Monday 30 November 2015

RouteShoot moves to Exeter Science Park

RouteShoot is excited to announce that it will be making it's move this week into the state-of-the-art, UK’s 70th and newest Science Park – following on from their successful Exeter R&D Center set up.

RouteShoot; who were based at the Innovation Centre in Exeter until November 2015, will be moving to the Exeter Science Park on the 1st December. The new Centre has been designed to facilitate ‘open Innovation’ collaborative working to support the growth of R&D-intensive businesses and is one of several elements which make up the Exeter and East Devon Growth Point.


The move comes at an exciting time for RouteShoot; as they are currently moving into new markets.

The company, founded in 2012, offers the latest innovation in Geo-referenced video, route tracking and collaborative working.

Its innovative approach is a combination of the RouteShoot smartphone application and a dedicated website, which allows users to monitor their infrastructure across the world and share their Geo-referenced video with colleagues, customers and other stakeholders.


Exeter and the South West demonstrate a track record in innovation and entrepreneurship, where start-ups have attracted more than $550 million in investment and returned more than $800 million to shareholders.

The South West combines innovation and technology excellence, a great mix of universities with both academic and venture focus and an established reputation in attracting leading tech firms while providing great incubation and support for earlier stage business.

Tuesday 24 November 2015

RouteShoot appointed to G-Cloud 7 Framework

What is better than being on cloud nine? Perhaps being on G-Cloud 7...

UK-based Geo-referenced video specialist RouteShoot has been awarded a place on the latest UK Government’s G-Cloud framework, RM1557vii for its market leading Smartphone app and GPS tagged video solution.


Inclusion within the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) framework will allow RouteShoot to offer its pioneering technology to the public sector under the category of Software as a Service (SaaS).

G-Cloud is an innovative framework which offers the most up to date cloud services available for the public sector. Distinctly, instead of paying for services which bind people to inflexible and long-term contracts, subscribers to G-Cloud pay for services as they use them. Such services can be bought through 'Cloud Store' which is now known as the 'Digital Marketplace'.

The key role and the leading purpose of G-Cloud is to encourage and make it much easier for a number of public sector organisations, local authorities, government branches and NHS to call-off different cloud-based services. This framework also aims to provide UK businesses the necessary package of opportunities that will help them win UK Government contracts. By enabling the public sector organisations to access and subscribe to internet-based computing, G-Cloud 7 excludes the need for investing in traditional self delivered IT solutions. The effortless and cost-effective way to access and benefit from computing resources via a framework agreement turns G-Cloud into commodity-based ‘scaffolding’ that covers infrastructure, platform, software and specialist cloud services. The agility and rapid deployment of pay as you go cloud services guarantee's the ultimate value and the quality of service delivery.

Since its conception in 2012 the G-Cloud initiative has made it mandatory for central government to adopt a “cloud first” policy. This policy dictates the consideration of cloud-based IT solutions before other options and encourages the public sector to do this by providing a list of pre-approved suppliers and the ability for consumers to search by various technology attributes.

Gary Wilson Director at RouteShoot said: ‘We are incredibly proud to have been awarded a place on G-Cloud 7. Our services are now in front of the right people in the right organisations, streamlining our service provisions to the public service.’

RouteShoot has an established track record and ongoing pipeline of work to help the public sector manage its risk, reduce costs and save time.

RouteShoot's full offering can be found on the Digital Marketplace G-Cloud framework page.

Monday 5 October 2015

Avoid Roaming Charges and still use RouteShoot abroad this winter

Worried about roaming charges on your winter sports holiday? 

By planning ahead it is possible to have maps and GPS positioning on your phone without incurring data charges.


Most smartphones data roam by default, and this allows you to get instant notifications from apps such as Facebook and Twitter. However you can turn this off and still use RouteShoot, which, unlike Google Maps, does not require data roaming.

