Jun 20

Analysis of Telephone Call Data Records with Sentinel Visualizer

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Discover more about Telephone Call Data Records Analysis


What valuable information can you get out of huge amounts of telephone call records?

The US government is trying to collect all the telephone call data records (CDR) for US and international phone calls though its PRISM program. Does having this information constitute snooping? Is it an invasion of privacy? Or can it really help investigators track, find, and thwart threats?

Does it Matter with So Much Data?

With billions of phone calls, how could anyone possibly find anything of value amid all the innocent, unrelated calls? No one can possibly gain significant insight looking at an Excel spreadsheet or a database showing rows and columns of all those calls. Isn’t it just noise?

How Sentinel Visualizer Analyzes Call Data Records

Without advanced analytics software, the data is overwhelming. Our commercial Sentinel Visualizer program from our Advanced Systems Group provides a platform to gain insight into the massive number of phone calls. It’s about managing large amounts of data, seeing the relationships between entities (phone numbers and people), drilling down where necessary, and filtering based on time, geography, and relationships:

  • Call detail records are imported into the Sentinel Visualizer database (SQL Server)
  • Link Analysis Networks can be used to visually see the calls made by any phone number
  • Multiple levels of phone calls can be linked to identify groups of phones related to each other (cells of activity)
  • Geospatial Mapping and integration with Google Earth to see calls across the world
  • Social Network Analysis (SNA) to identify related phones (cells) and spanners between cells
  • Temporal Analysis can be used to filter data to specific time ranges
  • If information exists for known individuals and their phone number(s), related phones can be quickly identified as warranting additional investigation
  • Link Traversal Analysis can be performed between two phone numbers to show all the phones related to them through multiple levels, and quickly filter out the unrelated calls to identify the “community of interest”
  • Numerous reporting and exporting options: print diagrams and customized reports, or export them in image, PDF, Word, Excel.

Link Analysis Network Visualization of Telephone Call Data Records (CDR)

Learn more here.

Jun 14

New Technical Support Forum and Ticket Tracking for FMS

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We are very pleased to announce our new technical support site (http://support.fmsinc.com) to provide forums and the ability to submit technical support inquiries.

Our new site lets you submit requests and respond to them via email with our support team. It also lets you visit our site to check the status of your requests and their entire chain of communications. You can login directly or use affiliated logins from Facebook, Google, and Twitter.

You can also read information and ask questions to the community on topics related to Microsoft Access, Visual Studio, LightSwitch, and SQL Server. We hope you’ll join us.

Additional support resources are available here:

Jun 07

Comparison of Microsoft Access, LightSwitch and Visual Studio Platforms for Database Developers

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Last month I spoke at the Portland Access Users Group Conference at Silver Falls State Park. I gave a presentation introducing Visual Studio LightSwitch and how it could be used for SQL Server applications deployed on a variety of platforms. As a follow-up, I’ve created a summary matrix and discussion that highlights the features and limitations of the variety of platforms from Microsoft Access, Visual Studio LightSwitch, and Visual Studio.

Microsoft Access started at the beginning of the Windows revolution 20+ years ago and became the most popular database of all time. More recently, additional technologies have become significant, so it behooves the Microsoft Access community to be aware of the trends and options.

Database Platform Matrix

Ultimately, it’s about being able to create solutions that help you and/or your users accomplish their mission. Sometimes the user’s platform is critical, sometimes, it’s the data source, and other times it’s the permissions you have to deploy a solution. A variety of platforms and options are available with benefits and limitations with each. Meanwhile, Microsoft Access is also evolving with their latest Access 2013 version offering new web based solutions.

We’ve written a new paper, Comparison of Microsoft Access, LightSwitch and Visual Studio Platforms for Database Developers  that summarizes what we’re seeing and experiencing.

May 01

Be Careful Making Appointments on Your Smartphone from a Different Time Zone

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Microsoft Outlook Tips and Techniques

When travelling in Texas recently, I received an email for a noon lunch appointment the following week. So I added it to Outlook on my Windows Phone as usual.

Unfortunately, I missed the appointment because when I returned home to Eastern time, the appointment appeared on my calendar as 1 PM (noon in Texas). It was rude, embarrassing, and bad for business.

