Product Overview

Microsoft MapPoint 2000

Microsoft^® MapPoint™ business mapping software combines powerful maps with the simplicity of Microsoft Office. Designed for everyday business use, MapPoint allows Microsoft Office users to easily find and illustrate points on the map, integrate maps into their Office documents and quickly identify the trends of their business on the map using their own data. MapPoint puts once-inaccessible, hard-to-use map analysis functionality into the hands of everyday business users, giving them the ability to use maps to better understand their business, effectively penetrate new markets and capture new customers. Microsoft MapPoint is the business mapping companion for Microsoft Office users.

Today, there are two major categories of mapping software for business users. On the high end, desktop mapping (DTM) products offer a subset of the larger geographic information systems (GIS). Traditional GIS systems have long been the realm of trained acolytes working on high-powered workstations in the back rooms of large organizations. DTM products are an attempt to address the needs of the general business user with scaled-down, less processor-intensive versions of their GIS brethren. On the other end of the spectrum, consumer mapping products help users plan trips and locate street addresses. Though never designed for business use, these products have found their way into business because users have found it is useful to be able to create and use maps in their everyday work. These consumer mapping titles do little to help business users who want to integrate and analyze their business information, other than being low-priced and easy to use.

Many traditional GIS software developers have attempted to satisfy the core geographic analysis and decision-making needs of everyday business users by simply stripping down higher-end GIS products and repackaging them for general business users. However, if business mapping software is to become a valuable desktop productivity tool, it is critical that these products be easy and familiar to use and integrate tightly with other applications on the desktop. A successful desktop mapping product must work to demystify the complex world of DTM and make it accessible to business users to help them make better decisions through the use of geographic and demographic information.

MapPoint was designed with the simple vision of making mapping easy for everyone. Creating high-quality maps that help identify the trends in business doesnÆt have to be reserved for experienced GIS analysts or large companies. With MapPoint, anyone from client-oriented professionals to technical analysts ù in large firms to small businesses ù can now easily use mapping software. And the compatibility of Microsoft MapPoint with Microsoft Office makes it the perfect product for Office users who want to better visualize their business on a map.

Design Goals for MapPoint

In designing a mapping product for general business users, Microsoft Corp. focused on three broad design goals:

• Easy-to-use, accurate maps. Quickly and easily locating addresses is the No. 1 feature for business mapping products cited by business users in Microsoft focus groups and usability studies. While ease of use is important, accuracy is paramount to these business users. In the design of MapPoint, Microsoft made it a top priority to address these customer requests and develop a product that makes it easy to find places and addresses on the map with a high degree of accuracy. In addition, Microsoft focused on providing business users with tools to allow them to navigate and annotate the map.
• Microsoft Office integration and consistency. Designing a business mapping product that integrates with the other familiar applications that business users have on their desktops was another top priority in the design of MapPoint. Companies and individuals invest much time and many resources to learn the suite of applications on their desktop. To establish business mapping as an essential companion desktop productivity tool, MapPoint needed to have a consistent user interface and allow users to easily incorporate maps in the documents they create and use on a daily basis. In usability tests, business users were very enthusiastic toward the immediately familiar user interface of MapPoint because of its similarity to Microsoft Office.
• Business data that is easily viewed from a geographic perspective. Beyond everyday map usage (finding an address, customizing a map), a more powerful use of a business mapping product is the ability to allow users to view their own business data on the map to identify trends and make better business decisions. It is important to Microsoft to design a product that not only gives customers the tools to create and present maps using company data but also to locate and overlay relevant demographic data. In delivering this type of business mapping product, prospecting new customers and better servicing existing customers suddenly become easier and more accessible to general business users.

To date, Microsoft has focused on the consumer mapping market to facilitate travel planning and map creation. The Microsoft Office 97 Small Business Edition suite includes one of these consumer mapping products, Expedia™ Streets 98. Although Expedia Streets was designed and built primarily for home users, a surprising 42 percent use the product for business purposes. While the current Expedia Streets product is useful for users of the Small Business Edition, it does not go far enough in helping them make better business decisions. Business users want software that helps them grow their business, market themselves more effectively and work more efficiently.

As evidenced by the two major mapping software categories cited above, the ideal business mapping product would bridge the gap between high-priced DTM products and the low-end consumer products. A great business mapping product should range in functionality from basic, everyday use ù "Where are these addresses located?" ù to complex, less frequent inquiries ù "How do I balance my sales territories and assign resources most effectively?" A product that arms general business users with tools to help them better understand their business, effectively penetrate their markets and capture new customers will appeal to a much broader audience than ever.

Customer Benefits

With MapPoint 2000, the goal was to create a product that provides business mapping designed for everyday business use. Customers will benefit from MapPoint in three key areas:

• Easily find and illustrate points more effectively and accurately using maps. Microsoft MapPoint sets the standard for ease of use through features like unified Find Place/Address. MapPoint also provides the most accurate address matching data available for business mapping. Based on Geographic Data Technology (GDT) Dynamap/2000 street level map of the United States, the same data used in high-end GIS systems costing tens of thousands of dollars, Microsoft MapPoint allows users to quickly and accurately locate any address in the United States. The MapPoint map database contains over 14 million street segments. In addition, MapPoint provides users with the ability to add custom directions or highlight important areas on the maps using the easy-to-access drawing tools on the toolbar.
• Integrate maps into work done with Microsoft Office. For the over 35 million Microsoft Office 97 users in the United States, MapPoint provides any easy, familiar way to include maps and map functionality in proposals, brochures and presentations. Taking advantage of such standard Office capabilities as ToolTips, right-click menus, drag and drop and natural language user assistance, Microsoft Office users can quickly learn to use MapPoint without a GIS background.
• Identify business trends using maps. For certain users, MapPoint will become an essential business productivity tool on their desktop for analyzing their business. MapPoint will allow these customers to visualize their business from a geographic and demographic perspective. With tools like the Data Mapping Wizard, users can import data from Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel and the Outlook™ messaging and collaboration client and create, for example, a shaded map that compares their business data to demographic data on the same map.

Microsoft, MapPoint, Expedia and Outlook are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.

Other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.