What's New in BusinessMAP 4.5

BusinessMAP 4.5, the affordable database mapping and territory design application, offers all the great features of BusinessMAP 4, plus the following new additions.

• Map Charts—You can add bar, pie, and value-sized pie charts to your map to further emphasize and compare data per area.
  
  
• Updated User Interface—New Windows XP style user interface.
  
  
• Updated Data—This includes updates to the map data, D&B business listings, and ESRI's demographic data estimates and projections, as well as the addition of world data.
  
  
• Free 30-Day Color Aerial Photo Subscription—You can now subscribe to a free 30-day subscription to i-cubed's aerial photography, as well as from Maptech.
  
  
• Application Programming Interface (API)—Create custom tools and applications via a COM API.
  
  
• Spider Diagrams—Also known as desire lines, spider diagrams depict a many to one relationship. For example, see which customers visit store A and store B, and examine customer locations relative to store locations and the distance between a customer location and a particular store location. Or examine competing products and see if there is a geographic correlation amongst the purchasers of those products.
  
  
• Spatial Calculator—The Spatial Calculator helps you build relatively equivalent territories based on common geography and a single specific variable. For example, if you have an ideal threshold in mind, such as total number of households, you may use this tool to select a group of geographic areas until that threshold is met for each territory.
  
  You may use one of many variables attached to the geographic layer or from a database layer added to the map. The more probable variables would be area (square miles), population, number of current customers, and total current sales.
  
  For example, you want to build a territory using various polygons of the same geography (states, counties, ZIP Codes, census tracts, etc.). You select the geography and variable field, and then use the ID tool to select polygons by clicking on them in the map. Multiple areas (counties, for example) are selected until the desired threshold is met. You may subtract a county to bring it back down closer to the threshold level, or you may add or subtract polygons to find the best group of polygons that is relatively equal to the predetermined value.
  
  In some cases, you might have a region or territory where the value is currently less than that of another territory, but predicted to grow by 25% in the next year, so you can factor this into your total value. Once you are satisfied with the value/selection, you can click the Create Territory button and all selected or yellow polygons are made into a territory.
  
  
• Label Manager—This is a toolbar that enables you to quickly change the labels for any given layer. Change font type, style, size, and color without stepping through the edit layer wizard.
  
  Note that when a font style (bold, italic, underline, or outline) is changed for a multi-class layer (cities, streets, rivers, etc.), the label change will affect all labels at all zoom levels for that layer. For example, at the USA level, the cities layer has labels bolded based on city population. If you change the font style to make all city labels bold, the differentiation will be lost. However, if you only change the font color or type (Aerial to Times Roman, for example), the differentiation will remain.
  
  
• Find Similar—This enables you to find an area with demographics similar to a selected area. An area may be any specific polygon of a polygonal layer (state, county ZIP Code, census tract, etc.) Choose up to three demographics and the desired threshold for each variable and BusinessMAP will find the most similar areas within the map view.

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BusinessMAP 4 Fact Sheet

View and Link to Your Data
Map Features
Find and Edit
Map Data

View and Link to Your Data

Unlike street mapping programs, BusinessMAP is designed for those professionals who want to visualize their unique business information by converting records from spreadsheets, contact managers, databases, and phone directories to symbols on a map. BusinessMAP not only plots database points on maps but, also allows you to perform color-code analysis, geographic searches, territory design, and much more!

BusinessMAP works with YOUR programs

BusinessMAP reads data in various formats, and also integrates with popular contact management software such as ACT!, GoldMine, Outlook, and Excel. A BusinessMAP button can be added to the toolbar of these applications whereby you can launch BusinessMAP and create a map of selected records or contacts. This integration also allows you to start work in BusinessMAP and send results back to other applications. An example is to select contacts in BusinessMAP by location and send results back to your contact manager for a mail merge.

