MalaysiaGIS.com

Virtual Map's chief operating officer Firdhaus Akber said VM GIS is designed to be easy to understand as it is intended for the public.

"The GIS presentation is more pleasant to the eye due to raster images rather than the vector type," he said.

VM GIS comes with analysis tools and map data of almost all major cities in the Asia-Pacific. The package's strength lies in its simplified GIS that is customised to meet customers needs, according to Firdhaus.

He claimed that VM GIS is the most powerful planning tool, with an extensive database of physical demographics, traffic, buildings and photographic information.

The GIS package includes varying map symbols, zoom and division of maps based on zones and subzones.

Users can also add text or icons anywhere on the map. It also offers unlimited map data layers and integrates customised layers from users' data. Users can search for amenities or find data by way of address, postal code, landmark and street.

"It is the most precise GIS information package around. We keep updating the information every three months," Firdhaus said.

VM GIS is suitable for industries such as retail, waste management, logistics and businesses that rely on location information, he said, adding that the product is currently used by 20 businesses.

Source: The New Straits Times

By the end of June next year, the company hopes to secure about 30 new customers.

"We believe 60 per cent of potential users would be from the retail sector," Firdhaus told Computimes, adding that there are not competing products.

Users who have signed-up for the maintenance package contract will get free data updates each time it is made available. However, the software upgrade needs to be purchased separately.

VM GIS is priced at RM8,000 to RM12,000 per user license. By middle of next year, the company plans to open a research and development centre for direction-on-demand solutions that detect the fastest ways of getting to a location.

"We are going to educate the market on the benefits of using location-based software," Firdhaus said.

All Virtual Map's solutions are available at its Web sites at www.virtual-map.com and www.streetdirectory.com which is a free portal for users to find buildings and streets in Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Thailand, Indonesia and Taiwan.

The solutions available are Internet services with VM Maplite, VM Campus/Facilities Maps, VM Retail Locator and racking and navigation services. Some of these solutions are also WAP-enabled to allow browsing via phones and personal digital assistants.

Virtual Map (S) Pte Ltd's solution are distributed locally by Rimman VM (M) Sdn Bhd.