A critical component of any wireless network plan is the data that depicts a service area. But finding and working with a database that provides a realistic representation of the various regions in which networks are deployed has historically presented many challenges. It can be difficult to find an accurate database and too much engineering time is spent manipulating low quality data by hand in order to increase its accuracy. This comes at the cost of billable hours and other opportunities the engineer should be focused on. One solution is a custom database, which can be difficult to find and more importantly, very costly. In addition, these databases are not updated and may no longer be accurate if the area it’s depicting gets developed. And even if we decide to procure one of these databases, delivery times can be weeks or months. When we are planning networks that require answers now or trying to meet customer demand or responding to an RFP that’s due in a matter of days, where does that leave us?
Cirrus Data solves these problems by offering instant access to custom data. Cirrus Data includes high-resolution clutter, terrain, 2D vectors, as well as demographics. The data is procured through our annual subscription service for both short and long term projects. Instant access to the data of Cirrus ensures not only accurate network design, but also increases productivity, responsiveness and greatly impacts your sales and your firm’s bottom line. The competitive advantage gained with a quick turnaround time means more business among customers who require immediate network designs and improves customer retention as you are now equipped to provide answers within short timeframes.
Customers who utilize Cirrus Data also improve their responsiveness to RFPs. The unfortunate reality is you may not have much advance notice before an RFP due date. There may even potentially be RFPs that you don’t respond to at all because there isn’t enough time to put together a response.
With instant access, however, you no longer have to spend time researching, sourcing and potentially converting databases. This opens up not only new opportunities, but provides return on investment over traditional data sources. When attempting to procure data from sources such as the USGS, on average, you can expect to spend one man day per service area on each database because you have to download, re-project the data and convert it for use in Signal Pro. This means to get both clutter and terrain data for one project, you’re looking at two man days on average.
Users of Cirrus Data can expect to see an ROI of at least four to five times. This figure does not even take into account other costs such as the software to re-project data and training costs associated with learning the process of data re-projection and conversion, and of course the unexpected cost of an error occurring in the conversion causing us to start over again, a common pain among those of us who have gone through this process. All of this is just regarding the process of downloading and converting the data for use. That’s not speaking at all to the accuracy and resolution of the data, which of course has always been one of the biggest challenges.
Cirrus Data solves this by providing hybrid clutter with resolution as high as one meter. Additionally, the databases are updated regularly, ensuring you’re always working with the most current information available. Historically, with the average network design consisting of 20 sites, one could expect to spend 15 minutes per site manipulating low quality databases. This represents $750 worth of engineering time. The high resolution data of Cirrus allows you to recover this engineering time and put it to use on other projects. Because Cirrus is available on a subscription basis, it saves money over traditional data purchases. Plus you have the flexibility to subscribe for either short or long-term projects.
EDX offers different subscription levels based on your needs. You can subscribe to data for the entire globe, the entire US, or just a specific service area. Cirrus is easy to use and can be utilized in any SignalPro project. EDX Cirrus offers high resolution data on demand for short and long term projects, enabling you to improve productivity, recover lost engineering time, win more RFPs, and save money. To learn more about how Cirrus can help improve your operation, please contact us.
