Routing services can be a somewhat underappreciated component when it comes to the response time and efficacy of first responders. The fact is, top-tier route tracking can make the difference between success and failure for emergency services providers. It can determine whether the paramedics arrive on time and have a shot at saving the patient, or if they’re too late on scene.
Emergency routing services can help ensure that the right professionals use the best route to reach their destination on time. The services can also factor in variables such as vehicle data, traffic information, weather events, and more to find the most convenient route for a call, while scaling this across an entire department.
Azure Maps’ route tracking services have a stellar advantage in this regard in the level of real-time and historical geospatial information they can leverage to improve emergency services and their outcomes. Here’s how Azure Maps’ routing APIs can help first responder services.
Directions
Azure Maps’ Directions API is one of the most reliable tools available to help you find the fastest route from A to B. Based on real-time traffic data, the tool helps you avoid congested roadways, closures, and so on so that your responders aren’t forced to remain idle while the roadway clears up. The Directions Service is also able to generate unique routes for every call depending on the vehicle being used, whether that’s a fireman’s truck, a paramedic’s van, or a police officer’s bike. Your responders save on time, money, and fuel with directions mapping based on the vehicle’s consumption models.
Even as a standalone API, Azure Maps Directions is a robust tool to help you implement emergency route tracking while modeling it to your department’s capabilities, missions, and goals.
Route Matrix
Azure Maps’ Get Route Matrix API is a useful tool that can analyze several route and direction variables to identify the best available resources to send to specific locations. In practice, it creates a route matrix showing the travel time and distance for every possible origin-destination pair in a list.
Say all sets of origins and destinations were arranged as column and row headers, respectively, on a table. Each cell in the table would contain the cost of routing (in travel time and distance) of making that journey. As a municipality, if you have 20 ambulances on your roster, and you need to find the closest driver to attend an emergency call, the Matrix Route API will have that information for you.
Route Range
The Get Route Range API is a handy complement to the Azure Maps’ route tracking APIs in that it will give you the maximum distance from a single point that a user can reach given available fuel, time, and energy. This API essentially creates a map, specifying a polygon boundary to indicate the reach of a user, while also calculating a set of relevant locations within that boundary that are feasible for the user to get to. It’s a good way to calculate just how far your emergency responders can be sent out on call in any given situation.
Data and Insights
Azure Maps’ emergency routing and route tracking APIs are powered by a vast repository of rich geospatial data that helps identify trends, uncover patterns, and crystallize insights that can prove invaluable in the form of actionable location-based intelligence.
The Azure Maps Traffic Service, for example, lets you integrate live traffic information into your solution. You can access macro views of traffic flows in precise detail, get by-the-minute incident reports, implement predictive routing, and optimize ETAs for your responders.
Similarly, our Weather Service offers you detailed weather data, including actual, historical, and normal, for every location or route. You can ask for everything from real-time weather alerts to hourly and daily forecasts, all of which you can build into your routing recommendations.
EV Data
Conventionally-powered fleets are quickly being replaced by electrically-powered ones. Azure Maps offers you detailed EV data you can use to help your driver with route tracking to nearby charging stations, all of it customized to each EV’s consumption model. This ensures your emergency responders aren’t stranded for lack of a nearby charging station.
Improve response times with high-quality emergency routing services
Emergency responders are in the business of saving lives and deserve the best possible chance at that by getting on-site as quickly as possible. Explore Azure Maps’ route tracking services for highly capable and flexible tools that make it easier for operators and responders alike to do their job. Explore some of our demo map samples to get a feel for our route mapping capabilities or contact an Azure Maps expert to get started.
