Key Takeaways: Microsoft MapPoint is no longer for sale, and support has come to an end from 21 December 2014. Other mapping softwares for businesses include Upper Route Planner, Mapline, Maptive, and BatchGeo. Features like optimized route schedules, excel import, and proof of delivery makes it the best alternative to MapPoint. The best mapping software should be decided based on the particular requirements of the company, including budget, data analytic capabilities, and convenience of use. A decade ago, planning a regular workday was a task for sales and delivery people before heading out. This led to spending hours of time that could have easily been spent covering more orders or leads. But things took a turn with the arrival of Microsoft MapPoint. MapPoint was the go-to option for mapping and planning to manage territories. After all these years, Microsoft MapPoint is not available for use. But there are some excellent MapPoint alternatives to this mapping software that can help salespeople, field service technicians, and delivery drivers tackle various daily challenges. Table of Contents What is Microsoft MapPoint? Why Do You Need MapPoint Alternative? What Makes Upper Route Planner The Best Alternative to MapPoint? Microsoft MapPoint vs Upper Route Planner FAQs Conclusion What is Microsoft MapPoint? Microsoft released MapPoint, a featured mapping application, back in 1999. MapPoint allows one to manage sales territories, explore new markets, and manage the company’s logistics. It was built specifically for sales reps & delivery teams to visualize their routes, plan road trips, and target potential customers. Outside salespeople could also track customer data within a specific territory or geographic region. Microsoft MapPoint was one of the initial GPS systems. MapPoint proved to be a game-changer for salespeople and professionals in trip planning. This gave salespeople more time to do what mattered the most to them – closing deals and maintaining customer relationships. Why Do You Need MapPoint Alternative? Microsoft MapPoint is a business mapping application that provides map-based business data visualization to help salespeople & delivery drivers understand location-based or demographic information. Over the next few years, until its discontinuation in 2014, MapPoint’s toolkit grew into a comprehensive suite. Microsoft MapPoint 2013 was the last updated version of this popular software. Without the necessary automatic updates, the focused software would lag the technological curve for the growing sales and routing needs. For this reason, salespeople and other MapPoint users with routing needs have started to look for a custom solution that works to replace MapPoint. Most businesses and their delivery teams have used apps like Google Maps. This led to frustration in planning and in executing those manually prepared routes. This is why businesses need a new-age route planning software like Upper Route Planner that will help them with: Advanced route schedulingInstant route optimizationEasy driver managementSMS & email notifications for customersReports & analytics for generating valuable insights Beat the Route Planning Challenges with Upper Upper is an easy-to-use delivery management system. Create delivery routes, import stops, dispatch to drivers, and collect proof of delivery anytime, anywhere. Try it Free What Makes Upper Route Planner The Best Alternative to MapPoint? Optimized Route Schedules Using Upper Route Planner for scheduling and optimizing routes helps create the most efficient route possible. For example, Upper Route Planner creates routes with up to 500 stops in less than 2 minutes. Businesses, like food delivery and pharmacy delivery that use the comprehensive route planner to plan and optimize the fastest routes save up to 8 hours of planning time and boost driver productivity by 20-30%. Businesses are able to plan and schedule routes months in advance. The software helps them stay a few steps ahead of their schedule doing this. Moreover, Upper Route Planner helps you plan your entire day instantly without spending hours in scheduling. By saving time and resources with quick scheduling and optimized routing, business users deliver more orders and drastically improve customer interaction. Excel Import Dispatchers can plan and schedule routes with more than 500 stops at once. Forget manually adding each address to the software. Upper Route Planner allows you to upload 500 addresses using an Excel/GPX file. Upper Route Planner identifies duplicate addresses. With such quick address input capabilities, you can plan and schedule sales routes in less than 5 minutes. All you need is a list of addresses. Cloud-based Software Upper Route Planner is a powerful tool that is 100% online. This means you can access it anytime and anywhere. There is no software to download or install. Simply log in and start routing. This makes it easier for business owners and dispatchers to plan routes for their delivery drivers, no matter where they are. Record Proof of Delivery Equip your drivers with the best drive-time tools to help them with routing and keep a record of all their package or service deliveries. Upper Route Planner helps your driver capture pictures, customer signatures, or customer notes for each product or service delivered. Recording proof of delivery helps you ensure that the delivery was fulfilled successfully. So if a frustrated customer comes to you with complaints, you can present them with the proof of service or delivery that is signed. Keep Your Customers Informed Upper Route Planner offers customer notifications feature to all businesses that need to keep their customers informed with delivery notifications through SMS or email. Customer notifications help keep your customers in the loop at each stage of the delivery process. Letting your customers in on the delivery process and improving their visibility elevates the overall customer service and brand image of any delivery business. Generate Reports & Analytics Using Upper Route Planner, dispatchers and business owners can generate daily, weekly, and monthly reports for their delivery operations. Upper has an intuitive user interface to visualize sales opportunities and easily compete in the advanced market. With detailed reports for each delivery route and driver, businesses get insights into how they are functioning and whether or not the delivery process needs any improvement. Advanced reporting features help businesses improve and make informed decisions. Microsoft MapPoint vs Upper Route Planner Features MapPoint Upper Route Planner Find addresses Archive routes Share routes with others Route scheduling Route optimization Driver management Save customer profiles GPS guidance Proof of delivery/service Customer notifications Reports & analytics Customer Support Android, iOS, PC, Mac Pricing $300 $80 per month for up to 3 drivers Upper Route Planner – Perfect MapPoint Alternative Upper Route Planner helps you scale your deliveries while optimizing multiple routes and managing multiple drivers at once. Get Started Now FAQ What can I use instead of MapPoint? There are several web apps like Upper Route Planner, Badger Maps, and Circuit Route Planner that you can use as an ideal replacement for MapPoint. These apps help drivers, outside salespeople, a delivery team, or a sales team map multiple locations on a route. Is MapPoint still available? MapPoint was discontinued back on 21 December 2014. Since then, there have been no annual updates or technical support for this digital mapping software. Does Microsoft have a mapping tool? Yes, Microsoft’s Bing Maps platform is an effective tool for web mapping service that helps businesses to build intelligent location-enabled and map-based experiences for the real world. Conclusion No doubt MapPoint was a great way to plan daily routes for businesses around the world. It was used to save routes for various businesses such as food or meal delivery businesses, field salespeople, courier delivery businesses, and repair businesses. But, Upper Route Planner is a more advanced and user-friendly route planning software. It is more than just route optimization and comes with additional benefits like- detailed multi-stop routes, driver management, route scheduling, proof of delivery, and report & analytics. Are you still wondering why Upper Route Planner is the best alternative to Microsoft MapPoint? You can book a demo to experience the benefits of Upper. Author Bio Rakesh Patel Rakesh Patel, author of two defining books on reverse geotagging, is a trusted authority in routing and logistics. His innovative solutions at Upper Route Planner have simplified logistics for businesses across the board. A thought leader in the field, Rakesh's insights are shaping the future of modern-day logistics, making him your go-to expert for all things route optimization. Read more. Share this post:
