GIS Based Location Services

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GIS Based Location Services is a kind of technology that aims in providing spatial information through mobile and other field units by using the GIS (Geography Information System) techniques. The GIS Based Location Services are also called mobile location services or wireless location services.

Application of GIS Based Location Services:

Locators: This GIS Based Location Services is used for finding out the location of a vehicle or a fleet of vehicles. Tracking helps the industries to trace the movement of their cargo carried by the trucks. Automated location system has helped to find out the location of any mobile object. The accident victims are tracked by the emergency squad, construction equipment are tracked by the contractors, packages are traced by the delivery companies, field personnel are located by the service companies and police traces the stolen property. Proximity Search: Once the location is established the user wants to find out the necessary services nearest to his location. Electronic Yellow Pages and direction services plays an important role in providing GIS Based Location Services. Cell phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and pagers provide proximity search for consumers. GIS software provides simple and sophisticated proximity searches throgh handheld devices for clients or can be accessed remotely. Travel Directions: MapQuest makes use of ArcInfo for creating geographic databases of higher quality. The GIS software, ArcInfo offers cartographic functions which help map data users to blend the best character provided by multiple data vendors in a series of processes which is called conflation. ESRI’s ArcInfo Software is used by MapQuest, Etak and other companies that provides services related to direction. These GIS Based Location Services are used to perform edge matching. Real Time Traffic Conditions: Radio and television are the two media through which information about traffic reaches general people. Audio text delivery through telephone permits people to get information about some specific roads. But nowadays with the development of technology companies like TrafficStation offers services like live traffic data, monitors vehicle speed and combines it with reports of incidence. These GIS Based Location Services are provided through Internet.

Companies offering GIS Based Location Services:

MapInfo Mobile: The customers uses their web enabled mobile phone or PDAs to get the GIS Based Location Services. Some of the applications include network alarm response, infrastructure repairs, call-before-you-dig and field access. Autodesk Location Services: Autodesk OnSite and Autodeks MapGuide Commerce are the two softwares used to provide GIS Based Location Services. IntelliWhere: This company provides services like finding out current location and other proximity locations and also does complex location analysis. ESRI Location Services: The company has excelled in locating people, places and assets by using wireless communications, network services and other devices. Vicinity: The software of Vicinity is known as MapBlast!. It offers on line travel directions along with interactive maps.Other companies: @Road AirFlash InfoMove JShape Kivera Tadpole-Cartesia Webraska Wireless Location Industry Association (WLIA)

Thus GIS Based Location Services is increasingly becoming popular and is provided by a number of companies. It is expected that in the coming years both the number of companies and Application of GIS Based Location Services will increase.