markiesla

Phone data signal permitting of course - but that is the bane of all our lives when it comes to "live data"

What is you are wanting to achieve? How do you want to manage / use the captured information etc. Do you want to share the information easily with the end client via an interacttive map?

Make sure your T&C's clearly state re charging interest on late payment e.g. 2.5% above Bank of England Base rate or similar - or whatever rate you wish to use. Also consider whether your interest charge is compound or just on the principal sum. Either way you need to state clearly in your T&C's. If all your T&C's are clear and upfront and delivered as part of the of the quotation, it makes it easier should the need arise to go down the legal avenue. Another consideration could be to include a "work initiation" sheet which the client has to sign before work commences. Of course this should refer to your T&Cs and that they have been read and agreed to. You may also wish to include a comment about cancellation notice and charges if not cancelled with at least xxhrs notice. This is probably better business to business rather than business to client as it may scare some of them off.

Hi Ian, Even as a former AutoCAD Certified Instructor - you will not get much argument against how many features / functions there are in AutoCAD that the vast majoirty of users simply do not need. That is where AutoCAD WS really comes to the fore - just the right functions we need and it is free. :-) I will give you a call

A very valid point Andy and Rob D. Also remember that posting on the internet - whether here, facebook, twitter etc could be deemed gross misconduct or bringing your employer / a n other organisation into disrepute. I know that makes me sound like a boring old whoppee cushion

In our experience we found adwords "good" to wave the flag but I am not convinced we got any direct business from it. By this I mean google user enters the search term, sees the google ad and clicks through to us, makes the enquiry and purchases the product or service. Of course, flag waving all helps in raising awareness, profile etc. One thing though - I have heard of competitors - not in the arb industry i hasten to add - clicking on their competitors links at every opportunity just to us the costs the advertiser. Petty I know!!

Hello Ian and welcome to the fold :-) I'm sure we can help you out. Would a web-based option fit your plans? Is the sort of interrogation you want to do similar to that offered by Westonbirt Interactive Map Would you like to record the trees and add photos, etc as well as the tree details? Have you considered using AutoCAD WS to draw up the site plan? Sorry to sound like an interrogation :-) If you want to give me a call pm me and I will give you my number. Where are you based? just out of interest. Kind regards Mark S

Wasn't quite sure where to post this - so thought here was best. "On April 26, 2012, Trimble announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire SketchUp® from Google. SketchUp is one of the most popular 3D modeling tools in the world. As part of the SketchUp platform, Trimble will also partner with Google on running and developing SketchUp's 3D Warehouse, an online repository where users can find, share, store and collaborate on 3D models" taken from Trimble - Trimble to Enhance its Office-to-Field Platform It will be interesting to see how this will now evolve

Just out of curiosity, how accurate is accurate enough? I have been reading various posts (mainly LinkedIn) etc on GIS and GPS location services etc and it is very easy to be seduced (if I can use that word) at the thought of using our mobile phones to record our locational details. Is 3-5m accurate enough? In terms of telling us where we are - probably. In terms of indicating a tree - arguably yes. In terms of recording the tree location- arguably not In terms of recording the tree location to be used as a future positioned asset- defintely not However, is using smartphone as a positional locator any better than marking on a map from 10 yeras ago? Or recording an offset from a street light? or corner of a building? Personally, I fear that we building a huge data correction time bomb using smartphones as accurate positional instruments - one that cannot be easily diffused. (profund)

From what I have seen and heard - the Digiterra solution is hard to beat for flexibility etc (that's why we wrote an import routine for it to Eye-TREE) Once captured you can then save it out to Arc View, KeyTREE, Eye-TREE etc if necessary. What level of accuracy do you require? More accurate GPS costs more money - needless to say!!

Just a quick note to clarify. Some of the OS data is covered by the Open Data initiative. The detailed mapping (MasterMap) i.e. individual gardens, houses, roadside etc must be licenced (and paid)for use. This is the sort of data which would be used to support planning applications and typically produced at a scale of 1:50 through to 1:2500. Always worth checking as Arbmatic says :-)

Have you had a look at AutoCAD WS, https://www.autocadws.com/. It is free and it will allow you to take your autocad drawings into the field with you - with or without wif-fi / 3G connectivity - (once you have downloaded the drawing file) AutoCAD WS is essentially a very lightweight verison of autocad - but you can do redline, measure, layers etc. Also works on iphone & android devices.

I'd be scared to touch them - never mind use them

One thing that always stands out to me is the quality of the paper. Glossy 120gsm paper works well for flyers as a minimum. Nothing worse than coloured Izal That's my tuppence worth, but agree with including landline & mobile numbers and a website if you have one. Also if you are VAT registered or have a Company Registration number include that. It instills more of a feel good factor :-)

Oops I would love to see his renewal premium