Business Situation
Two residents in the same city with the same
physical address is a problem. It can cause
issues with mail delivery, UPS delivery, and for family and friends.
From a public safety perspective an erroneous address could
be the difference between life and death.
In Whitfield County, Georgia not only were they
dealing with duplicate addresses but also stacked addresses, out of
sequence addresses, two or more addressable structures on a private
drive, and odd/even addressing issues. Whitfield
County knew they had a problem and it was time to solve it.
Unfortunately for Whitfield County, they did not
have the staff or time required to identify and correct their
addressing problems. A local project management
team headed by GIS Coordinator, Jess Hansen, decided that for public
safety reasons corrective action was needed as soon as possible.
The county identified the need for outside assistance and
specific expertise to help with GIS addressing and data consulting.
So, they embarked on a major project and they needed a proven
partner.
Step 1:
Whitfield County partnered with GeoComm for this
project. They felt GeoComm had the knowledge, skills, and
ability to solve their problem. According to Whitfield
County, GeoComm understood the extent of their addressing problems
and they were excited that the person presenting the methodology to
investigate the problem was going to be the person who worked on it.
“The feeling we got from GIS Consultant, Kathy Liljequist, during
the interview process was that we were hiring a company with
genuinely “good people” has been more than fulfilled,” Jess
Hansen, GIS Coordinator.
To start with, GeoComm completed a needs
assessment on a sample data set of the identified areas of primary
concern. The findings in the sample area
identified the different types of addressing problems the county had
and to what extent they could expect addresses to change.
Step 2:
After the results of the sample assessment were reviewed, GeoComm worked with Whitfield County through five product phases:
Fieldwork Preparation and Collection
Map Data Layer Enhancements and Development
Map Data Quality Assurance
USPS Coordination and Notification
MSAG and Telephone Database Updates
Fieldwork Preparation and Collection
GeoComm Field Specialists visually verified
visible addresses on structures. If the address
was not visible, they spoke with as many residents and businesses as
possible to obtain the correct addressing information.
However, if they were unable to speak with a resident or business
representative, an address notification pamphlet was left behind.
This pamphlet provided information concerning the project and the
field identification number assigned to the structure. It
instructed the resident or business owner to contact GeoComm’s
project team by telephone or to complete and mail in the survey to
verify their address.
The GIS field data collection was completed two months early due to extensive pre-planning and overall efficiency. Another major contribution to the early completion was a well organized public awareness campaign managed by Whitfield County. This campaign did an excellent job of informing the citizens of Whitfield County about the project, how GeoComm’s staff would be collecting data, and how important their cooperation was to this project. The county notified the citizens in a variety of ways, including:
press releases which were published in the local newspaper and on the counties Web site
news stories on the local TV
stations where they interviewed GeoComm staff,
Whitfield County residents, and also showed
GeoComm’s vehicles to help the residents recognize
the staff.
Map Data Layer Enhancements and Developments
After fieldwork collection, GeoComm conducted all
the necessary steps to enhance both the road centerline layer and
address point layer to be used for E9-1-1.
In addition, GeoComm updated the existing Emergency Service
Zone (ESZ) layer and developed a postal community boundaries layer.
These additional layers are designed to enhance end-user
functionality. GeoComm also identified road
naming issues which were then provided to the county to review and
correct.
Map Data Quality Assurance
USPS Coordination and Notification
After new addresses were assigned and quality
control was complete, GeoComm worked with regional post offices to
convert addresses to the newly assigned addresses in the postal
database and to verify the postal boundaries.
After the post office accepted the new addresses, GeoComm worked
with the municipality to notify each readdressed resident/business
of their new address.
MSAG and Telephone Database Updates
Finally, GeoComm ensured all necessary updates were made to both the MSAG and telephone databases. GeoComm completed a comparison of records in the MSAG to the road centerline layer to determine which road centerline segments did not match the MSAG. GeoComm also researched the accuracy of resident telephone numbers to find records without valid MSAG addresses. If a phone number resulted in an uncertain address location, GeoComm contacted the residents to verify the telephone number’s assigned physical location.
End Result
From the project kickoff to completion the
project took approximately two years. Throughout the entire
process, the Whitfield County project management team received
monthly updates from GeoComm regarding the project schedule,
identified current milestones, and project status.
“In broad terms, our expectations
were that GeoComm’s staff would fix our addressing problems with
minimal errors, which GeoComm has done. We have worked most
closely with GeoComm’s Dorrie Lamser and Dan Schmitz and they have
repeatedly taken action on our concerns and issues,” said Jess
Hansen, GIS Coordinator. “More specifically, our day to day
interaction with both Dorrie and Dan has been overwhelmingly
positive. They acknowledge our concerns and work
hard to solve them. Both of them have been cooperative,
professional and put our concerns above theirs.”
Whitfield County now has updated addresses, a highly accurate GIS data set, and updated MSAG and telephone databases. Most importantly, the project provides public safety responders with locatable addresses that display the correct location on a map in an emergency, resulting in improved response times.
About Whitfield County
Whitfield County, which was established in 1851, is a large county in Northwest Georgia. The county is considered the "Carpet Capital of the World" and home to some of the world's largest floor covering manufacturers. It covers almost 300 square miles and has a population of approximately 93,000 people.
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