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National Disaster Communications Response Team
Rescue Ready
"The NDCRT provides electronic communication resources during a
disaster event," explains Executive Director Bob Nelson. "In
addition, we provide electronic communications for other community
events as a way to maintain training and test equipment. All
members are volunteers with experience in radio, telephone, and IT
communication." The team is equipped with the latest in
communications technology, with a headquarters and three vehicles
fitted out with mobile gear.
Maintaining all this equipment requires a comprehensive database
system. "Initially we had used a Linux solution, MySQL, as a method
for providing a database hosting solution," Bob explains. "However,
this was frequently problematic as the solution required extensive
training and provided a less than elegant interface." The system
also required a great deal of administrative attention from NDCRT
staff, drawing them away from more essential duties. But all that
changed when Bob agreed to try out the new FileMaker Pro 6.
"I decided to push the product to the limit," Bob says, "and see
what it would really do." For starters, Bob took advantage of the
Batch Import feature to load a catalog of more than 10,000 images
into a FileMaker database. "While I realize that the size of an FMP
database should remain under 2 gigabytes," he notes, "this database
currently holds 2.4 gigabytes of data and is performing
flawlessly." From there, Bob imported a highly-detailed HyperCard
database of specifications of over 200,000 electronic components
into newly-created FileMaker database, and completed the entire
task, from scratch, in less than four hours. "I just couldn't
believe the agility of the software," he enthuses.
Most impressive for Bob are FileMaker Pro 6's XML capabilities.
"XML isn't for everyone," he admits, "and I wasn't sure it was for
me either. But a little guidance from the folks at FileMaker and
I've seen the light at the end of the tunnel. Currently I'm
developing a database-driven chatroom, which will allow us to
maintain a record of discussions, responses, and more discussions."
Bob anticipates that this chatroom system will be of great value
not just in keeping team members up to speed but also in providing
hard documentation of in-the-field activities.
The XML capabilities of FileMaker Pro 6 also streamline
administrative functions. "Our ability to manage our volunteer
database of approximately 1300 records has now become a breeze
since I can share it with a number of users on a number of
platforms locally and remotely," he explains. "More important, I
found that I can keep a database of stories and quickly publish
them to our website, speeding development and publishing.
Previously, HTML was hand-coded before moving to a PHP solution. I
can now replace that option with a simple solution!"
Bob's test drive of FileMaker Pro 6 will have long-term
repercussions. "FileMaker Pro 6 is an awesome product, a simple and
elegant solution, " he says. "Our ability to manage our volunteer
database of approximately 1,300 records is a breeze, thanks to
FileMaker Pro 6 XML export, since I can share it with many users on
a number of platforms locally and remotely. And, with XML export, I
can keep a database of stories and quickly publish them to our
website, speeding development and publishing. Based on my own
experience I've decided to dismantle our existing MySQL server and
install FMP Server so that we can deploy FileMaker Pro 6 clients in
the field. It's more than I could hope for in many other solutions
I've tested."
Contact information
Contact Info for Customer:Bob Nelson
Executive Director
National Disaster Communications Response Team
bobnelson@mac.com
Filemaker Contact:
Kevin Mallon
Public Relations Manager
FileMaker Inc.
408-987-7227
kevin_mallon@filemaker.com
http://www.filemaker.com
- Keeping disaster communications personnel and equipment in fighting trim, FileMaker Pro 6 plays a vital behind-the-scenes role for the National Disaster Communications Response Team.
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