems have all been designed entirely with the Emergency Services in mind from a company who is the industry-leader in gazetteer software.

The three options are intended to give choice, with Symphony Bluelight Enterprise a full corporate gazetteer, Symphony Bluelight Professional an entry level solution to complement FiReControl and Symphony Bluelight Search giving complete corporate access to a variety of data sources.

If modernisation is key to your organisation visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk/bluelight or call 0870 750 8750.

All three systems will be officially launched at this year’s Underpinning Transformational Government conference on 26th November at the Victoria Park Plaza in London. As Gold Sponsors for the event, Aligned Assets will be running a Masterclass with Kent FRS that will be exploring the use of the NLPG beyond FiReControl. This will be taking place at 13.45, whilst demonstrations of all Symphony Bluelight systems will be available by the Aligned Assets team on Stand 9.

Aligned Assets’ validation tool now contains over 1000 gazetteer checks

With the release of Symphony iValidate v3.1, the gazetteer validation and reporting tool from Aligned Assets now contains in excess of 1000 separate checks.

Designed to ensure that local authorities are fully compliant with BS7666, iValidate is a valuable part of the QA process for Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG) and Local Street Gazetteer (LSG) maintenance as well as performing a complete ‘Health Check’ on BS7666 gazetteers.

With the value of NLPG data stemming from its accuracy, iValidate is useful not only for performing a complete sweep of the data, but as this data changes, allows for the accuracy to be permanently maintained.

iValidate was originally developed by Aligned Assets consultants to ensure that the work they did was consistent for each of their clients and fully compliant with BS7666. It has evolved into a comprehensive COTS tool to assist in reviewing the LLPG & LSG and assisting in highlighting areas of either gazetteer that could be improved.

The release of v3.1 sees a complete new set of scripts for the LLPG and LSG Health Checks, plus new validation and reporting options. These scripts were created in response to errors/warnings that the NLPG hub were providing as part of the LLPG Improvement Schedules sent to Local Authorities in 2008/09 and are used to monitor LLPG Improvements for 2008/09.

It enables the users of LLPGs to have their database comply with the NLPG Validation and Health Checks v1.3, whilst LSG users can now easily comply with the LSG and ASD – DTF 7.1 Submission Compliance Check Specification v1.2.

Speaking of the release, Head of Professional Services at Aligned Assets, Andy Hird commented, “The release of iValidate v3.1 is a big step toward ensuring our customers can avoid the frustrations involved in rejected submissions to the hub. By having the peace of mind that their data is clean and compliant, they can free up more time to make full use of that data.”

For more information on iValidate, visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk/ivalidate.

Places going fast for Gazetteer Best Practice Day

With only two weeks to go until the Gazetteer Best Practice Day in Cardiff, the list of attendees is continuing to grow.

Consisting of eight presentations on a wide variety of aspects covering the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) and all things BS7666, there has been interest from both signatories and non-signatories of the Mapping Services Agreement (MSA).

With the use of the NLPG expanding in both the public and private sector, it has become more important than ever to explore ways in which gazetteers at the local level can be enhanced and brought to the heart of organisational working.

Organising the event on behalf of Aligned Assets is Carl Hancock, who explained the purpose of the day. “I speak with so many people who work with gazetteers both in local government and the emergency services, and they all have a story to tell. The Gazetteer Best Practice Day grew out of the concept of having people come together to share ideas, discuss best practice and their varied ways of working.”

The full agenda is available online via www.aligned-assets.co.uk/events/Agenda_22nd_Oct.pdf and to reserve a place or request further information contact Carl at carl.hancock@aligned-assets.co.uk.

The new generation of Property and Asset Management Software is released

Symphony PMS, the new Property Management System from Aligned Assets was officially launched with a glass of champagne in Cardiff on Friday 18th September.

In the waterside setting of County Hall, those involved in the project gathered to celebrate the ending of a nine month development cycle, which has culminated in possibly the most comprehensive property management system available.