Formats read by BusinessMAP include

• Access (.mdb)
• dBASE (.dbf)
• Excel (.xls)
• Lotus 1-2-3 (.wk3/.wk4)
• Paradox (.db)
• text (.txt, .asc, .csv)
• ODBC supported databases

Map Features

• Ring Study and Drive Time Analysis
• Multilevel territory design by point and click or by database
• Map templates
• Layer control to customize your map
• One-click zoom in/zoom out
• Hundreds of map symbols
• Vary map symbol shape, size, and color based on data values
• Add text and symbols anywhere on the map
• Multiple zoom levels, down to one block at streets level
• Measure distance between points
• Save, open, and print maps
• Set map scale with up to four divisions for precise distance
• Add shapefiles (ESRI map layer standard) from external sources
• Color-coding of maps with up to 150 color ranges
• Tools for drawing lines and shapes on the map
• Print Preview
• Print large scale maps on a plotter
• Add raster map data such as aerial photos and topographic maps

Find and Edit

• Use Boolean logic search with multiple conditions
• Find by address, ZIP Code, county, area code, city, highway, contact, and more
• Find on the map by circle, rectangle, and polygon tools
• Find nearby point of interest around a center point or along a route
• Search inside a territories for all customers, prospects, or other map attributes
• Click, edit, and drag legends, titles, and labels
• Change map colors
• Change text fonts
• Change zoom level at which the map layers are displayed
• Add/remove map layers to create a custom map
• Perform geographic searches (query by distance)
• Connect a GPS receiver for accurate positioning at one second intervals

Map Data

• GDT Dynamap®/Transportation-enhanced streets for the United States and Canada
• Over 18 million businesses from Dun & Bradstreet
• State, county, ZIP Code, and census tract boundaries
• ZIP Code center points and boundaries
• More than 35,000 cities
• Highways and waterways
• Congressional district boundaries
• U.S. census data by state, county, ZIP Code, and census tract with estimates and projections from ESRI Business Information Solutions
• Major U.S. commercial airports
• Shaded color relief maps for the USA and individual states
• Detailed user guide with sample applications
• Sample Map book
• Video demonstrations

Optional Map Data (additional cost)

• European Dataset (Tele Atlas)
• Aerial Photos (subscription direct from Maptech) (30-day free trial)
• Topo Maps (direct from Maptech)

Database Mapping

BusinessMAP lets users visualize their own data, by connecting to contact management and database software. See customer concentrations, analyze sales, create territories by database, and more.

• Plot database records by latitude/longitude, 3 or 5-digit ZIP Code, county, or street address
• Add databases in any of these file formats -- .dbf, .db, .mdb, .txt, .asc, .csv, .xls, .wk3, and wk4
• In addition, you can add any ODBC compliant database to BusinessMAP
• Customize viewed fields in the database browser window
• Sort and sum data in the database window
• Database records are linked to the associated map symbol so you can ID the map feature to view the detailed record, or double click the database record to zoom to the feature on the map.

Use these database, spreadsheet, organizer, and contact manager packages:

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View and Link to Your Data

Unlike street mapping programs, BusinessMAP is designed for those professionals who want to visualize their unique business information by converting records from spreadsheets, contact managers, databases, and phone directories to symbols on a map. BusinessMAP not only plots database points on maps but, also allows you to perform color-code analysis, geographic searches, territory design, and much more!

BusinessMAP works with YOUR Programs

BusinessMAP reads data in various formats, and also integrates with popular contact management software such as ACT!, GoldMine, Outlook, and Excel. A BusinessMAP button can be added to the toolbar of these applications whereby you can launch BusinessMAP and create a map of selected records or contacts. This integration also allows you to start work in BusinessMAP and send results back to other applications. An example is to select contacts in BusinessMAP by location and send results back to your contact manager for a mail merge.

Formats read by BusinessMAP include

• Access (.mdb)
• dBASE (.dbf)
• Excel (.xls)
• Lotus 1-2-3 (.wk3/.wk4)
• Paradox (.db)
• text (.txt, .asc, .csv)
• ODBC supported databases

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Create and Balance Sales and Service Territories

BusinessMAP allows you to manage and balance sales and service regions, territories, and districts. States, counties, three and five-digit ZIP Codes, census tracts, and city limits -- virtually any geographic area or combination of areas -- can be used in creating sales or service territories. BusinessMAP includes an engine to structure territories by sales, number of customers, and service providers.

Territories can be created quickly or more interactively by letting BusinessMAP automatically create territories using your database of geography assignments. Different geographic boundaries can be mixed such as counties and ZIP Codes in your territory design.

BusinessMAP contains a four-level hierarchical territory design engine. This allows you to construct territories and group them into national, regional, and local areas, etc. Data can be summarized by territory or region to analyze performance and make decisions concerning territory realignment.

BusinessMAP allows you to perform territory balancing, a feature normally only available in packages costing thousands of dollars. Instead of shading areas on a paper map, you can create a territory map that can be easily updated and reprinted as territory sales volume or sales representatives change.