Read our new paper, Missing an Appointment Set on a Smartphone while in a Different Time Zone on how to avoid this.

Apr 25

Boston Marathon Bombing and the Use of Social Network Analysis (SNA) Software

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Sentinel VisualizerWhile we at FMS are best known for our Microsoft Access add-in products, we are also a leader in the Big Data analytics world with our Sentinel Visualizer product from our FMS Advanced Systems Group.

Sentinel Visualzer helps analysts mine their data to find hidden relationships among people, places and events. Built with Visual Studio .NET on a SQL Server database, Sentinel Visualizer provdes advanced data visualization through link analysis, geospatial mapping, timelines, social network analysis (SNA), advanced filtering and decluttering, and many other tools to maximize the value of data.

MIT Technology Review Article on Social Network Analysis and Boston Marathon BombingAs the rampage and manhunt in Boston, Cambridge, and Watertown transpired, MIT Technology Review published an article that mentioned our Sentinel Visualizer product. In the April 19, 2013 article, David Talbot describes the rise of technology to detect the activities of criminals over the Internet and connect seemingly unrelated people, places and things. For more information, visit Building a Picture of the Boston Marathon Bombing Suspects through Social Network Analysis.

Mar 20

Microsoft Access Query Sorting on Multiple Date or Numeric Fields with Blank Values

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Read our new paper, Microsoft Access Sorting on Multiple Date (or Numeric) Fields with Blank Values.

Learn how to sort on multiple date fields when null values exist by using a calculated field. By using the IIf function with Is Null, you can easily sort to see the most recent (or oldest) records.

Microsoft Access QueriesWe’ve included information on avoiding the IsNull function to maintain SQL Server compatibility. Additional information and examples are provided to show why using the NZ function (NullToZero) is not equivalent and returns the wrong results.

This new paper is part of our Microsoft Access Query Help Center.

Mar 13

Mistakenly Blaming Microsoft Access instead of the Developer

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In this March 10th Washington Post article, Alexandria tailor weaves custom solution for taking orders, a local firm is mentioned having struggled with Microsoft Access and being forced to migrate to a new system due to problems with their Access database. In particular, their database couldn’t provide multiuser support and lost data when more than one person used it.

Unfortunately, stories like this perpetuate the myth that Microsoft Access features are limited rather than the lack of skills of the developer who tried to customize it. It’s a shame the business owner and developer weren’t aware that Access could address the multiuser issues they encountered; thereby saving time, money, and headaches from having to migrate to a new platform.

Microsoft Access is Multiuser Ready

Microsoft AccessThe reality is that Microsoft Access is fully capable of providing multiuser support if it’s designed properly. For basic database solutions with under 1GB of data (maximum 2GB), Access comfortably supports up to 200 simultaneous users with a properly designed solution.

Microsoft SQL ServerAs the number of users and data expands, Access makes it relatively easy to migrate the data storage from an Access database to SQL Server, while maintaing the application layer (forms, reports, code, etc.) in Access. This also lets you share the SQL Server data on web sites and other platforms. That means supporting two users in a tailor shop would be trivial with MS Access.

Split Database Architecture for Multiuser Solutions

People sometimes treat Access databases like Excel spreadsheets and want each user to open and close the same file. That’s not the way to support multiuser data sharing in Access. A split database architecture is needed to separate the application layer from the shared database. Each user gets their own copy of the front-end database application that links to the tables in the shared database.

Microsoft Access includes a built-in wizard to split the database and another wizard to link the front-end database to back-end tables. We wrote a paper about this years ago called, Microsoft Access Split Database Architecture to Support Multiuser Environments, Improve Performance, and Simplify Maintainability.

While having a web application has its role and advantages, the article mentions their internet connection isn’t reliable and their business is negatively impacted when that happens. That’s an unfortunate result of their new platform. There are ways to create hybrid solutions to provide on premises support with shared web solutions, so these issues need to be considered when creating business critical solutions.

