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What you don't know can hurt you

In almost every corporation in the world, managers are being asked to do more with less. At the same time competition and the speed at which decisions are made has accelerated. Twenty years ago, companies could plan their strategies over a period of months. Implementation could take years. Now employees are required to make crucial decisions on a daily even hourly basis. Fast decisions require up to the minute information. That's where we come in. SITUATION is designed to keep you current on the disposition of your firm's assets.

What is SITUATION?

Designed by FutureChalk Software Inc., SITUATION is an application tool kit for keeping track of your resources. It allows you to create, simply and easily, a custom program for locating virtually anything your company owns. Mobile assets such as vehicles can be tracked through its Global Positioning System (GPS) interface. SITUATION supports a wide range of databases. More than likely, it can be integrated with your cuurent operating system. SITUATION can access data from your existing system and your data system can access SITUATION. You do not have to create a new database to work with the System. In most cases, SITUATION can take advantage of the work you've already done, saving you time and money.

How SITUATION works

SITUATION uses mathematical coordinates to show the location of your resources on maps. It is point and click driven allowing the user to drag and drop represntational symbols. These symbols can be selected from the System's graphic catalogue or custom designed using graphics saved in Windows Metafile Format (WMF) for Windows platforms or PICT and TIFF files for Apple Macintosh platforms. The position of resources can be manually updated or, using Global Positioning System (GPS) technology, real time tracking. The system can be configured for several different scenarios.

SITUATION gives you a bird's eye view of your resources. It can even keep track of your bird

When a tracked object moves outside the boundaries of the on-screen map, a new map window opens. Up to 9 map windows can be displayed at one time.

Maps

SITUATION maps are raster graphics pictures loaded from files. A wide range of maps is available for SITUATION or, if you prefer, you can load your own custom maps. Map borders need not run parallel with the x-y coordinate axes, but they must show some bounded area within the coordinate system.

Maps are displayed in an adjustable window which allows the viewing of subsections of the map through the use of scroll-bars. As many as nine map windows can be displayed on the screen at one time. If a resource is selected on a map and then moves outside of the map boundaries, another map within whose boundaries the object is located will automatically open or, if already open, come to the front.

Communications options

SITUATION works with radio and cellular networks such as CDPD, VHF, MSAT and many others. The System can also be customized to work with virtually any communications hardware with which it is not already compatible.

SITUATION makes ambulance management more efficient by making it easier for controllers to estimate, without continually querying drivers, how soon a unit will become available and its proximity to an accident or hospital.