After a warming cup of tea, the guests, including representatives from other local authorities, were given a presentation by Phil Hall, Property information Manager at Cardiff Council and Phil Gee, Commercial Director at Aligned Assets, about the need at Cardiff Council to bring in a new system to replace their outdated Estates Management System.

Being at the forefront of Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG) development, it was explained how it was an essential component to have Symphony PMS linked to the gazetteer. Having worked hard to achieve LLPG integration into back office systems and a wider acceptance of the LLPG as the council’s central address database, Symphony PMS was therefore designed to use addresses data directly from the council’s LLPG.

The importance of this was explained by Phil Gee, “With Cardiff’s LLPG being of such a high standard, it seemed nonsensical to build a property management system in which address data would have to be manually entered, when all that property information already existed.

“By sourcing the addresses directly from the LLPG, Cardiff can now enjoy tremendous gains in efficiency though BS7666 standardisation, the avoidance of double entry and the ability to be 100% certain of the accuracy of the address data used.”

Following on from the reasoning behind Symphony PMS, the guests were treated to a full demonstration of the system’s wide and varying functionality. They were shown how it is capable of the full management of a property portfolio including social housing, schools, commercial assets, investment property, leisure centres, industrial estates and parks – it was even shown to be capable of managing farms.

Complete management of all the sales, acquisitions, maintenance and legalities involved in property and asset management were shown and how all the management features are intuitively accessible using a simple graphical user interface. Feedback indicated that the audience were especially impressed by the way that Symphony PMS can link into any mapping engine making the entire property portfolio visually accessible, utilising either points or polygons.

Phil Gee concluded by saying, “Cardiff Council had huge specifications to go alongside their huge property portfolio, so Symphony PMS is an all encompassing system designed to meet all those requirements. With its official launch, we look forward to rolling it out to the wider market.”

To find out more visit the Symphony PMS Pages

Aligned Assets announce Gazetteer Best Practice Day

Gazetteer Specialists Aligned Assets are pleased to announce the date for their upcoming Gazetteer Best Practice Day.

On Thursday 22nd October at County Hall, Cardiff all signatories to the Mapping Service Agreement (MSA) including local authorities, fire & rescue services, police forces, national parks, conservation boards and passenger transport executives are invited to attend demonstrations on Gazetteer Best Practice.

With technology infusing every aspect of our working lives it has never been more essential to make sure that the software we are using is the very best available. Efficient software however is only part of the equation and it is the understanding and use of that software that lies at the very heart of 'Best Practice'.

The Gazetteer Best Practice Day is designed to give a comprehensive introduction to the Aligned Assets' suite of address management solutions through the first hand experiences of the people using it. With several presentations from different local authorities there will be an exploration of core management functions through to the linking of data within and between systems in order to deliver joined up services.

Those attending will gain the opportunity to explore best practice not only with the speakers but with a number of other multi-discipline, gazetteer custodians from around the country.

Phil Gee, Commercial Director at Aligned Assets explained the purposed of the day. “We have run demo days in the past and the feedback we received was that people wanted to hear real user stories. For this event we have asked our users if they would be happy to tell the audience about their experiences on how they have implemented and what they use our software for. I’m pleased to say that they all agreed.”

Speakers on the day include Phil Hall, Property Information Manager at Cardiff Council, Martin Laker, GIS Team Leader at Bath & North East Somerset Council and Richard Healy, GIS Manager at Monmouthshire County Council.

Attendance is completely free of charge and more information is available by emailing carl.hancock@aligned-assets.co.uk or by visiting www.aligned-assets.co.uk/events.

Another local authority turns to Aligned Assets

Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council and gazetteer specialists Aligned Assets are today pleased to announce the formation of a new working partnership with the supply of the Symphony Suite of gazetteer solutions.

With a focus on system integration and placing their Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG) at the very heart of the council, Barnsley MBC have chosen to implement the Symphony gazetteer management system (iManage), along with data matching module (iMatch), back office integration tool (iExchange) and authority-wide web services (iSearchWeb).