Top tips for using your phone abroad:

Switch off data roaming:

  • iPhone – Settings > General > Cellular > Data Roaming – Off.
  • Android – Uncheck data roaming at Settings>Wireless & Networks >Mobile Networks.

If you want to use data roaming when abroad:

Contact your network provider to talk about data bundles available to purchase.

Maintain battery power:

If you have taken your phone abroad in case of an emergency, battery power is essential. Reducing the brightness of your screen and closing any apps running in the background will increase your battery life.

Use free Wi-Fi:

Identify a cafe or restaurant offering free Wi-Fi and use this to do any data applications, such as checking your emails, or social media.

Buy a local sim card:

If you are staying for a long period of time consider purchasing a local pay as you go sim card with a pre-installed data bundle.

Monday 21 September 2015

Interactive School Bus Route Mapping

The simplest ideas are often the most effective. Our interactive bus route maps for schools are just what parents want.

As an operator who offers a school bus service, one of the issues you may face is explaining your routes to parents and pupils. After speaking with other service providers, most tend to provide either printed or digital maps of the routes available, but find that young school children often don't know the local area well enough to interpret the maps. Therefore, operators have been looking for another way of showing this information. 



RouteShoot allows you to record the routes using a free, easy to download smartphone app and play them back alongside a map. Accessing the data captured via your very own website, with videos publicly available to both parents and pupils.

Locate your collection point on the map, click on the route and the area related to your stop is clearly shown.

Our interactive Bus Routes are for any school with any amount of routes. Yes it is simple and effective and low cost to implement!

Thursday 3 September 2015

RouteShoot for Disaster Relief

The capabilities, efficient team collaboration, and flexibility of RouteShoot can be easily leveraged for disaster preparation, response, and relief efforts. Any form of disaster preparation requires plenty of data collection, and RouteShoot is a great, cost efficient alternative to other GPS equipment. In addition, RouteShoot can be used for collecting infrastructure information, documenting homes for insurance purposes before a storm, and so much more.

After a disaster, RouteShoot can be quickly deployed to the field with minimal training and preparation; and since most people have smart phones or tablets anyway, there’s no need to obtain any equipment — and the “bring your own device” model that crisis response agencies need becomes a reality.



RouteShoot users (whether organisation employees or volunteers) can be in the field reporting damage the minute a storm has passed, even if cellular networks are down. Data collected pre-storm, coupled with post-storm assessment information can greatly aid in relief efforts. RouteShoot allows for data to be uploaded in near real time, so someone sitting at a relief organisation’s HQ can be monitoring the damage as soon as field users sync their collected data.

If you think RouteShoot could help assist your relief efforts, be sure to get in touch for a demo to see a field solution ready for rapid and effective deployment.

We will be happy to answer any questions you may have about RouteShoot and how to make use of it before and after an event.

Monday 17 August 2015

Unleashing Equestrian Potential

A horse riders companion; ride and record your route, share with friends and family, edit and view online.

Once you have stopped recording you can then save and share your rides with friends via Email or Social Media. You can also view and edit your rides via the www.RouteShoot.com website.

Main Features:
  • Videos get stored in the Cloud, so they won’t affect your phones storage
  • Record in SD or HD and measure the course
  • Photograph jumps, video lines and record audio all plotted alongside a route
  • Capture statistics including speed, elevation, distance and time
  • Enable bookmarks to capture up to 3 different types of 'Point' and 'Linear' points of interest
  • Available internationally for iOS, Android and Windows
  • Free to download
Create an equestrian course map by combining video and GPS straight from your Smartphone. 

RouteShoot is a combination of the RouteShoot website and the RouteShoot mobile application, which allows users to share their favourite routes with friends, family and those with similar interests.

RouteShoot helps riders review data using our web-based visualisation tools and access video playback alongside its route.

Visit www.RouteShoot.com now for your free 30 day trial.

Monday 10 August 2015

Corporate Governance and RouteShoot

The administration of local road networks in countries which are largely poor and fragmented has put a drag on inclusive growth prospects, weighing on farmer fisheries and tourism development.

