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Greetings!
TIC is constantly evolving and as a benefit to GEWI customers, TIC product releases are made available several times each year. These releases are a result of over 15 years of development and improvements thanks mostly to input and requests from GEWI customers. In this issue we detail new product features such as for Twitter and Facebook and a new Source/Result feature which helps to improve third party collected data. All of these features were developed based on customer requests. You can also read about the features within TIC which make it simple for operators and TIC user groups to provide user feedback directly to GEWI as part of GEWI's continuous TIC product improvement process. GEWI uses internal business systems to manage these and other processes. These systems are administered by Frank Zappe who is profiled in this issue. April kicks off GEWI's conference season with ITS America in Nashville, Tennessee. We preview ITS America as well as review the recent TISA committee meetings. Should you have any questions on anything in this newsletter, or to discuss your requirements or make requests, please contact us at info@gewi.com.
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| GEWI to Exhibit at ITS America Annual Meeting
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GEWI will join the nation's leading transportation officials, technology providers, policymakers and researchers at the Intelligent Transportation Society of America's (ITS America) 23rd Annual Meeting and Exposition April 22 - 24, 2013 at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee.
This year's Annual Meeting theme "ITS: Real Progress, Great Future" will showcase progress made in the USA in the deployment of ITS technologies, while also illustrating just how much more can be done to create a safer, more efficient and sustainable transportation system. GEWI will be demonstrating the latest TIC3 product features in booth #206. These features, including the new browser based client and Source/Result feature (discussed in more detail in this newsletter) are an example of the cumulative improvements in the TIC product developed over the past 15 years. These new features are a result of customer requests submitted from all over the world with ideas about how to improve the user productivity and corresponding processes for the creation, collection, storage, monitoring and distribution of traffic data.
This consistent product improvement process includes several customer product releases each year to keep GEWI customers on the leading edge of advanced traffic technologies. The ITS America Annual Meeting is an excellent opportunity for GEWI to meet with both new and current customers and to hear about requirements from organizations in the many markets where TIC can be used for their project requirements. A few highlights from this year's conference: * State DOT CEO Roundtable featuring representatives from more than 20 states talking about ITS deployment after MAP 21.
* A roundtable on the Future of Telematics featuring the CEOs of three of the largest telematics companies in the world and David Strickland, the NHTSA Administrator.
* Senior public and private sector leaders speaking about important topics like spectrum, connected vehicles, smart parking, integrated corridor management, mileage based user fees, and more. * A number of U.S. DOT sponsored training sessions. If you would like to schedule a meeting to see a demonstration of TIC3, contact jim.oneill@gewi.com |
| TIC Source/Result Feature Ensures 3rd Party Data Quality
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 Traffic data collected from third party sources is an important element of many traffic information services. Unfortunately, this data does not always reflect the actual conditions on the roadway. TIC provides operators the ability to modify the collected data to add additional information or to correct erroneous data.
Automatically collected data can present several problems for a traffic operations service.
Firstly, if not corrected by operators, then users will be provided inaccurate information based on the poor quality of collected data. This can lead to many negative results. Secondly, if this data is corrected by an operator, the next time the third party data is again collected it may simply over-write the operators correction with the incorrect data again.
With the input and real-world experience of its customers, GEWI has created a solution called source/result which is used to create resulting harmonized data from multiple sources without over-writing operator corrections.
In the example shown here, the data collected from the third party data source shows construction in the wrong lane. A TIC3 operator can correct this by creating a new source in which the correction is then applied.
Once the operator has made this correction, they are able to view the data which is collected from the external third party data source, and the result of the correction will be then distributed to all products and systems automatically. It is that simple and very effective. 
Most importantly, TIC3 maintains the relationship between the third party source data and the corrected data created by the operator so that the next time the external data is collected, it will not overwrite the corrected data. This maintains data quality by avoiding the reintroduction of incorrect data into the system and aids operator productivity by avoiding the need to continually correct erroneous third party external data. This Source/Result product feature is one of hundreds of advanced features in TIC3, along with many new operator convenience features that have been added in recent months. If you would like a demonstration, visit the GEWI stand at ITS America in Nashville, or contact jim.oneill@gewi.com to schedule a personalized demonstration. |
| | GEWI Attends TISA Meetings in Seattle, WA
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 Over the past 20 years, GEWI has been active in the global development of the ITS market. Participation in TISA is important in helping to guide the development of practical and commercially viable global standards to be used across the spectrum of products and services in the traveler information market.
TISA held their recent committee meetings at the INRIX offices in Seattle, Washington USA on 19 and 20 March 2013 and GEWI's Jim O'Neill attended on behalf of the GEWI product development group. GEWI's Thomas Rothe is Group Chairman of TISA's TMC location table release team and GEWI developer Alexander Fust plays an active role in the TPEG application working group.
Attendees at the TISA meetings included representatives from iBiquity, Clear Channel, INRIX, Garmin, Nokia, and German broadcaster WDR.
TISA (Traveler Information Services Association) is a market-driven membership association with worldwide scope, established as a non-profit company focused on proactive implementation of traffic and travel information services and products based on existing standards, including primarily RDS-TMC and TPEG technologies.