Due to the limitations of their previous system, Barnsley MBC found themselves with a requirement to carry out large amounts of data cleansing work. Because of this, the ease at which Symphony iManage can carry out bulk updates was a one of the key reasons for moving to Aligned Assets.

In addition to the tools within iManage, they will be using Symphony iMatch in order to check other address data (such as Council Tax) against the LLPG. Once the cleansing work is complete, iMatch can then be used to bring all departmental address data in line with the LLPG and ensure that they are all assigned a Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN). It is through the use of the UPRN that every department can be assured that each and every time they are consistently referencing the same property.

The final piece to the jigsaw will be the use of Symphony iExchange, which will allow these departmental systems to be synchronised. Initial integrations that are planned are waste management, regulatory services and education services and with the links established, Barnsley MBC will then have a need to only ever update the one address database with those changes in the LLPG being automatically exported to the other systems.

By centralising the LLPG in this way they can achieve considerable returns on investment through the significant efficiency savings it will create in all departments using the data. To further these savings, Symphony iSearchWeb will allow for departmental users of address data to directly access the LLPG via web services and ensure they’re using the most up-to-date data.

“Our primary reason for choosing the Symphony Suite was to maximise the use of available resources in maintaining our LLPG, offering better value to the taxpayer. We therefore chose the system which offered the best functionality for updating the database,” explained Riley Marsden, LLPG Custodian at Barnsley MBC.

“We emphasised from the very start the desire to work in partnership with our supplier, seeking their input into the data management process. Aligned Assets were the only company whose focus was entirely on supporting us (and working with us) to improve our data. Furthermore, the Symphony Suite offers a level of interoperability which perfectly complements our corporate enterprise architecture.”

To find out more about how Aligned Assets can help your organisation visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk or call 0870 750 8750.

Aligned Assets release Advanced ASD Management Solution

Gazetteer specialists Aligned Assets can today announce the new release of their Symphony Associated Street Data (ASD) management system.

Packed full of the latest technological features, including many that are not available in any other system on the market, this new version builds upon their EToN 5 compliant release from March of this year.

Called ASD Plus, and structured as an addition to the existing Symphony ASD module, the key to it is its highly advanced and flexible display options, designed to make the visualisation of all ASD data much simpler and user-friendly.

The user now has the ability to apply and customise the colours and patterns of their ASD layers in order to make street information more visually identifiable. These new identifiers can be used to pick out each Elementary Street Unit (ESU) and specifically show where restrictions apply.

This could be used to instantly see which streets are closed for a carnival, the location of all low bridges, privately maintained roads, the traffic direction of streets etc. In fact, with ASD Plus all ASD data can be assigned a visual identifier and simply turned on or off depending on what needs to be seen.

In addition to the display features, ASD Plus gives the user the opportunity to enter details about the height, width, and weight restrictions on streets (Type 64 records) and details of ‘One Way Exemptions’ (Type 65 records) i.e. which vehicle types can travel the wrong way down a street. Not only does this information provide valuable data to the emergency services and transport firms, but if the entry of these records became compulsory then ASD Plus users will have a distinct advantage.

“This new module is the biggest development in our product range since the migration to BS7666:2006,” explained Carl Nunn, Managing Director of Aligned Assets, “With it comes a suite of features we have been eager to introduce for some time now, including the ability to accurately display ASD on the map for short road sections and providing complete flexibility in terms of lines styles, thickness and colouring for each different type of ASD data.”

He went on to say, “Over two years ago we held a workshop to determine how ASD should be displayed and more recently contacted all our street gazetteer users to receive their input. Since there have been no central developments with display standards, we instead have provided complete display flexibility.”

“We have seen the richness of the data being managed truly lifting the NSG and ASD to a whole new level and I look forward to seeing the changes in the industry over the coming years. With the increasing usage of this important information we intend to continue to be at the forefront of producing industry-leading street gazetteer technology.”

To find out more about how ASD Plus can help your organisation visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk/asdplus or call 0870 750 8750.