National governments are now launching national programs to upgrade national and local road networks, but there are major challenges in realising the strategic roads investments vision.

Most local governments, have no comprehensive, open, and validated map to their road network. Main road investment programs have historically been both opaque and highly politicised. Tracking public roads investments from budgeting, procurement, implementation, audit, and maintenance has more often than not been a broken chain.

With governance and public infrastructure delivery challenges on a vast scale there are no silver bullets, but better information and stakeholder information and engagement will clearly need to be an ingredient of this effort.

Our infographic below details the cycle of how RouteShoot is helping contribute to that aim with the World Bank out in the Philippines.


Friday 24 July 2015

RouteShoot in Vanuatu

RouteShoot are delighted to welcome on-board our client from Vanuatu.

Port Vila Urban Development Project is a Donor funded project that is currently 80% of the way through the detailed design, with construction due to start in a few months.

Over the past 12 months, the design of all the road upgrading, drainage and sanitation under the project has been finalised in preparation for the construction of roads and drainage facilities. 

The project is the most significant investment in the country since independence 33 years ago and is a jointly funded initiative of the Government of Vanuatu, Australian Aid and the Asian Development Bank.


The Challenge


The Design, Supervision and Capacity Development Team working out in Vanuatu on the Port Vila Urban Development Project were looking for a tablet application with the ability to quickly and easily record video of a road related design and construction activity, and then have the information available via a map.

''RouteShoot's platform has proven very useful during the design stage of the project, allowing designers and drafters quick and easy reference to the physical landscape''.

During construction activities, it is proposed that supervision teams would have the ability to record construction issues out in the field, aswell as add comments and flags (such as Contract Variation and defects), whilst Community liaison teams back in the office needed to be able to record details and again log various further action.

Before RouteShoot


Prior to RouteShoot the team out in Vanuatu were capturing data via digital cameras and still data was filed in generic style filing formats. The volume of data collection and management as well as their need to complete projects efficiently was restricted by the delay between collecting data in the field and analysing it back at office to determine the next steps of their projects.

Now...


Data collection, observations, and general management of the Port Vila Urban Development Project now operates in near real-time and this has changed things significantly for the project team.

Further to this, RouteShoot has also been used in recently presenting to the client where a projection of the design model was viewed in conjunction with Route Shoot video and map presentation.

Wednesday 8 July 2015

RouteShoot Infographic by the Numbers

In early 2012, developments in technology - which saw full 1080p HD video recording incorporated into a smartphone (such as the iPhone 4) - meant that it became possible to achieve what several specialist companies offer using just the everyday devices available in most people’s pockets.

RouteShoot was born!

We give you the numbers so far...

Sign up for a 30 day free trial of RouteShoot and see what you can make of your mobile data capture!

Monday 29 June 2015

An introduction...

Hello! I’m Jamila from Switzerland and I am undertaking an internship abroad in Exeter working for RouteShoot for five weeks. You will find me assisting with social media, blogging, video marketing, email marketing and events publicity.


The place I come from called “Montagnola”, is a small Swiss village in Collina d'Oro municipality. Located in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, it is close to the border between Switzerland and Italy. It looks over Lake Lugano and the city of Lugano upon it.


I'm currently studying full time as a Graphic Designer at the Educational Center for Artistic Industries (CSIA) in Lugano and have just finished my 3rd year. During my time at CSIA i have gained valuable work experience with Graphic Design studios in Ticino.

I think my internship abroad is a good chance to improve my command of English and I look forward to working with and contributing to the RouteShoot team

Jamila Rickenbach

Friday 19 June 2015

New and Improved RouteShoot

Recently, the RouteShoot website has been completely redesigned. In addition to loads of new content, new price plans, and a totally new look, we have also made some improvements to the user platform and the app!

Platform

The RouteShoot platform is where all of the magic happens so we thought we'd share with you a few of the changes that have occurred over the past few weeks.

