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shipside module, providing tugs and barge and OSV in- dustries clients with comprehensive administrative, man- agement and communications tools designed to increase business intelligence and operational effi ciency. “We are the world leader in dispatching and billing and job-oriented work – at least in the harbor docking sector,” says Rodger Banister, vice president of marketing. He adds that Helm is “built on the principle of user experience,” and it’s the way Helm extracts that experience that has helped it to become known as one of the few companies out there with a system integrated through all departments.

Helm ensured that integration by diving into client pro- cesses, bringing users together to map out real workfl ows. “We fi nd out how people work, and we look for trends, so that when we develop the software, it’s based on what they told us,” Banister explains.

Helm will follow that same model as it builds its next- generation successor to Operations, Helm Connect. The company claims it will be the fi rst application-based, work- fl ow-based, web-based software built for the workboat in- dustry. Connect will ensure greater engagement through smaller, simpler, but powerful applications designed to handle specifi c tasks faced by crews and the shore-based team every day. Users will be able to see what’s going on, at any time, with software designed to be used at all levels of the company.

Connects will be built on the theory that everything can be done online, simply and for a lot less. Intuitive work- fl ows will vastly paper trails and training needs, predicts

Banister. The company currently is halfway through build- ing Connect’s HSQE suite (fi rst module). If all goes well,

Banister looks to be rolling out the new module before year’s end.

McMURDO GROUP (BOATRACS)

Fleet management and tracking is tiny Boatracs’ claim to fame. From its roots in a North American truck-tracking ap- plication, Boatracs saw an unmet need and has single-hand- edly built the North American small-to-medium offshore, coastal and inland waterways vessel tracking market to 2,500 vessels, using a version of Qualcomm’s OmniTRACS package of hardware, software and satellite communications adapted to shipping and backed by 24/7 support.

The Boatracs family includes multiple communications options ranging from its core offering of OmniTRACS- based products to its newer multi-mode broadband and voice capabilities, all powered by web-based messaging and mapping software (BTConnect and BTForms) to provide access to fl eet-wide data from anywhere on any device, to increase operating effi ciencies for thousands of vessels across North America.

The company adds features on a roughly quarterly schedule. “We are not just developing features for the sake of features. We go out and talk to the customers about what they would like to see next,” says Jonas Olsen, Fleet

Management Business Unit Manager of McMurdo Group. “Four or fi ve of the biggest inland waterway customers also have deep offshore operations or contracts in South

America. It’s inconvenient not to use the same software everywhere,’’ says Olsen.

Also on tap for delivery this year is support for hand-held mobile devices. “Most of what we do will be on tablets in

SOFTWARE “We are the world leader in dispatching and billing and job- oriented work – at least in the harbor docking sector.” – Rodger Banister, VP Marketing,

Helm Operations ( ) www.marinelink.com MN 47 32-49 MN Aug14.indd 47 7/18/2014 1:37:11 PM