Gazetteer specialists Aligned Assets can today announce the release of its latest software product – Symphony Blackbox.

Designed to allow local authorities to easily share their central address databases with other council departments, and in doing so reduce costs and increase efficiency, the Symphony Blackbox can be used by any council, irrespective of which other software systems they have installed. Aligned Assets are the first UK company to offer this level of integration, which is based on technology already in use by over 50 local authorities. Up to 100 different council systems use address data and in many cases the creation and management of those addresses are untaken within each department.

This expensive duplication of work can result in a multitude of errors as different addresses are entered with different spellings and formatting. These errors inhibit joined up working and can see a reduction in services to the taxpayer. Each council in Great Britain will maintain a central database of all addresses within their administrative boundaries known as Local Land and Property Gazetteers (England and Wales) or Corporate Address Gazetteers (Scotland). Symphony Blackbox works by allowing changes in these single databases to be automatically exported to other systems, thereby removing both duplication of work and the errors that result from it.

Managing Director of Aligned Assets, Andy Hird, said, “We’ve calculated that the Symphony Blackbox has the potential to save each council tens of thousands of pounds every year.” “It’s compatible with existing infrastructure, so requires no restructuring or upheaval, and its flexible, intuitive design means that those savings can start to be recognised almost instantly.”

For more information visit: www.aligned-assets.co.uk/blackbox

ABOUT ALIGNED ASSETS

Aligned Assets are an industry leader in AddressBase, gazetteer and address management solutions. They supply software across the public and private sectors including over 100 Local Authorities, Fire & Rescue Services and Police Forces. In addition to software and data solutions, they offer a complete range of consultancy, training, bespoke development and project management.