Vertical street information in postcode data for Northern Ireland from MapMechanics

Dec. 17, 2012 - PRLog -- Vertical street information in postcode data for Northern Ireland from MapMechanics
Benefits for scheduling and leaflet drops, especially in high-density neighbourhoods

Organisations using postcodes for delivery planning, mobile workforce scheduling, leaflet drops and similar activities in Northern Ireland can now make use of a very precise geographically-based data set from MapMechanics, one of the UK’s leaders in digital mapping and related data.

The ForGIS Unit Postcode Boundaries for Northern Ireland data is now available through MapMechanics’ fully-transactional data web site, www.allmapdata.com.

Not only does the ForGIS data designate the geographical areas covered by each unit postcode; it also contains vertical street information. This means it includes instances where there is more than one postcode in the same building – ideal for delivery scheduling and similar activities.

Unit postcodes represent the most precise location information contained in the UK’s postcode system, and are used widely by planning and analysis software. Typically they include anything from a single very large property or part of a property to several dozen neighbouring addresses. However, on their own they simply designate the street addresses, not map locations with clearly identified boundaries.

The ForGIS data translates the unit postcodes into boundary polygons that can be represented on a map. This makes planning decisions much easier to understand, and helps developers to make scheduling applications more precise.

It is also ideal for thematic mapping. For instance, boundary polygons can be colour-coded to represent different attributes (average income, occupancy levels and so on).
Where there is more than one postcode in a property (for instance, a large block of flats), each postcode is allocated to the appropriate polygon, and software can be set up to show these instances on a map. Typically, if clicked upon, the polygon would open to reveal each postcode lying somewhere within the area covered.

The ForGIS Unit Postcode Boundaries for Northern Ireland data is compatible with a wide range of digital mapping software and geographic information systems, including the GeoConcept GIS and GeoXploit (a package of GIS and data products), both of which are also available from MapMechanics.