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.