For more information about TISA and their role in the global traveler information market, visit
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| GEWI Support: User Groups
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 When GEWI was founded in Germany in 1992, founders Hagen Geppert and Karl Will had little expectation that 20 years later their products would be used worldwide, with offices in North America, Singapore, and the UK.
As TIC has grown, it has been used by many types of public and private sector organizations.
The diverse types of organizations who use TIC has resulted in the formation of two dedicated user groups for Broadcasters and Police.
GEWI user groups help to keep customers informed about new TIC features, to learn about best practices, to provide training and most importantly to collect user requirements and requests which can be included into new TIC product releases.
GEWI is also adding an online product support feature to the GEWI website, where users will be able access project information, product information and download TIC software and map updates. This customer support service is based on SharePoint, administered by Frank Zappe who is profiled in this newsletter.
If you would like more information about GEWI user groups, contact info@gewi.com
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| | TIC Product Feature: Distribute to Twitter and Facebook
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Social media has become an increasingly large part of our lives today and continues to change the way public and private organizations are distributing information and communicating with customers and the public.
Based on customer requests, GEWI has recently added a feature to automatically distribute traffic information together with relevant images to both Twitter and Facebook.
The screenshot shows what an operator can view on the TIC Smart Client. Operators can then create and change the traffic and traveler information.
Based on configurable rules, TIC will automatically distribute this data to one ore more Twitter feeds.
Incidents are distributed based on a wide range of data characteristics such as priority, location, type, or many other criteria which can be defined by GEWI customers.
Images from traffic cameras have become a very popular method of informing travelers. TIC3 now includes a feature to distribute these images to Twitter.
One useful characteristic which can be automatically checked is the operational status of the camera. Images from cameras which are out of service or which have not recently been updated can be stopped from being distributed, thereby helping to ensure a high quality information service is maintained.
Facebook has over one Billion monthly active users and it has become as much a part of daily life as radio or TV. In many parts of the world Facebook has surpassed newspaper in popularity. Based on customer requests, TIC3 can now distribute text and images to Facebook.
Just as with distribution of text and images to Twitter, the same options exist for distribution to Facebook.
For more information or a demonstration of these TIC3 features, contact info@gewi.com
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| | TIC3 Feature: User Feedback
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 User feedback is important to the ongoing development of TIC3, so GEWI makes the process easy for users to provide feedback and request product changes and new features.
Operators use short-cut keys in TIC to open the feedback dialogue window.
 The operator then uses the standard GEWI form to submit the feedback based on PROS.
P - Problem is clearly stated.
R - Requirements for new features are detailed.
O - Options, if known, are suggested for solution.
S - Solutions are anallysed and agreed by GEWI and the customer. To save operator time, information is automatically pre-filled into the form including: - User's email.
- Users name and data producer
- Screen shot of the user's Smart Client workspace.
Once submitted, feedback messages can be configured to inform several recipients simultaneously, including the customer.
Accepted product changes are then tracked using GEWI's internal product change process and made available for testing in TIC weekly product releases. After testing, these product changes are included as new product features in regular TIC3 production releases.
GEWI customers choose which updates they will install based on their requirements. GEWI does not ever require that a customer updates to a new generation or new version of software. On average, GEWI customers update their software once per year. For more information about TIC user feedback, contact info@gewi.com |
| Product Videos on GEWI Website
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 GEWI's web site includes videos for several TIC product features. The videos make it easy for website visitors to self-demonstrate the TIC system and to view how specific product features can be used for a variety of public and private sector markets. Available videos include: - Weather - Parking - Work Zone - GPS - Cameras - Traffic & Travel Events - Mobile Traffic Data Entry - Traffic News More videos are being produced to provide an introduction to other TIC product features, so check www.gewi.com occasionally to view the new videos. |
| Download Latest TIC for Traffic Brochure
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  The TIC3 product allows you to perform many transportation related tasks simply by configuration of this commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software.
As a commercial off-the shelf (COTS) solution, TIC can be deployed and expanded much more quickly and cost effectively than custom build-your-own solutions while offering the most advanced features and functionality. |
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GEWI Newsletter
Mar/Apr 2013
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GEWI Profile
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Frank Zappe
Business Management Support
July 2013 will mark Frank Zappe's third year with GEWI which still makes him one of the newer GEWI employees. The average GEWI employee has been with the company for more than 10 years.
Stability is an important principle to the company, not just in staff, but also in the stability of GEWI's products and systems.
Much of what Frank does on a daily basis is to ensure the stability of GEWI's business systems.
Frank's interest in computers started at the age of 12 and lead him to technical studies at university, graduating as an IT Specialist in system integration in 2010.
His skills include Java and Linux, computer, server & network administration, virtualization methods, SharePoint administration and administration of Microsoft products.
Frank is responsible for the day-to-day technical operations of GEWI's business systems and he supports a variety of environments including Windows, Apple MacOS, Linux, iOS, and iPhone/iPad OS as well as Android.
Away from the office he enjoys geo-caching, playing guitar, reading SciFi novels and is an avid rock climber.
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