MapPoint Refugees Do Have a Place to Go

As Microsoft MapPoint users continue to turn to Map Business Online for a MapPoint replacement, I thought it might be valuable for website visitors, new users and trial users to understand why Map Business Online is the best business mapping software that very purpose.

Your Sales Territories

We find many ex-MapPoint users used the tool for sales territory management. MapPoint sales territory tools were applied by retail store chains, franchise companies, large industrial sales organizations and even single user sales people.

We competed directly with MapPoint for years; decades if you count our time publishing BusinessMap. As the years passed our finest MapPoint-like feature turned out to be sales territory mapping. Carly Simon wrote a song about it – Nobody Does it Better.  You will find our territory tools to be intuitive and robust. Users like the option of importing existing lists of territories or creating territories by selecting counties, states and zips incrementally.  The tool includes an easy-to-use territory adjustment button as well as overlap display, which means any areas you’ve pulled in by accident are quickly identified and adjusted.

Color shading is fast and easily amended for color differentiation across your subject area. You’ll find controls over administrative jurisdictions for fill, color variation, boundary thickness, transparency, and labeling.

Map Business Online allows the territory map user to easily aggregate sales dollars and other numeric values from your data imports into territory labels or jurisdiction labels. The tool also lets users append included demographic data layers into the very same labels or pull demographic data territory analysis.  Your territory maps quickly display areas of responsibility, coverages, and demographic realities.  Export reports as required. Drive accountability into your organization through territory mapping.  Look for further territory enhancements in the near future.

Visualizing Your Business

Then there are those former MapPoint users who just want to see their customers against an accurate map of the USA, Canada or the UK. Map Business Online provides an easy dataset import. Place your customer or prospect lists on the map. Symbolize and color code as necessary.

Spatial and data filtering queries may be applied to your imported data to create marketing campaigns, mailing lists, periodic sales targets, or routing stops. You can choose to aggregate imported numeric data values into jurisdiction or territory labels as required. Think – posting sales results on a shared business map.

Map Business Online integrates with both Act! and Saleforce.com for easy CRM data imports.

Demographic Data Included

Map Business Online includes a comprehensive array of Census Bureau sourced demographic data layers. Ex-MapPointers can conduct demographic analysis on business areas of interest. Multiple demographic layers can be imported into your market analysis and arrange geographically and exported out as .csv file reports.

Map Business Online nationwide geographic layers including city limits, counties, 5 and 3-digit zip codes, Census tracts, MSA’s, and states can all be color shaded based on demographic themes.

Metropolitan Statistical Areas

Metropolitan Statistical Areas

Route Management

MapPoint user got used to a huge variety of route tools during MapPoint’s heyday.  Many of those advanced fleet management features are only available in advanced database products like Esri, Route Smart or Telogis. Bring your wallet and your Dad’s wallet. But Map Business online does provide optimized routing for up to 100 stops per route. The routing tool will present turn-by-turn directions, and estimated times and mileages for your trip. Best of all, routing capabilities can be shared with non-subscribers through Map Business Online interactive web MapSharing.  Your map viewers can create their own optimized routes with up to 100 stops.

We’ve also added a new SDK, a software development kit that can programmatically automate data imports and exports, and also includes access to calculated optimized route stops. you are going to need a programmer to use the SDK. Look for more routing enhancements in the near future.

Map Sharing

MapPoint refugees realize maps are for sharing. Map Business Online make map sharing easy and affordable whether you want to print large wall maps, share jpeg files, or link you team to interactive web maps of your sales territory map. It’s all there. You can even share maps for collaborative editing between full subscribers with Map Business Online Team Edition.

Oh yeah. and there is one more thing Map Business Online has in common with Microsoft MapPoint – more than our competitors. We’re affordable. If you find a more affordable solution please send me  a link.

So the next time you find your 30 something son weeping in the basement over MapPoint’s demise, turn him onto www.MapBusinessOnline.com. He’ll be out of the house before you know it!

Find out why over 25,000 business users log into www.MapBusinessOnline.com

Contact: Geoffrey Ives geoffives@spatialteq.com (800) 425-9035, (207) 939-6866

MapPoint users – please consider www.MapBusinessOnline.com as your MapPoint Replacement.

Please read customer reviews or review us at Capterra, or at the Salesforce.com AppExchange.

About Geoffrey Ives

Geoffrey Ives lives and works in southwestern Maine. He grew up in Rockport, MA and graduated from Colby College. Located in Maine since 1986, Geoff joined DeLorme Publishing in the late 1990's and has since logged twenty-five years in the geospatial software industry. In addition to business mapping, he enjoys playing classical & jazz piano, gardening, and taking walks in the Maine mountains with his Yorkshire Terrier named Skye.
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