More and more organisations are benefiting from GeoField and we’re pleased to report another satisfied new customer, the Central Scotland Forest Trust (CSFT).

The job of the Trust is to improve the landscape of Central Scotland, for the benefit of all living there.  One of their tasks is to locate and record wildlife habitat areas and we have been able to help them make the process faster and more efficient.

The CSFT had identified the need for GeoField for a number of reasons.  They had GPS recorders in use, but they were becoming obsolete and the Trust recognised they needed more up to date technology.    They were also keen to make their back office process more efficient, especially by improving consistency of data collected.  It was being recorded manually into the GIS system and the Trust saw the value of removing the manual element and automating this part of the process instead. 

We tailored GeoField to the Trust’s specific requirements, to create the ideal software solution for the job.   One of the benefits is that they can now view OS Mastermap®, Ordnance Survey’s most detailed digital map, on their new Algiz 7 tablets.  This enables much more accurate recording of location.  On screen GPS assists with this too. 

All in all, we provided a ‘one-stop-shop’ solution, including mapping, geospatial editing, GPS capabilities and a camera, all available on one device. 

This has helped the Trust improve the value of the information collected, as it ensures that none is missing. Inconsistencies are ironed out as well.  The trust have found they have saved time too - 25% of their time to be exact.  Their team no longer spends as much time on processing the data, now that manual transcription of field collected information has been removed from the process and replaced by automated updates by GeoField. 

Most surveys are now taking less than half a day to undertake, whereas previously a full day would have to be allocated.  This frees up staff time, providing the organisation with more flexibility when bidding for and working on other field projects.  

The previous collection process required field workers to take an A3 paper map with them for reference and they would write up at least 4-5 pages’ worth of a notebook, in recording the necessary information.  Now, field workers no longer need to take a notebook or a map.  They can easily enter all the data they need, straight onto their tablet and GeoField takes care of the rest.