Photo Library

A number of companies have found that Columbus' rich support for graphics file formats makes it ideal for keeping an on-line library. Some are utilising the right-click | properties option to record details of each image whilst others have exported their databases to Columbus DIN files so that the description of each file appears. One company has used Columbus to unite its project photographs with its marketing photo library, each of which is held by a different department.

Sales Team Info Store

We know of a couple of organisations that use Columbus to keep travelling salesmen up to date with current documentation. Previously they would post packs of documentation to each salesman. Now they use Columbus' file issuing mechanism to upload the documents to their private FTP site. As Columbus automatically notifies participants of any uploads via email, all of the team receive immediate notification of the new information and can then use Columbus to view, print and download the documents from their site.

Archive Library

Archiving is always a problem, and it's often made worse by the fact that people don't have the time or budget to do it properly at the end of the project. Whilst some people choose to scan all their documents, others are taking a new approach using Columbus.

These Companies are choosing to keep documents in their native digital formats and are simply taking the whole of a project structure and dumping it onto the archive media, e.g. CD ROM. As Columbus can read their file formats, they can reliably view and print these in future without having to scan them or save them in some other format. In 6 years time when they need to see these files, they can use Columbus or any other proprietary viewer to read them. You will notice that viewing engine companies update their engines with newer file formats all the time but do not remove support for older file types. So Columbus has support for WordStar, MultiMate etc.

Record of Medical Assessments

Columbus is being used to maintain records of medical assessments. In many cases this will be a word-processed document but may include separate drawings or images from a digital camera. Columbus' ability to handle and view multiple file types, and its cost free status make it ideal for this kind of application.

Construction Documentation

As Arup are involved in construction consultancy, and have designed Columbus to meet their varied needs, it is no surprise that a large percentage of companies using it are involved in this industry sector. Architects, construction managers, quantity surveyors, clients, local authorities, engineers and all manner of other disciplines use Columbus to organise and share data. Many of these organisations have written their own software to gather data from the DIN (document information files) and add it to their own document/project control systems. In every case, the fact that Columbus does not change the way they work, yet reduces data replication, is a driver behind its adoption.