(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Move over GPS, GRL is here to help you find your way about the town and locate your building.
Geo Reference Locator(GRL) has taken 10 years to go online and is unique to the UAE, according to its developer.
In the new system, which is similar to the URL of a website, your address is now online on www.grl.ae and is assigned a unique six digit number. For those on the move, www.grl.ae is compatible with iPad, iPhone and can be used on Android phones and tablets.
It doesn't matter if you don't know your building's GRL number. All you need is the name of a landmark that is posted (with a nameboard) close to your building. This can be a hotel, supermarket, bank, pharmacy, grocery or exchange on the ground floor of the building or villa you live in. You can then scroll down to the emirate and then the area and click locate.
A map will appear and will zoom to show the GRL, address and photograph of apartment block you want to reach.
Ummer Sahib, director of Informap and the driving force behind this project, said it took 10 years to perfect this unique address system.
"We have been working since 2002 on this project and have been offering this service for home delivery companies with GPS tracking service. Ninety per cent of the buildings in the UAE have been covered and we are updating it everyday and increasing it," said the city planner from the Ahmedabad School of Planning and Architecture in Gujarat (India), whose company is based in Sharjah with an office in Dubai.
"It's my lifetime achievement," said Ummer about the online address system. The site had a soft launch in March. "In fact, it is an ongoing project. We have a field survey team that is constantly updating and covering more new buildings as they come up," said the Indian expat and entrepreneur who has been living in the UAE for over two decades.
There is no need for users to register and they don't need to part with data.
It's free for indivdual users who also have the option of creating temporary GRLs or T-GRLS and then confirming their numbers with Informap.
The T-GRL can also be used when hosting outdoor events and saves residents the trouble of sending their friends and associates a location map.
On revenues, he said users on the business version of GRL are charged different rates. This version comes with more functions and has three plans under 'basic', 'premium' and 'enterprise' for customers ranging from managers, call agents, delivery boys and drivers. Subscription for this service, which is based on MaaS (Map as a Service) starts at Dh500 per month. More than 130,000 companies can be located using road and building names.
"We customise the version for each and every business with a caller locator. This means that when a GRL pre-registered customer calls, the map will zoom to the exact building for the call agent to take the order. Most of our users are home delivery companies," Ummer said.
And for the average resident with a smartphone, the search for locations in the UAE just got smarter.
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