  • RouteShoot Journal - Dynamic Thumbnails in the user activity feed now show the conversion progress.
  • Support for WMS (web map service) - The RouteShoot platform now supports custom base maps.
  • Custom Map Thumbnails - Users custom maps can now be viewed in thumbnails alongside the video via the activity feed.
  • Routeshoot Route Line - The colour of the route line can now be customised to your preference.

In addition to the amendments, frequent visitors to business.routeshoot.com may have noticed that the platform got a bit of a facelift recently. Once that endeavor went live, we immediately took aim at doing the same thing for our website.


www.RouteShoot.com

Earlier this week we rolled out a complete redesign of the RouteShoot website with a new look & feel, cleaner interface, and a more comprehensive overview of the RouteShoot product and options available to the user. Visit www.RouteShoot.com now to take a look at the richer, easier to navigate, snazzy new website!


The RouteShoot App

Our latest version of RouteShoot for Windows has just gone live on the Windows Phone Store, and is bringing some great new functionality to the product. We’ve been making big strides to get our Windows app to the place where it’ll be a fantastic data collection platform for teams working on gathering data out in the field. Below are a list of updates in version 1.1.0.9:
  • Duration and file size of the video now appears in the library display
  • The ability to delete the video and KML from the library has now been actioned
  • The order in which the items are displayed in the library is now time descending
  • A position marker has been added to the video playback map
  • Better user feedback for issues relating to GPS
  • The recorder timer is now visible on the display screen
  • The option to track GPS position on playback has also been added
  • Bookmarking feature is now enabled

Download the latest version of RouteShoot from the Windows Phone Store now to get access to a couple of cool new features!

Keep up with the latest RouteShoot news by following us on Twitter!

Future Highways 2015 - The KIA Oval Cricket Ground

The RouteShoot Team have just returned from London following a great Future Highways Conference. This was our first Future Highways Conference, and as with many of these exhibitions, the best thing about attending is being surrounded by all the creative energy of folks excited about implementing innovative stuff!


General Observations

  • The conference venue was an excellent choice with fantastic views over the oval cricket ground.
  • The recommended hotel was a good call, easy to get to and within walking distance to get to the venue itself. 
  • The food was exceptionally good and there were plenty of open spaces which was a plus for socialising and general networking. 

Key Takeaways

  • Conference speakers continued to impress with entertaining and insightful talks relating to the highways industry.
  • Over at the stand we met lots of interesting people - clients old and hopefully new.

RouteShoot at Future Highways 2015

Future Highways was a professional development opportunity for our team. Although there were responsibilities of manning a stand, we were still able to enjoy the sessions of our choosing, network with potential clients and come away with ideas to brainstorm what’s next for RouteShoot.


Attending events like Future Highways reinvigorates our creative approach, helps us personally connect with our clients and colleagues, and re-energises our commitment to building the best mobile video collection platform available.

Thursday 21 May 2015

The RouteShoot Platform Gets a Design Refresh

Frequent users may have noticed that the RouteShoot platform got a bit of a facelift recently. We originally went with the tried and true 'numbers in a line' layout in the main header, consisting of Speed, Elevation, Time and Distance.


However, we felt there was a certain lack of joy in the design of the old layout. There wasn’t necessarily anything wrong with it, but it didn't make make us feel pleased when we looked at it.

The rework began, the desire being to make the captured data a little more...shall we say...aesthetically pleasing, aswell as offering more information!

In doing so we replaced the Speed, Elevation, Time and Distance numbers with dials and summarised a display of captured statistics including:
  • Video Title
  • Location Address
  • Long/Lat Coordinates
  • Time & Date Stamp
As a result of the changes, the information captured is now available in an instant snap shot!


While we’re always making incremental improvements to the site, it’s nice to give things an overhaul now and then when they fall behind. Even something as straightforward as a design refresh can have many areas ripe for improvement when you focus on what really matters.

