Argus Technologies announces ARGUS Census Map USA geographic visualization software and census data on CD-ROM.

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 27, 1995--Argus Technologies Corp. has announced the release of ARGUS Census Map USA for Windows.

This self-contained version of the ARGUS 4.0 geographic data visualization software, bundled with the key variables from the most recent census for the entire United States. It is available on a single CD-ROM for $99.95.

"The single most extensive collection of demographic data is the United States Census," comments Bruce H. Rampe, executive vice president for Argus Technologies. "Until now, the data have been unavailable to the non-professional user because of the cost of the data and the lack of analysis and visualization tools. With ARGUS Census Map USA, Argus Technologies has made the census user-friendly, and accessible to anyone with a CD-ROM drive."

Census data has long been of value to marketeers and others who are trying to reach customers or audiences based on demographic characteristics. This has often required sophisticated, expensive analysis software to analyze and display views of clusters of the population that had the desired characteristics. The cost of the underlying data was also a major factor, since the raw census data cost approximately $13,000 for the entire United States.

"Argus Technologies wanted to find a way to obtain a wide distribution for ARGUS 4.0, our geographic data visualization software," notes Rampe. ARGUS 4.0 is a Windows front end for SQL-type relational databases which connects directly to multiple data sources simultaneously, eliminating the need for downloading and data conversion. Rapid, real-time spatial analysis of geographic databases is possible, all in a client/server, open-architecture environment. ARGUS is the only software tool currently available that permits dynamic geographic data visualization.

"When we looked for a large database that had the potential for large-scale use and applications, but was currently unavailable to potential users, the U.S. Census was an obvious candidate," adds Rampe. "I have been asked by buyers of ARGUS Census Map USA how we can provide this amount of data, which is 115 of the key census variables down to the census block level (a census block is a unit of approximately 1,000 people of 340 households) and a customized version of the software for this price. I explain that we purchased the census data, and are providing it along with our geographic visualization tool, ARGUS 4.0, to introduce the power of geographic data visualization to a whole new category of users. In essence, we want to do for geographic data visualization what Visicalc did for the spreadsheet: make it an indispensable tool." Rampe does not use this analogy lightly, since he was one of the principles of Software Arts, the early-80's creator of Visicalc, the software product that essentially introduced the personal computer to corporate America.

One of the most important uses of ARGUS Census Map USA is the identification and analysis of geographic areas that contain households with the desired demographic characteristics. Professional marketeers have long known that the identification of clusters of potential customers can result in highly targeted direct mail and other forms of advertising and communication. Previously this capability was only available to those companies or individuals willing to spend thousands of dollars.

"Now, for $99.95, the U.S. Census and the analysis software is available to everyone. The uses are unlimited, from real estate brokers, to car dealers, to insurance agents, to lawn care businesses - just about any business with a customer base. The power to target your potential customers, based on what you know about your current customers, is mind-boggling. The uses of ARGUS Census Map USA also extend beyond commercial businesses, to politics, education, and the home PC user curious about the demographics of their state, county or city," observes Rampe.

Argus Technologies provides a seamless path to upgrade from ARGUS Census Map USA. "As users become aware of the power of geographic data visualization and want to integrate their in-house data with the census data, they can upgrade to ARGUS PROFESSIONAL or ARGUS WORKGROUP, both of which have read-write capability to any SQL-type relational database, such as ORACLE, Sybase, Ingres and others," adds Rampe.

"We are confident that once ARGUS Census Map USA users see the visual richness of the maps created by the ARGUS software, they will want this visualization capability for the rest of their corporate data. It's like the first time you saw spreadsheet charting and graphing capabilities. Columns and rows of numbers suddenly had visual richness and significance. Most peoples' reaction was "Wow." Our maps do the same thing for census and corporate data. To use a common expression, `Seeing is believing,'" remarks Rampe.

Internet Access: Those who are interested in additional information and a glimpse of the potential of ARGUS Census Map USA can download product information and view sample screens by visiting Argus Technologies' home page on the Internet at http://www.tcel.com/argus

Argus Technologies Corporation's worldwide sales and marketing offices are headquartered at One Speen Street, Framingham, Mass. 01701-4644 Tel: [phone], Fax: [phone].

Trademarks:

ARGUS, ARGUS 4.0 and ARGUS Census Map USA are registered trademarks of Argus Technologies Inc.

CONTACT: Argus Technologies Corp.

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