Sharing information has become much easier. Gone are the days of mailing a letter or sending a post card. Frankly I’m glad for it. I prefer much faster turnaround on conversations and the increased productivity that results from it. In the GIS world, sharing of information and maps has been a little behind the curve. Many companies still email kmz or shape files back and forth with address, pole, route, or other network information because it’s about the most efficient way to share such data. Thankfully Esri has been investing in a solution to this problem called ArcGIS Online (AGOL).
This is a platform where you can share (internally with your company or externally) network data or full maps you’ve made. This is allowing sales people to see route information, operations to see historical outages or customer locations, and other departments to make marketing material without bogging down your GIS department. While this isn’t quite taken over the telecommunications world, it’s very prevalent in other industries and will soon catch on with us old telecom people as well.
At 3-GIS, we’re investing in helping telecom companies leverage this information in a simple and secure way. While AGOL can’t help you edit your telecom network data, it can inform your design process and provide critical information from cities, contractors, or customers in a timely fashion without the same old email and import routine. We believe having real-time and accurate information from multiple parties is critical to being successful in this competitive market. AGOL can be a useful tool for sharing this information and that’s why we’re making it a big part of our 3-GIS Network Solution.
If you’re interested in a solution that’s helping companies improve communication both internally and externally then give us a call.