March 29, 2007 -- The Schneider Corporation announced that Decatur County, IN will use Schneider’s “beacon” GIS web portal. With the recent announcement of the development of a new industrial manufacturing plant in Decatur County and in an effort to better serve the community with better access to county records. The County Officials have selected the GIS web product “beacon” from the Schneider Corporation. Beacon is a quick, easy and reliable solution to provide data not only to the public but also to internal users of all skill levels – with no additional software fees!

Decatur County, Indiana’s GIS Manager Tim Ortman said “The GIS Beacon website has been received very well not only with the public but also with the county offices. Having maps and data available thru a web based application allows the public to access information quickly and easily. Some of the benefits include, being timely the internet being accessible 24/7 allows the public a varying option, not dependant upon the hours of their employment or the location of their employment. Productive, having access too information from many different offices accessible in one location is especially useful within government offices, as this allows information sharing without physically having to go from one office to another, which can directly relate to increased productivity within each office. Convenient, the Beacon platform being so user friendly really promotes its own use. It really is easier to go online, look it up, print it out, and be on your way, compared too going to the individual offices and getting the information, the old way of doing business. The cost savings of having a web based GIS system would be astonishing if a realistic figure could accurately be calculated.”

Other organizations using beacon have found it significantly lowers counter traffic, while greatly improving customer service between them and their constituents. Learn more about beacon at http://www.schneidercorp.com/magazine/beacon.aspx

Jeff Corns, V.P. of GIS Services for The Schneider Corporation “beacon transcends the concept of “portal technology” by integrating data from multiple sources, using spatial attributes, and presenting it seamlessly through an advanced web interface. Out clients also appreciate that all website set-up, development, hosting, and maintenance tasks are handled by Schneider, so there is no need to purchase additional equipment. They value that the integrity of the hosted information is guaranteed by Schneider and is backed up routinely to ensure their peace of mind.”

The Schneider Corporation has been providing GIS solutions since 1989 to hundreds of county, municipal, state, federal and private entities. Built on the strength of our traditional, solid surveying and engineering services, we provide GIS services that exceed the expectations of our clients. Learn more about The Schneider Corporation at www.schneidercorp.com