New navigation solution for police cars based on Microsoft MapPoint

WALL, N.J., Oct. 15, 2007 - BIO-key International Inc. , a leader in finger-based biometric identification and wireless public safety solutions, today announced that it will be showcasing its public safety solutions at this year's International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Conference and Exposition, October 15-17 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, LA (Booth #4748).

BIO-key will be introducing its MobileCop(R) Navigator at the IACP conference. MobileCop Navigator is an easy to install in-vehicle mapping solution for law enforcement and other public safety agencies. Using Microsoft MapPoint and global positioning system (GPS) data, MobileCop Navigator automatically plots the best route and directions to any location to which the mobile unit is dispatched, thereby enabling officers to arrive at crime scene faster.

BIO-key will also demonstrate its full range of biometric identification solutions including ID-Match(TM) and ID-Mobile(TM). ID-Match provides law enforcement professionals with a browser-based solution for capturing, storing, retrieving and reviewing detailed fingerprints records in the station. ID-Mobile is a wireless identification add-on that uses hand-held devices to capture fingerprints for in-field identification of persons. Attendees to the conference will be given first hand demonstrations of BIO- key's biometric physical and logical access solutions that deliver the ultimate in convenience and performance.

According to Mike DePasquale, CEO of BIO-key, "The solutions that we are showcasing at IACP demonstrate BIO-key's ongoing commitment to deliver the most advanced mobile wireless data solutions available today. With our unique capabilities in mobile wireless communications and fingerprint biometrics, we offer a wide spectrum of solutions to improve the efficiency and safety of first responders and the communities they serve. Solutions like MobileCop Navigator not only improve officer efficiency, but also save agencies money, eliminating the need for a large, expensive mapping system to retrieve geographic information. And since location identification and routing calculations are performed on the officer's laptop rather than a remote external system, law enforcement agencies get substantial savings in wireless bandwidth costs."

PRODUCT OVERVIEW

MobileCop® Navigator is a cost-effective mapping solution for public safety agencies, accessible to both in-car and office-based users. Based on Microsoft MapPoint, MobileCop Navigator provides easy-to-use mapping features, such as in-car display of location and driving directions generated automatically from CAD call information, without extensive map creation or maintenance of a full scale GIS mapping system. MobileCop Navigator reduces radio voice traffic by letting officers in the field obtain the specific location of a call or other destination, without dispatcher involvement.

But MobileCop Navigator is much more than just on-screen driving directions. With MobileCop Navigator, you can pre-define POI (Points of Interest) overlays that visually display key location-based information on the map available to your mobile users. For example, POI overlays might include: gang or drug-related problem areas within the jurisdiction, residences of known sex-offenders, intersections targeted for intensive traffic enforcement, or other locations you want your officers to concentrate efforts in or be aware of. That makes them smarter and keeps them safer on the street.

FEATURESWith MobileCop Navigator, your officers get:

√ In-car display of driving directions and route map generated automatically from a CAD call (when enabled)

√ Directions and on-screen route map to any location based on address, intersection or pre-defined point (such as a facility, building or public park).

√ Tactical information on specific locations and areas, based on pre-defined points of interest

With MobileCop Navigator, your agency gets:

√ A fully-functional mapping solution that can be deployed quickly and easily

√ Low cost and investment protection from a COTS-based solution approach using Microsoft MapPoint

√ The ability to also provide mapping capabilities to investigators, analysts and other office-based personnel

MobileCop® Fleet Navigator, available as an optional add-on, gives dispatchers, supervisors and command staff personnel near real-time visibility to the location of all GPS-enabled units and their activities. Locations are posted to a map, and can also be viewed with any pre-defined POI overlay. With MobileCop Fleet Navigator, dispatchers can track the location of every unit, and drill down to get more detailed mapping by jurisdiction, precinct or neighborhood. This makes it especially useful for dispatch centers serving multiple jurisdictions and dispatching for multiple agencies. MobileCop Fleet Navigator serves as a force multiplier by helping supervisors and command staff intelligently deploy and manage field resources in response to specific incidents or threats, and agency priorities. Supervisors and management can also retrieve a history of vehicle locations by unit and by shift to help determine whether deployments are achieving expected results.

It seems that BIO-key International Inc. is doing quite well with this product. As of today, January 28, 2008, over 1,000 law enforcement departments are on its list of customers.

The most recent customer is the Hawaii County Police Department who signed a $344,000 contract to implement the initial roll-out of the police department's first mobile data system. Each of Hawaii County Police Department vehicles will rely on Microsoft MapPoint. The current version of the product is MapPoint 2006, which if memory serves was released in April of 2006. The actual map data used in MapPoint 2006 is version Q3-2005 Navteq. That cannot be considered fresh map data by any means, and still there is no news if or when a new MapPoint version is going to be released by Microsoft.