Check back with us in the coming weeks and months to see what else we send to the cutting room floor.

Wednesday 20 May 2015

Tips to help you get the most out of your Mobile Device.

So here you are trying to keep up with the ever-changing technology and you recently started to collect your data digitally though your Smartphone or tablet device. Beside all of the great advantages that this change has, you will probably quickly realise a few not so great things. 

The battery can drain quickly when the device is constantly being used.  The more you use your mobile device, the more prone you are to dropping and damaging it. 

The goal of this blog post is to provide RouteShoot users some solutions to these problems.

Maximize battery life

Out of all the problems, short battery life is probably the most common. Spending long days away from a power outlet or vehicle can leave you with little to no battery power on your smart device. Data collection done on your cell phone makes this even more of an issue. Here are some simple steps you can take to help retain power throughout the day.

Features like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are great but if you are not using it then it is unnecessarily draining your battery. Turn these features off when they are not in use.
If you are going to be working in a remote place where you know you will not have a data signal, turn off you data connection. Important Note: I would not recommend simply turning on airplane mode, because this mode turns off the internal GPS.

Close any apps running in the background. For iOS devices (iPhone/iPad), double-click the Home button to view the multitasking bar. Then swipe the apps upwards to close the apps running in the background. For Android devices – go to settings, applications, and then manage applications. Then tap on the app and select force stop. There are also third party apps that have auto-kill features.

Lower the brightness settings. This may work for you since most data collection is done outside during daylight hours.

Adjust the fetching frequency of apps on your mobile device. The more apps you have that periodically go and fetch data on the internet, the more battery power will be consumed. Purchase a battery backup. They are available for pretty much every Android and iOS device out there. Backup battery packs allow users to charge their device in the field when not near a vehicle or power outlet.

Protect your device

Protecting your smart device can often be overlooked when first purchasing. If you have ever dropped your phone or tablet and had the screen spider web with cracks, then you've probably learned the lesson the hard way. Mobile devices can get pretty expensive, so spending a little extra money for a good quality case should be a simple choice. 

When using a mobile device to do work, the cost of the device is not the only thing you should consider when and if the device breaks.Time lost not working and potential data loss should also be considered.

Increase the reliability and accuracy of the devices GPS

The accuracy and reliability of the internal GPS in mobile devices is probably one of the most overlooked issues a mobile data collector faces. While the GPS on most devices are pretty good, there are instances where they can be non-functioning and unreliable. To eliminate these problems an external GPS receiver will ensure that you have to make far less geo-position corrections and that you get the best reliability available.

There are a lot of different options available on the market. Some units connect directly to the device and are generally powered by the mobile device. Others have their own internal batteries and utilise Bluetooth technology to stay connected.


These are just a few ways to optimise mobile data collection.  For all of those actively in the field, we would love to hear your ideas and contributions. Please post your feedback and let us know what works for you.

Tuesday 19 May 2015

RouteShoot at the Future Highways 2015 Conference in London

The RouteShoot Team will be out in full force at the Future Highways 2015 Annual Conference in London next month! The must-attend event for highways professionals at the sharp end of service delivery and maintenance. 

This year's conference follows soon after the General Election, and will give the new transport minister, government agencies, and the wider industry an unparalleled opportunity to respond to the new government's highway priorities. 


The conference has lined up some great keynote talks as well as an impressive session schedule.
I will be Tweeting from the @RouteShoot twitter account, so be sure to follow us and monitor the #FutureHighways hashtag to keep up to date with everything that's happening.


If you are attending the conference, be on the lookout for Gary, Adam and Myself. We’ll be positioned on stand 16 so stop by and say hi!


