RLM Software
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| RLM Software, Inc. | |
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| Type | Private Company, Woman-Owned |
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| Founded | 1981 |
| Headquarters | Allston, MA, USA |
| Industry | Aviation, Travel |
| Products | FlightView Real-Time Flight Tracking Software |
| Website | www.rlmsoftware.com |
RLM Software, Inc., founded in 1981, is a privately owned software company based in Allston, Massachusetts, United States. RLM specializes in the development of real-time flight tracking software solutions for several industries including airports, airlines, general aviation and ground transportation companies as well as the general public through travel portals. RLM also works extensively with various federal government organizations through its Contract Services Division.
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[edit] History
In 1983, two years after its formation as a company, RLM landed its first major contract working with the US Department of Transportation, developing the ‘Black Box’ protocol software. This is used in connecting the FAA air traffic control center data to its new Traffic Management System, the first nationwide Aircraft Situational Display Information feed. In 1994, RLM became the first company approved to access the ASDI feed from the FAA and in 1995, launched their FlightView® line of products with Dispatch, the first commercial standalone ASDI flight tracking application in the industry.
RLM expanded its reach in 1996 by providing free access to real-time flight tracking information to the general public on their public website. This marked the first time that accurate airline-independent flight information was made available to the general public for their own flight tracking purposes. Prior to this, flight information was only available integrated into business aviation software.
Starting in 2000, major airlines began using RLM’s flight information on their websites and automated voice response systems. These real-time flight tracking systems were based on integrated airline schedules, aircraft movement messages and radar data, and were all bundled under the product name, FlightView Access. RLM also provided FlightView real-time flight information through an XML datafeed that can power an already existing application/design for web or netFIDS (Flight information display system) at this time.
By 2005, RLM had expanded their FlightView product breadth to include other products designed to address the business needs of various companies in the aviation industry. First, in 2003, FlightView Monitor, a snapshot of an airport or a specific airline’s air traffic with a moving weather overlay, was introduced as a product for the first time at Bermuda International Airport. In 2005, Live! was made available to the general public, allowing visitors to search for any flight watch the plane as it continuously moves on its own from departure to arrival city in real-time, along with animated weather.
[edit] FlightView Division
Since the launch of Dispatch in 1995, RLM Software has continued to develop tailored flight tracking solutions for airports and FBOs, airlines, charter companies, ground transportation companies, travel websites and the general public using the FAA’s ASDI data. This data is scrubbed of errors and is then combined with geographical, aeronautical, schedule and weather data as well as gate changes and delays.
[edit] Applications for the General Public
After RLM began to offer free flight tracking information on its public website in 1996, the appeal of free flight information to the general public became apparent and an increasing number of airlines, airports, travel websites and newspapers, with the desire to add more meaningful content to their websites and thereby increase traffic, began to incorporate FlightView’s real-time flight status information.
[edit] FlightView Access and Monitor
Many airlines utilize FlightView XML Datafeed to add maps to their flight status offerings, while some major airlines rely on FlightView to host their entire flight status portal including their flight tracker.
FlightView Access powers the FIDS for several airports including many of the major metropolitan and regional airports nationwide. Some airports also feature FlightView Monitor, a snapshot of an airport’s air traffic on their website (or in the terminal).
In addition to airports and airlines, several top travel sites utilize FlightView data to power their flight trackers. National and major metropolitan newspapers feature FlightView Access – Flight Tracker and FlightView Monitor – Airport Delay Status maps on their websites in their travel section to add content useful to their readers.
[edit] FlightView Live!
In 2005, RLM Software released FlightView Live! in concert with the launch of their new public website. FlightView Live! gives visitors to RLM’s website the ability to search for a flight and then watch the flight in a pop-up window, hands-free, as it is automatically updated and animated without the need to refresh the window. Zoom, weather and replay functions provide interactivity, and diversions and delays are presented and noted on the screen. Changes in speed, heading or altitude are adjusted with each flight data .
[edit] Applications for Commercial Use
The core of RLM Software’s FlightView Product Line is targeted at businesses in the travel industry.
[edit] FlightView Dispatch
FlightView Dispatch is a PC-based flight tracking system that uses radar and air traffic control data to generate information on all commercial and most general US and Canadian instrument flight rule (IFR) air traffic. Military and certain general aviation aircraft is excluded from the display.
Dispatch is used by organizations within the aviation and travel industries, such as: charter companies who need to keep track of their fleet of planes, ground transportation operators who require arriving and departing flight information in order to dispatch drivers more efficiently, or airport scheduling/dispatching and maintenance departments who rely on the Dispatch information to let them know when they can work on planes or shovel runways.
[edit] FlightView Access
In addition to powering FIDS, websites and flight trackers, FlightView Access – XML data can also be integrated into 3rd party scheduling and dispatching software. RLM Software has partnered with many scheduling and software providers to provide flight following and flight verification in their applications for the ground transportation industry.
[edit] FlightView Archive
FlightView Archive, a decision-support tool, includes flight history or landing reports showing far distant or recent history, trends, market size and audit of landing fees. These reports are exported in Microsoft excel format and are used by any organization that needs to analyze past flight data.
[edit] Contract Services Division
RLM Software has been doing contract work for the Federal government since its inception in 1981. This includes work on the Enhanced Traffic Management System (ETMS) for the Department of Transportation in conjunction with the Volpe Center in Cambridge, MA since 1983 as well as the Traffic Flow Management Modernization project for the FAA. The Contract Services division has also done work for the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) on the Air Force Automated Aircraft Movement Data System.
In June 2006, RLM’s Contract Services division was selected to be part of the SRS Technologies team for the Seaport-e contract vehicle for the Naval Sea Systems Command. For this project, RLM’s area of expertise, for the New England Region, is in engineering, information systems, information assurance and information technology.
[edit] Media Attention
RLM Software’s FlightView product line has been written about or mentioned in several media sources including PC Magazine, the New York Times and the Associated Press. Following the September 11th attacks, ABC’s World News Tonight with Peter Jennings prominently featured FlightView’s capabilities in relation to the resumption of air traffic flow as compared to the empty skies during the day of the attacks. During those times, RLM Software’s website, FlightView.com was ranked the 46th most popular site searched on Google, according to Terra Lycos.