Using Microsoft Access Strategically

Small businesses often have very limited budgets and time to understand technological options. Completely eliminating Office and Access as viable solutions for incorrect reasons is wasteful. Microsoft Access addresses an important segment of database needs, and offers small businesses and information workers the ability to make modifications and extensions that other platforms do not allow so easily. Understanding where and how to use Microsoft Access effectively along with its limitations offers organizations of all sizes a competitive advantage. We’ve helped many small businesses, non-profits, and multi-national companies properly use this technology very effectively. Here’s our article on Microsoft Access within an Organization’s Database Strategy that discusses this in more detail.

Conclusion

There are lots of terrible applications created on every technology platform whether it’s Microsoft Access, Excel, Visual Studio, Java, Oracle, SAP, etc. In this case, the skills of the Access developer were clearly lacking. Getting that confused with the technology is misguided.

Additional Resources

For additional resources to build robust Microsoft Access solutions and understand what’s possible, visit our:

Feb 18

Attending the Microsoft MVP Summit in Bellevue/Redmond, WA

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I’m attending the annual Microsoft MVP Global Summit this week in Bellevue and Redmond, WA. This is actually my first experience at this event as I was awarded the MVP title this past summer for my support of Microsoft Access.

Over the years, FMS has had several Microsoft MVPs for Access including Dan Haught, Steve Clark, and Jim Ferguson who was one of the original MVPs when the program started 20 years ago. Book author Alison Balter and Portland Access User Group leader Jack Stockton join me as new MVPs this year. Last night we had a nice kickoff event with fellow Microsoft Access MVPs.

The MVP conference brings together 1500 professionals from across the world to this conference. The MVPs cover all the different product groups for Microsoft which offers a wonderful mix of expertise and enthusiasm. Over the next few days, the different Microsoft product groups will be providing presentations to attendees in an NDA environment. Sorry, I can’t share the content, but I can say it impacts our future planning.

Yesterday, they had a showcase of a variety of technologies from MVPs in the US plus companies from Taiwan, Japan, Germany, China, India, etc. It’s great to see the global impact of Microsoft.

How do you become an MVP? The usual path is to be involved in public forums answering questions and becoming an expert in the field. You don’t need to own a business to be an MVP. Other ways to be selected are to increase your professional visibility through products, writing books, blogs, etc. The MVP program is designed to recognize individuals who influence the market and help the community maximize the value of Microsoft products. So whether it’s XBox, Bing Maps, Dynamics, Exchange, Office 365, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, SharePoint, Visual Studio, Windows Phone, Word, etc., if you have a passion, expertise, and a willingness to share, the MVP community could be part of your future. Good luck!

Feb 12

Portland Oregon Microsoft Access User Conference

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Silver Falls State Park, Oregon
May 4-6, 2013

FMS President Luke Chung is one of the featured speakers at this annual Microsoft Access conference hosted by the Portland Access User Group. This will be his third year speaking at this wonderful event.

Enjoy an amazing, rustic getaway to a beautiful state park with fellow Microsoft Access enthusiasts. Book early so you can stay at the limited number of cabins available at the conference center. The conference fees are amazing low and includes meals.

LightSwitch and Microsoft AccessLuke will participate in various talks on Microsoft Access development, running a business, and creating solutions using Visual Studio LightSwitch. He’ll also be staying at the site during the entire conference, so you’ll have plenty of opportunity to meet him formally and informally.

For more information, visit the conference site.

Feb 11

Welcome to the New FMS Development Team Blog

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Welcome to our New Blog

We’ve migrated our blog to WordPress from our previous BlogEngine.NET platform. We hope you like it.

WordPress has become the most common Blogging format, so we’re happy to simplify the process for people to participate in our blog with their WordPress login. We also gain considerably more options for designing the layout of our blog.

We could have started our new blog from scratch but since our existing blog existed for many years, we wanted to migrate it with all the comments from our BlogEngine.NET host to WordPress. That turned out to be a challenge that required learning the idiosyncracies of BlogEngine and WordPress. With the help of Microsoft Access, we created a table with the terms that needed to be translated, read the XML file from BlogEngine, then created a new XML file that WordPress would import.

For details of how we did it, visit
Migrating BlogEngine.NET Posts to WordPress with Translations Using Microsoft Access.