Monday 18 May 2015

GPS Tagged Video for Oil and Gas Power Line Inspections

The protection of oil, gas and refined product pipelines against sabotage, illegal tapping and terrorist action, combined with the detection of leaks and in-line equipment failure, is a high priority in all countries, but has been notoriously difficult to achieve.
Oil and gas installations are critical infrastructure of high importance and value. If a pipeline is damaged, significant revenues will be lost, harm may be caused to the environment, and the leakage could be a potential danger to the local population. More importantly, a terrorist attack on an unprotected pipeline could have catastrophic consequences.

Across the world Oil and Gas companies manage this operation by undertaking aerial filming of the pipeline infrastructure. Conducted by helicopter, the 
external inspection monitoring of gas and oil pipelines integrity is costly and time-consuming.

Although Helicopters collect vast amounts of infrared and plain view video, along with gas data, sometimes they don't have an easy way to identify the geographic locations of all that information. Another issue users face is the ability to store and manage that data.

RouteShoot offers a simple cloud solution, for professionals to easily view and analyse aerial or ground-based geospatial video and other multimedia data within a standard or custom map in most operating systems. 

Combining video and photos with GPS data is an effective way to perform these important monitoring tasks with minimal additional investment, but with maximum return on investment.

When this geospatial video data is captured, pipeline operators and contractors are equipped with a permanent and visual record of not only what was seen, but also where to go to take preemptive action.

Wednesday 15 April 2015

Jockey's Eye View: RouteShoot - Video Technology for the Equine Industry

For English technology company RouteShoot, remote GPS data capture presents a new business opportunity featuring horses and equine management.

Ever wondered what it's like to:
  • Be on board one of the horses charging down the home stretch in the local derby?
  • Whilst competing, capture GPS tagged video, speed, elevation and the track map whether it be for post race analysis or just for the hell of it?
  • Store all of that recorded data in the cloud and then have the ability to share it with anyone, anywhere in the world?

In the EU, at least 6.4 million people practice equine sports – two percent of the population of member countries. The region counts over 4.4 million horses, or about 12 horses per thousand habitants.

Iberian sport horses figure among the most talented, popular breeds and today train and compete in elite events all over the world.

The horse industry plays a part in national, state and local economies in Europe, North America and South America. The equine sector is diverse, involving business, sport, gaming, recreation and generating specialised skills and general employment across the board. Competition and leisure activities involving horses are important business concerns!

What is RouteShoot?
RouteShoot is the latest innovation in video, route tracking and collaborative working. A platform that enables GPS tagged video and images to be recorded, uploaded, stored and shared online. 

The RouteShoot platform is comprised of three key components, a free Smartphone application, a video hosting option and a web-based data delivery system. Brought together as a package, these elements combine to provide users with a simple, flexible and complete solution.  

Think HD camera footage, streaming features and data collection capturing; speed, elevation, precision and accuracy.


How is it mounted?
Attached to a wearable harness such as the ' MiVeu Mounted Harness' we believe RouteShoot could hold huge potential for the equine industry.

Can it be used with drones?
Providing the drone has a smartphone compatible mount or RouteShoot supports the third party hardware already installed on the drone then in short, yes! The use of commercial drones has exploded across a number of industries in recent years. Some have already been adapted to deliver food, monitor endangered species and provide spectacular panoramic shots for film and journalistic purposes. 

However, in the equine world drones flying above are more commonly linked to spooking the horses out which could spell danger, and possible lifetime injuries. To combat these dangers you would need to layout the ground rules and stick by them, meaning stay away from crowds and do not flyover the horses at anytime.

The combination of video and route tracking within RouteShoot provides the user with a powerful tool which records not only what they saw but exactly where they were. There is no need to buy or hire expensive equipment; your existing smartphone turns into a data capture solution available in everyone's pocket.

There is nothing complicated about RouteShoot for the user, we do all of the work, putting together the video, GPS and attribute graphs, all you need to do is record and upload. Once you have uploaded, the video and GPS trace are stored on secure servers in the cloud so you do not have to keep the videos on your phone.

RouteShoot is available now to download on the Apple, Windows and Google Play Stores, and you can read more about it on the RouteShoot website. 

