When natural disasters strike, response teams are faced with assessing damage so cleanup efforts can be mobilized quickly. Yet, disasters also require mountains of paperwork to map the damage and document response efforts -- often meaning too much time in the office and not enough in the field.
TDC Group, a Dayton software firm, has one answer: a new application that allows government agencies and businesses to file reports from the field -- right from a BlackBerry.
TDC's Freeance Mobile allows users to receive and file real-time data on location, cutting down on travel, says Matthew Reddington, TDC Group's president and CEO.
"They don't have to come into the office at the start of the day, get information (from the data base), drive half-way across the state and come back at the end of the day to file their reports."
That saves valuable time -- an important commodity during disasters.
Reddington says that Freeance Mobile is the first software that allows GIS (geographic information system) applications to be run from a BlackBerry. As such, it's not just the U.S. Weather Service that is using the software, but law enforcement, businesses and utilities that need a real-time picture of their infrastructure, crime sites or distribution of their people.
TCD was formed in 1988. With customers in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom, TDC is growing and adding jobs, Reddington says, though he declined to reveal how quickly for proprietary reasons.
Reddington notes that the Dayton Development Coalition has provided funding and consulting services that have allowed the firm to expand into new markets and build infrastructure.
Source: Matthew Reddington, TDC Group
Writer: Gene Monteith