Christmas is all about spreading joy so we’ve been working on three Christmas updates that’ll make the life of both end users and backend users a little easier. So, if you want to know how MapsIndoors now further smoothens Christmas travelling, how we’ve extended the single sign-on function in the MapsIndoors CMS, or how we’ve made your map even more customizable, pour yourself a cup of coffee and kick back just a couple of minutes while you read this blog.
Christmas is all about spending time with family and friends which means it’s also one of the busiest times a year for airports and airliners. This year, the trade group Airlines of America expects 45.7 million passengers to fly on a US airline during the 18-day stretch from December 20 to January 6 which equals an increase of 126,000 of passengers a day. For travelers this means navigating in overcrowded airports and waiting in endless lines at check-in and security.
A new update in MapsIndoors now makes it possible for airports to provide travelers with the fastest route rather than the shortest. By integrating the MapsIndoors platform with a queue management system tracking waiting times at, for instance, security, the indoor navigation solution can be set up to show the fastest route from point A to point B.
When travelers search for directions to their gate, MapsIndoors will still guide them directly from where they are to their destination but it may not guide them through the nearest security if the line is too long. Instead passengers will by guided to another security with shorter waiting time getting Christmas travelers faster through the airport and improving the airport’s pass flow.
Moving from holiday travelers to MapsIndoors CMS users, our second Christmas update is an extended single sign-on function to the MapsIndoors CMS making possible to authenticate users with Azure Active Directory and the SAML 2.0 protocol.
The single sign-on feature isn’t new but so far we’ve only been using Google to authenticate users. With the single sign-on function users don’t have to type in username or password when logging into the CMS as long as they’re logged into Google or one of the newly added systems, Azure or SAML.
As Google, Azure and SAML only verify the identity of users, all users must still be created in the CMS but once created and logged in through one of the aforementioned systems, the MapsIndoors will automatically log you in when opening it.
The third and final Christmas update is the customer icon library. Until now customers have been able to choose icons from the icon library provided by MapsPeople but now customers can also create their own customer icon library making it even easier for customers to create their own look and feel.
“MapsIndoors uses icons rather than text to show users points of interest such as parking lots, restrooms, meeting rooms, restaurants, and more. The MapsIndoors CMS offers an extensive icon library so customers don’t have to create their own but we know that branding and customization is important to a lot of our clients. That’s why we have developed the customer icon library so they can upload and use their own icons”, says Jesper Winther, CTO at MapsPeople
The customer icon library is an addition the the MapsPeople library so customers can still use the standard icons or mix the MapsPeople icons with their own.
If you want to stay up-to-date with the latest product news, check out our blog where we keep you posted on the newest updates and development.