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Frequently Asked Questions
How long has Tele Atlas been in the mapping business?
As a pioneering provider of digital map data and other geographic content, Tele Atlas has been in this business, and only this business, for more than 20 years. We made two major acquisitions in that time, first in 2000 with the acquisition of ETAK, itself an industry pioneer. In 2004, we acquired Geographic Data Technology (GDT), by far the leading provider of maps for enterprise and public-sector applications in North America. Today, we employ 1,800 dedicated professionals in offices in 27 countries. For more information on Tele Atlas’ history of growth and innovation, read our Milestones.
Tele Atlas is a subsidiary of TomTom N.V.
For more information, visit
www.teleatlas.com
or
http://investors.tomtom.com/index.cfm
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What is Tele Atlas' global coverage?
Our comprehensive database comprises more than 200 countries and territories worldwide, including more than 31 million kilometers of roadway, 3.3 billion people, and 26 million points of interest (POIs) worldwide. We continue to add more countries, roads, and features to help our partners reach more markets and more consumers. We use a single dataset within each region to simplify updates and improve application performance. Our maps also feature a superior level of detail at street level and complete, interconnecting road networks, which allow application developers and device manufacturers in the portable navigation, automotive, Internet, and wireless markets to guide users seamlessly across country borders.
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What are Tele Atlas' innovations in digital mapping?
Tele Atlas has always fostered a spirit of innovation. In fact, we have several industry firsts and more than 33 map-related patents to our credit, and we're not resting on our laurels. We constantly develop new and better ways to meet our partners’ ever-changing needs and the demands of their consumers. For more information on how Tele Atlas helps to shape the future of digital mapping, visit our Innovation page. Learn more about our accomplishments by reading our Milestones.
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Where are Tele Atlas’ offices?
With offices in 27 countries and on four continents, Tele Atlas truly has a global presence. We employ 1,800 full-time staff and contract cartographers across Europe, the United States, and Asia, and support database partners in Australia, New Zealand, China, Thailand and India. Our worldwide network is greater than our competitors’ and guarantees a consistent working relationship with Tele Atlas. To find the Tele Atlas location nearest you, visit our Contacts page.
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What is Tele Atlas' partner philosophy?
At Tele Atlas we believe our success depends on the successes of our partners. That means we are partner-focused, doing all we can to help out partners bring the most viable digital map applications to market quickly and effeciently.We will never compete with our partners by developing software applications or other end-user devices. Instead, we focus our efforts solely on providing our partners with the best possible digital map data and the most beneficial tools and services possible.
Our deep domain expertise is unmatched in the industry and positions us to actively help our partners build their own consumer brands. Our goal is simple: to help our partners make their products and services as attractive as possible to customers. One way we help make that happen is through our exclusive Partner Programs, including PartnerLink, DeveloperLink, and ContentLink, which encourage collaboration among our partners and provide them with the resources they need to drive innovation and improve their chances for success.
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Why should I partner with Tele Atlas?
Tele Atlas is best positioned to deliver the services, attention, and high-quality data our partners need to bring their solutions quickly and successfully to market. As the world leader in key segments of the navigation market, including portable navigation, location-based services (LBS), emergency services, and fleet-based services, Tele Atlas is the only vendor with unmatched expertise across all major mapping markets. Our map database beats the competition in key criteria related to finding destinations, guiding travelers with enhanced displays, and providing fresh data.
What's more, Tele Atlas is the most consistenly attentive business partner you can find in the digital mapping business today. We believe that out success rests on yours, and we do whatever we can to help you plan your business strategies and develop and enhance your products. Read about our Partner Programs to learn more about how Tele Atlas can help your company.
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Is Tele Atlas’ strategy to focus on partners or consumers?
On our partners. In fact, we will never compete with them. Our focus is to provide our partners with deep domain expertise, thereby helping them grow their businesses. Our success depends upon our partners' success. We also believe that maps represented by the Tele Atlas brand are assets for our partners, as they send a clear message of value and quality.
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Do Tele Atlas’ partners use the most current Tele Atlas product?
We deliver the latest release of our products to all our partners and customers on a quarterly basis. Each release includes extended content and coverage and improved quality, which enables our partners to deliver robust, turn-by-turn navigation systems and innovative location-based services that address the needs of millions of consumers every day.
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What is Tele Atlas' position with regard to community map sites and projects, such as Open GIS or Wiki maps?
Tele Atlas believes that online communities help drive industry innovation. We also believe that collaboration among map data providers, application developers, device manufacturers, and consumers is critical to generating superior end-user experiences. We are the first digital map provider to bring consumers into our map development process by launching Map Insight, our easy-to-use consumer map feedback tool that plays a critical role in helping to keep our products fresh, accurate, and up-to-date. For more information on Map Insight or to submit map feedback, visit our Map Insight page. To read more about Tele Atlas’ commitment to community empowerment through online social networking, download a PDF of our Community white paper.
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How does Tele Atlas provide up-to-date map data for a constantly changing road network?
Tele Atlas estimates
that map content changes approximately 10-15% every
year, and by as much as 40% in high-growth areas. Only Tele Atlas detects and manages change with the speed, accuracy, and efficiency required to match the rate of change in the real world. First, our industry-leading data capture capabilities include a comprehensive fleet of survey vehicles and Mobile Mapping Vans. Our state-of-the-art vans employ the most sophisticated technologies available, enabling Tele Atlas to capture realistic, accurate, and detailed images of road networks – from street signs to storefronts – regardless of weather or road conditions and up to five times faster than traditional methods allow.