Tuesday 14 April 2015

Introducing RouteShoot 'Fast Forward'

This month we've rolled out a brand new feature on the playback screen!

A popular request from the RouteShoot community was to be able to fast-forward through captured footage.

Many times while viewing a RouteShoot video you want to be able to adjust the playback speed.

Whilst viewing the video in the RouteShoot platform simply hover along the bottom of the playback screen and a tool bar will appear as shown below.


By clicking the fast forward icon you can control the speed of a video from a choice of 6 speed settings.


An extremely useful feature especially when you want to view a video very quickly but still understand what is happening.

Monday 13 April 2015

Recording Audio with RouteShoot

Did you know RouteShoot allows you to capture audio commentary? RouteShoot audio enables your teams to record audio from their iPhone, iPad, Android or Windows device to attach to video captured in the field. This will be a great addition for users looking to record field notes by speaking into their phone, for later transcription.

For performing inspections, or simply being able to quickly log observations without having to input on your phone or tablet, audio capture could be a huge time saver and an addition that adds even more to the RouteShoot feature set.


We know there are dozens of ways our users are already using this functionality. If you have an interesting use case for logging audio recordings while in the field, let us know!

Wednesday 18 March 2015

Smartphone RAM Mounts

When we first started to build RouteShoot, we had to do a lot of testing.

In the beginning, testing revolved around holding a smartphone device and capturing video while sitting in a passenger seat, or precariously setting a phone on the dashboard. Not only does this require the time of two people to collect video, but can also result in unstable, shaky video data. Since one person driving and filming is not only dangerous, but can also result in a run-in with the law, we started testing out different mount devices to see what worked best.



We set out looking for mounts that could be used to capture our videos. During our research, we discovered the bigger players in this market.

One of the largest manufacturers for commercial hardware is Ram Mounts, which sells a wide array of mounts for all sorts of applications and devices. Their system lets you buy specific base components for each application while utilising the same upper mounting device component for your mobile device.
Do you have a phone mount that you like to use? Or maybe you have more experience with RAM mounts than we do? We would enjoy hearing your experiences in the comments below.

Tuesday 24 February 2015

Introducing RouteShoot for Windows Phone - Version 1.1.0.5

Until this month, the RouteShoot smartphone app was only available to download on iOS and Android devices. 

Today, we’re excited to bring you RouteShoot for Windows Phone.

When RouteShoot for Android was launched in May of 2013, the RouteShoot community was over 7 thousand strong and growing fast. The RouteShoot community now reaches every corner of the globe with more than 17 thousand users.


In that past year, however, RouteShoot isn't all that’s grown. We've also seen the rise of a new mobile platform as tens of millions of people around the world have taken to Windows Phones. Our mission is to give everyone the ability to capture and share the moments around them, so our team has been working hard to bring RouteShoot to Windows Phone users everywhere.

We wanted to make RouteShoot available to people with Windows Phones as quickly as possible, so we focused on creating an awesome experience with RouteShoot's 'core' features. We’re not finished, and our team will continue developing the Windows Phone app to keep releasing features and bringing you the best app possible.

Learn more about RouteShoot for Windows phone and download it today from the Windows Phone Store!

Monday 2 February 2015

World Bank Update - Visit to Philippines

Last week a couple of our team went out to visit the guys in the Philippines who are using RouteShoot to record road construction and reconstruction projects that are being supported by funding from the World Bank. Please see our blog post from 29th April 2014 for more details.

Gary, Ben and our World Bank hosts

Since our last update about this project, the scope of works being monitored using the RouteShoot app has expanded to include not only the Tourism Roads, but also "Farm to Market" routes.


This is the first time MD Gary Wilson has been to the Philippines and it was pretty clear why RouteShoot was chosen in preference to some of the high-tech video systems we see here, whizzing along motorways in the UK. 

There was no way some of these roads could possibly be driven safely in a big vehicle and there would be significant risks of damaging expensive equipment.

