Jump to the following:

Ordnance Survey logo

Discover Ordnance Survey

Skip primary navigation
Site Search

Web mapping service delivers £100,000 investment saving

Central government: Planning and delivery

Web mapping service delivers £100,000 investment saving
 Using OS OnDemand has delivered significant cost savings whilst also improving transparency and efficiency. The WMS has saved TCA an investment of around £100,000 in terms of upfront infrastructure costs that would be needed to host mapping data and deliver a web ordering service. Over and above this saving, we estimate a continued saving of £20,000 year-on-year, as the OS OnDemand fees are less expensive than supporting and maintaining the infrastructure needed to provide this service ourselves.
Alex Robson, TCA

At a glance

The Coal AuthorityImproving the way customers request and receive information is helping to make The Coal Authority (TCA) more transparent, cost-effective and efficient in delivering its services necessary to protect the public and the environment in mining areas now and for future generations.

Printable version: download PDFVisit the The Coal Authority website

Contact us to find out more

TCA – which had never before used mapping on its website – sought to deliver a new online customer interface based on a reliable and cost-effective infrastructure that was resilient enough to cope with large volumes of users. The resulting consumer portal needed to be clear, cost-effective, easy to use and contain the most accurate and up-to-date mapping.

TCA uses Ordnance Survey’s web map service (WMS), OS OnDemand, to provide instant access to the latest and most accurate mapping data to customers using its consumer portal.

The level of detail provided by OS OnDemand enables customers to gain a good understanding of an area’s geography and zoom right down to individual building level to identify the footprint of the property in question. By using TCA’s online tools they can then draw the exact geographic area that they would like included in the report, on OS MasterMap® Topography Layer.

This flexible new online service has ultimately enabled TCA customers to be more involved in the ordering process. By capturing their own boundaries, customers can receive their completed report within approximately two hours, 24 hours a day. This will also reduce the pressure on the already-busy customer contact centre, providing staff with more time to deal with customer enquiries.

Data from OS OnDemand is provided to TCA under the Public Sector Mapping Agreement (PSMA), which allows members to make licensed data available for public viewing. The PSMA also enables easier data-sharing between members.

Ordnance Survey data provides users with the most detailed view of an area, and can zoom down to individual building level.

  • Savings of around £100,000 in infrastructure investment.
  • Estimated year-on-year savings of around £20,000 in infrastructure maintenance costs.
  • Reduction in turnaround time for report processing.
  • 24-hour service.
  • Improvements to the customer journey.

Other case studies you may find interesting...

For general enquiries, complaints, feedback or suggestions, email: customerservices@ordnancesurvey.co.uk or call us on 08456 05 05 05