Two global technology innovators have collaborated to put the power of geographic information system (GIS) technology into the hands of decision makers. ESi, the leader in crisis information management technology, and ESRI, the leader in GIS, today announced the release of WebEOC Mapper Professional (WebEOC Mapper).

This Web-enabled emergency management communications system was designed for public and private organizations involved in homeland security and emergency operations. WebEOC Mapper provides users with powerful technology tools to create a dynamic, geographically based common operating picture and the ability to view data from multiple WebEOC screens simultaneously on a centralized map. It allows fast data access and dissemination critical to all phases of preparedness and response to both commanders working in an emergency operations center and first responders in the field.

“With WebEOC Mapper, ESi enables emergency managers to graphically represent a real-time view of a disaster situation for the first time”, said Nadia Butler, Chief Executive Officer for ESi. “Our customers will now be able to lay out the entire situation clearly on a map in real time, coordinate their resources efficiently and make critical decisions faster.”

“WebEOC Mapper provides unlimited access to GIS data, dynamic data, and other Web services,” said Russ Johnson, public safety industry manager, ESRI. GIS data and other dynamic information such as automated vehicle location (AVL), weather, and video, can be quickly gathered from numerous sources and fused into a common operating picture. The integration of the WebEOC emergency management solution and ESRI’s ArcGIS Server, with its powerful analysis and modeling tools, is a best-of-breed emergency management solution.

The unique benefit of the WebEOC-ESRI integration is that the GIS functions are built into WebEOC core “Board Builder” tools, giving Emergency Operations Center (EOC) administrators the ability to

* View live, updating, multiuser WebEOC board data on a map
* Display data from multiple boards on a single map
* Combine WebEOC data with other GIS data or services on a single map to gain a common operating picture
* Configure the map with data from local and remote services such as
   o ArcGIS Server services
   o ArcIMS services
   o Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC), Web Map Service (WMS) services
   o ArcWeb Services
* Add these services on the fly
* Incorporate graphic annotation tools
* Geocode
* Print maps
* Measure distances between points
* Link back and forth between the map and the board

In addition to the increased functionality of WebEOC Mapper, the user interface does not require the user to be a GIS expert or a WebEOC administrator. Users granted appropriate permissions are able to enter data and simply press a map button to display information geographically.

The software requirements for WebEOC Mapper are the following:

* WebEOC version 6.5.3, the original Web-enabled crisis information management system, which provides secure real-time information sharing to help managers make sound decisions quickly
* ESRI ArcGIS Server 9.2, a complete and integrated server-based GIS that allows GIS analysts to cost-effectively author maps, globes, and geoprocessing tasks on their desktops and use integrated tools to publish them to ArcGIS Server.

For more information about WebEOC Mapper Professional, visit www.esi911.com or call 1-800-596-0911.

Source: Esri