Sometimes the only way to trace out these routes was on foot... and occasionally a machete was an essential part of the surveyor's kit!


We were also interested to note some of the more innovative site protection techniques employed. In the absence of road cones, local construction teams would use whatever was at hand to protect new running surfaces.


Thanks to all, over in the Philippines, for looking after us on our stay.

Just a final note to say that it isn't all glamorous here at RouteShoot. While Gary was in Manila, fellow directors Andy and Adam were out visiting prospective customers in Wales. Spot the difference...

Slightly different weather on the M4 in Wales

Monday 19 January 2015

Q&A Session with RouteShoot FD Adam May

Financial Director Adam May took to the hot seat this week and was able to answer a few pressing questions for us surrounding RouteShoot. With over 30 years’ experience and degrees in both economics and highways maintenance, RouteShoot FD Adam has become one of the country’s leading experts in developing whole-life asset management solutions for highways networks and really does feel this innovative product is fit for purpose. 

How would you define the space RouteShoot works in?
RouteShoot is currently working to gain business in the highways and utilities infrastructure industries (maintenance and management). Basically Geo-referenced video can help companies that look after assets that are 1 – outside and 2 – spread over a wide area; so roads, pipelines, waterways etc. can all benefit from something like RouteShoot.

Why did you start a company, or build a product, in this space? What need or gap do you aim to address?.
Well, we were aware that companies were already using video in the highways sector, but this usually involved either buying expensive equipment or hiring in subcontractors. When smartphone technology moved on to the point where HD video and GPS could both be collected from a mobile phone, we knew we could make this sort of technology available to a much wider audience at a greatly reduced cost.

Why will your product/service work? What makes your approach to this issue different from what others are doing?
Our product works because it has been developed by in-house professionals that are familiar with both the technology and its application. By buying this type of application from us, asset management companies can be confident that we understand their business needs and are not just trying to sell them the latest fancy bit of kit with no idea of any end purpose. There are similar products available I guess, but these are usually either “proof of concept” tools or sports-focused apps. I believe we are the only company truly focused on our customers’ particular needs and demands.

Could you tell us about other startups or product builds that you have been a part of.
In 2006, the team that founded RouteShoot Limited set up a civil engineering consultancy company called Wilson Pym May. That company has been responsible for developing a range of asset management software including drainage databases, highways inspection systems and a portable video capture solution called GeoVideo. RouteShoot is, in fact, a logical progression of GeoVideo. Wilson Pym May remains in business today and is still working on major projects within the highways industry.

Please tell us more about your product stage and what we should expect to see from your company in the next 12 months.

The basic RouteShoot product is up, running and stable on both iPhone and Android. In the next 12 months we are looking to roll out an app for Windows devices and are working on a couple of tweaks to enable live streaming. Other than that we are concentrating on meeting a few customer-led development ideas, as we are always keen to work with our customers first to improve our products rather than coming up with new ideas which ultimately no one might want.

Monday 12 January 2015

New Year, New Features!

January saw the release of our 'Multiple Bookmark' feature.

Currently only available on Android devices, the new feature allows you to bookmark up to 3 different types of 'Point' and 'Linear' points of interest. 

Fully customisable you can also change the colours of the features you wish to collect. Cool eh?


''That's great but enough jargon - What is Point and Linear Referencing?''

A Point Feature represents a geographic location of interest. It is normally identified on a map by a point symbol, and has associated with it coordinates that specify its location on the map. Additionally, it may have attribute information stored along with the position information.

Some point referencing examples include:
  • Road Signs
  • Lamp Posts
  • Bus Stops
Linear referencing allows you to identify the locations of features using a continuous measurement. Normally identified on a map by a line with a start and end point.

Some examples of linear items include:
  • Highway Drainage
  • Safety Fence 
  • Road Markings
Point and Linear items can also be used to record Road Maintenance Operations, for example; pothole repairs or lengths of resurfacing.