In addition, BusinessMAP reduces the time involved in creating sales and service territories. You can split the country into regions using revenue by state, service centers by county, or telemarketing regions by ZIP Code. By creating maps using only those states you want in each territory, you have instant access to accurate information by region.

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Calculate Routes and Perform Call Planning

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Find Nearby Businesses

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Create Reports Using Familiar Microsoft Office Applications

BusinessMAP helps organizations integrate maps into their reports. With BusinessMAP, users can create reports in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint using pre-defined templates or create their own.

BusinessMAP includes report templates such as:

• Automotive Aftermarket Expenditures
• Disposable Income Profile by ZIP Code
• Disposable Income Profile by Census Tract
• Census Tract Ring Study
• Net Worth Profile by ZIP Code
• Sales and Per Capita Income by ZIP Code
• Net Worth Profile by Census Tract
• Restaurant Market Potential
• Demographic Profile
• Income Profile
• Dealer Sales by Product
• Business Summary
• County Market Profile
• Financial Expenditures
• Medical Expenditures

In addition to the pre-set templates, you can create “Simple Reports” whereby the current map and database selection are pasted into Word, Excel, or PowerPoint as specified.

Report templates can be created using either of two methods -- using VBA script or using markup tags. The markup tags allow you to create simple templates. For more robust templates, those familiar with programming can create templates using VBA script as in the ones listed above.

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Integrate Maps into Your Presentations

BusinessMAP offers full map customization capability. Users can choose which map layers appear on the map, colors, line thickness, labeling, and map symbols.

BusinessMAP can filter the map to show one or several states or define an area of interest that consists only of your selected grouping of ZIP Codes, counties, or census tracts.

With BusinessMAP, users have a variety of methods to publish and share their maps and analysis. Maps can be printed ranging in size from large wall charts to page inserts for day planners. Maps can be saved in a variety of digital formats -- .bmp, .jpg, .tif, .gif, .eps, .png, .tga, .pcx, .wmf, .emf, and .htm (Web page) for use with other applications. Maps and step-by-step driving directions can be transferred to any device using the Palm operating system.

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Perform Market and Demographic Analysis More Effectively

BusinessMAP takes your business information and creates meaningful maps from rows and columns of data. Suddenly, revenue by region, advertising campaigns, and market concentrations are simple to analyze.

BusinessMAP supports mapping of both raster and vector data. By supporting vector data, BusinessMAP allows data to be displayed as interactive pushpin or color-coded maps representing sales, population, and competitive activity. Raster maps used in travel planners are static and do not allow color coding.

BusinessMAP includes more than 500 U.S. Census 2000-based demographic variables provided down to the census tract level by ESRI Business Information Solutions. More than 500 consumer expenditure variables for automotive, insurance, financial, restaurant, retail spending, and medical industries are included at the state and county levels. This data is useful for many types of customer and prospecting analyses. BusinessMAP also contains all new geographic data (ZIP Codes, streets, etc.) with high-quality maps.

In addition, BusinessMAP reduces the time involved in creating sales and service territories. You can split the country into regions using revenue by state, service centers by county, or telemarketing regions by ZIP Code. By creating maps using only those states you want in each territory, you have instant access to accurate information by region.

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Create Ring Studies and Drive Time Analysis

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Create Targeted Mail Lists

BusinessMAP makes creating a targeted mailing a snap! You can create geographically targeted direct mail campaigns, identify key prospects in your region, and distribute leads effectively.

Simply draw a circle, rectangle, or polygon around the geographic area you are targeting. Instantly, BusinessMAP provides a list of only those contacts within the area you have specified.

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Prospect for Clients with an Integrated Database

The Dun & Bradstreet database of over 18 million business listings is integrated into BusinessMAP and can be searched by business name, location, description, business, or SIC code down to eight-digit detail. Other D&B fields provided include business name, D-U-N-S number, address, city, state, ZIP Code, telephone, annual sales range, employee range, and more.

Search results are plotted on the map and can be viewed in the BusinessMAP database window.

Note: All D&B fields except sales and employee ranges are exportable in .dbf format at additional cost.

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GPS Enabled

BusinessMAP is GPS enabled so it is now possible to locate and track your position using a standard GPS receiver that supports NMEA 2.0 or higher and has a PC connection.

Connecting a GPS tracks your position on the map

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