Pitney Bowes Launches Spectrum Spacial Geolocation Platform

Pitney Bowes yesterday launched the Spectrum Spatial platform, built on its own MapInfotechnology and the Spectrum Technology Platform, to deliver advanced location intelligence to businesses.

The goal of the system is to help "marry organizational data with location to help businesses make critical decisions that improve performance," says James Buckley, senior vice president and general manager of the Location Intelligence line at Pitney Bowes.

"Our rich spatial analytical capabilities in both Spectrum Spatial and our MapInfo product lines enable our clients to gain real insight and intelligence into their customer base in terms of where they live, work, and travel," he adds. "This enables smarter marketing and sales strategies to be established.

According to Buckley, Spectrum Spatial "can deliver critical components required to power a real-time location-based advertising ecosystem."

Facebook, for example, uses the international reverse geocoding functionality, and Twitter uses the rich spatial data catalogue. These components "provide context to help drive the right message to the right person at the right time," Buckley says.

The company is quick to point out, though, that all the location data used by social media clients is collected through check-ins at certain locations. "No one is monitoring your location without your consent. You have to opt-in," a Pitney Bowes spokesperson says.

Other capabilities of the Spectral Spacial system include the following:

• Address Management, Geocoding and Reverse Geocoding, validating, standardizing, and correcting addresses in 250 countries and territories. Geocoding and reverse geocoding capabilities provide a precise set of coordinates based on the X and Y axes.
• Spatial Data Analysis, which features functionality such as "Find Nearest," which locates the points of interest that are nearest to a given location, as well as locate distance between two points.
• Routing, which provides the ability to obtain driving or walking directions, calculate drive time/distance, and identify locations within a certain time or distance from a starting point.
• Packaged Browser-based Mapping Application, which enables business users and decision-makers, based on their access rights, to interact with data and spatial information on an intuitive mapping interface.

Spectrum Spacial can also pull insights from other business, spatial, and third-party data systems. It integrates for example, with business intelligence systems, adding location data to BI results for a more complete view of customers.

Just this week, Pitney Bowes announced a partnership with SAP to develop geospatial and location intelligence solutions using the SAP HANA platform. As part of this agreement, Pitney Bowes will develop and market new business intelligence (BI) and mobile solutions that run on SAP HANA and market these solutions in priority markets, industries, and geographies.

"Through this strategic agreement with SAP, we are furthering our commitment to clients by helping them become more competitive and successful with the strategic use of advanced data and location technologies," said Mark Wright, president of digital commerce solutions at Pitney Bowes, in a statement. "Pitney Bowes will bundle and sell SAP HANA licenses with its Spectrum Spatial product. The spatially enabled solutions running on SAP HANA will help telecommunications companies build more profitable coverage maps, help consumer packaged goods companies refine their supply chain processes, and offer oil and gas providers a way to optimize product and pricing strategies."

"SAP is excited to collaborate and partner with Pitney Bowes," said Mark Ferrer, executive vice president of ecosystem and channels at SAP, in a statement. "By combining the power of SAP HANA as a platform with Pitney Bowes location services through Spectrum Spatial, we can help businesses heighten the experience they offer to customers and employees. This exciting collaboration will provide unmatched real-time data and services in areas ranging from asset management to customer loyalty."

Domino's Pizza implemented Spectrum Spatial in Australia and New Zealand to help improve productivity and increase revenue.

"With some areas rapidly expanding and developing, it is vital that Domino's has an up-to-date view of its franchise territories. Pitney Bowes Software has let Domino's update its territories as required. Accurate territories mean we do not waste time and energy marketing to dead addresses or missing out on new opportunities. It also minimizes any territory disputes,” said Wayne McMahon, chief information officer at Domino’s Pizza, in a statement.

Spectrum is also the name given to Pitney Bowes' data management platform,  incorporating master data management capabilities with a future-proof approach that helps organizations build, extend, understand, and leverage complex relationships and hierarchies within and across organizational boundaries and into the realm of social networks and big data.

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