Tele Atlas further strengthens the accuracy of our data through a network of more than 50,000 data sources, which range from satellite and aerial imagery to public data sources, government agencies, and users of our partners’ products. This network helps us anticipate changes before they occur, and use a more focused and targeted field survey and validation process. Once data is collected, we utilize innovative technology, such as data mining and integration tools, to rapidly review, validate, and implement database changes – allowing us to offer customers the freshest, most accurate geographic data available in the quickest, most efficient method possible.
End-user feedback is one of the most critical and efficient ways to keep maps up to date. Tele Atlas facilitates the capture of consumer feedback through our unique, easy-to-use, online tool, Map Insight.
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What changes can be expected with each new product release?
In addition to the real-world changes captured by Tele Atlas, our database is updated every quarter with new attributes, features, and content improvements. Along with the additional geographic coverage from one release to the next, these improvements contribute to the enrichment of the end-user value provided by Tele Atlas map data.
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Why does Tele Atlas use Mobile Mapping Vans instead of standard cars?
As navigation systems become more sophisticated and widely used, it is more critical than ever that map databases are kept up to date and accurate. In addition, as new capabilities, such as 3D displays, are being devised, data providers must be able to capture an even greater level of information and detail. With Mobile Mapping, Tele Atlas has developed a state-of-the-art technology that revolutionizes how data is captured. Tele Atlas' Mobile Mapping Vans are faster and much more accurate than traditional methods, enabling Tele Atlas to increase the accuracy, richness, and freshness of our data. The new approach also overcomes the naturally limited performance of human surveyors by shifting specific data collection and inspection activities to the office environment where human and computer resources are optimally applied (e.g., using, for certain key features, automatic object extraction software technology).
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How does Mobile Mapping work?
Mobile Mapping Systems (MMS) provide efficient, effective field data acquisition along road networks. They are used by Tele Atlas to accurately capture real-world changes and rich road details, and to quickly and efficiently supply those map updates to end users.
Mobile Mapping Vans are fitted with the most sophisticated technology in the industry, including GPS receivers, high-resolution digital cameras, navigation sensors, and time synchronization tools. A processing unit on board is used for the visualization of sensor information, photogrammetry of objects on digital images, and linking identified information to the map database. Each vehicle is equipped with up to six high-resolution digital cameras, with at least one pair in stereoscopic operation, spaced apart so that the combined image can provide three-dimensional information. A positioning unit consists of a differential GPS receiver, a fibre optic gyro and an odometer.
On-board processing is carried out by up to four PCs with specially developed programming. Captured data is analyzed and treated centrally at Tele Atlas' data processing center. The MMS hardware used by Tele Atlas is based on standard components. It is highly modular and can be configured for specific requirements: For example, the number of images per second or meter can be changed according to need. Parts can also be easily upgraded or replaced if defective. The equipment is set up and calibrated by specialists before the vehicles leave on survey and the calibration is checked and adjusted periodically as needed. The vehicle fleet operates on a carefully prepared schedule that aims to ensure all major roadways are checked frequently and that other roads are checked regularly. To read more on Mobile Mapping, click here.
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How can I report a change to a Tele Atlas-powered map?
End-user feedback is an important and efficient way to help keep our maps up to date. Tele Atlas facilitates the capture of consumer feedback through our unique, Web-based tool, Map Insight. Through Map Insight’s easy-to-use, online form, consumers can quickly communicate changes, track the status of those changes, and serve to make our superior data even better. Click here to report a map change.
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How does Tele Atlas deliver up-to-date points of interest (POIs)?
Tele Atlas partners with specialized, world-class content providers whose core business is to gather information related to specific categories of POIs and update their information in real time. These relationships enable Tele Atlas to offer 26 million POIs worldwide, more than any other digital map data provider.
For example, our partnership with Wcities, a producer of multilingual destination guides for more than 2,100 cities worldwide, enables application developers serving a variety of markets – from wireless and portable navigation to Internet and automotive – to offer their users dynamic, rich, location-based content that helps them easily find tourist attractions and hotel, dining, shopping, and entertainment options around the world. It also includes weather, show times, and detailed event information for more than 100,000 events.
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Does Tele Atlas comply with international quality standards?
Yes. Tele Atlas is the only worldwide digital mapping company that is ISO TS 16949:2002-certified for its complete database and product development process. ISO TS 16949:2002 is a more stringent evolution of the ISO 2001 set of standards, fulfilling the exceptionally high requirements of the automotive industry. This certificate demonstrates that Tele Atlas complies with the highest quality standards existing in the market. Tele Atlas' rigorous quality management system focuses on continuous improvement. When errors are detected, Tele Atlas works not only to correct them, but also to take preventive actions to avoid their recurrence. Our database is also audited once a year in accordance to the ISO standards.
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How is Tele Atlas applying innovation to its future maps?
Tele Atlas is constantly creating new ways for our partners to extend the value of their maps and improve their end users’ experiences. We devote millions of euros/dollars annually to laboratory research and field-based efforts, and collaborate extensively on industry-wide, standards-based initiatives with partners from a variety of sectors. Read our Innovation page to learn more about some of the innovative map enhancements we’re currently working on.
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