The Maestro
Avinet Newsletter July 2011 |
Welcome to The Maestro, Avinet's regular newsletter that keeps you up to date on the latest features and developments to Avinet's suite of products: Air Maestro®, Rail Maestro™ and Road Maestro™. You will also read about the latest events and happenings from our customers, partners and team.
The Maestro newsletter is sent in html and text-only format and is distributed quarterly to all those on our mailing list. If you received this copy of The Maestro from a friend and would like to join our mailing list, please email gobrien@avinet.com.au. |
| From the Managing Director |
Since our May newsletter, we have experienced the largest growth of customers in our history with new customers from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, PNG and the UK. We are finding this is due to an increasing regulator and industry focus that is driving safety initiatives in line with ICAO and Fatigue Management requirements. Operators also want to streamline their operations to ensure a more integrated approach to their business operations as well as to ensure safety and compliance is being properly managed. Now with thousands of users using the Air Maestro® system world-wide on a daily basis our exposure is increasing.
A number of new initiatives have also occurred in this period including: the relocation of one of our Hosted IT environments within the Asia region to a new data centre facility; the implementation and testing of our new Air Maestro® User Forum due to be launched to our customers shortly; ongoing development of Release 2.8 and our Scheduling Release 2.9; commencement of our iPad/iPhone application development; and planning around next year's Air Maestro® User conference being held in February 2012.
Our support and training team have been busy with new customer implementations, supporting our existing customers and also assisting our existing customers to train new staff involved in managing Air Maestro® within their operations.
Our team will be in the UK in September at the Helitech conference in Duxford as well as at other events, as detailed in this newsletter. If you have the opportunity to visit or meet with us at any of these events, please drop us a line.
I hope that you find value in the information provided in this newsletter and should you like further information on any of our products, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Regards
Paul Lewin |
| From the Development Team |
Upcoming Enhancements
Release 2.7 has been successfully rolled out to all customers. User Guides and our online help guides have been updated to reflect these changes and if you require any training on this new release, please contact our office on +61 (0)8 8100 1166.
Since the successful rollout of release 2.7, we have decided to roll out a smaller release pre-Scheduling, which was the next anticipated release. This smaller update will be release 2.8 with the Scheduling enhancement now being rolled out as release 2.9.
Release 2.8
As part of this smaller update, customers can expect calculated custom fields in the Flight Records and Safety Forms, instant Work Practice alerts, Recency rules to support 'or' situations, additional Global Reporting options and a number of other small enhancements. This is planned to be rolled out in September.
Release 2.9
Scheduling/Tasking is our next highly anticipated major development project. We've used a Beta version to spark your ideas on what needs to be in a Scheduling Module and the next step is to complete the development of this significant enhancement to Air Maestro®. In fact, development has already started and we have been collaborating with various customers to ensure the needs of their diverse operations are met with this Module. |
| Flinders University Work Placement |
Next month, two fourth year Flinders University students will join Avinet as part of a 20-week work placement. Chad Lundstrom and Suraj Jacob start their placement on 8th August 2011 and will undertake development on a prototype for an Air Maestro® iPad/iPhone application.
The prototype application will allow customers to view a mobile dashboard of their information in Air Maestro® including daily and weekly Flight Schedule, Recency and Fatigue Reports and System alerts.
Damien Coyle, Avinet's Senior Software Development Engineer will supervise the project. He said, "Our vision is to provide another method for entering duty times via the increasingly popular iPhone and iPad platforms." |
| News, Events & Media |
Media Spotlight
Following are links to some recent articles on Avinet and Air Maestro®:
'System eases pilots' heavy safety load' - The Adelaide Advertiser
'Is your organisation fatigue safe?' - KiwiFlyer
'Sky is the limit for Safety System Based in the Cloud' - RotorNews
'Sky's the limit for Safety System Based in the Cloud' - Shephard News A special thanks to Australian Helicopters for being part of the first two articles.
AAAA Convention - Adelaide
The Aerial Agriculture Association of Australia (AAAA) Convention 2011 took place in Adelaide, South Australia on 13-16 June. Avinet's Mike Mulvihill, Paul Lewin, Aleks Banas  and Gabrielle O'Brien attended the event and performed numerous Air Maestro® demonstrations to an enthusiastic crowd. The AAAA hosted event was a real success and the Avinet team enjoyed mixing with delegates and fellow exhibitors alike.
Avinet congratulates Darryl Taylor from Tasmanian Helicopters for taking out the Avinet business card draw. Darryl took home a gourmet hamper stocked with South Australian produce that included Maggie Beer sauce, Bird in Hand olive oil, some Nova Vita wines, Haighs chocolates, rocky road, Coopers Pale Ale and more.
New Zealand Aviation Industry Week - Wellington, NZ
 Avinet’s CEO Mike Mulvihill and Senior Software Developer Matt Botting attended the AIA and NZAAA conferences in New Zealand earlier this month. Once again, New Zealand’s Aviation Industry week proved to be a positive event for Avinet. Botting commented that, “Local operators appeared very interested in how they can ease their safety load with Air Maestro.”
Avinet would like to congratulate Allan Moulai from ATTTO on winning our business card draw. Allan was rather shocked at winning the 22” LCD TV and said he thought it was a joke as he never wins a thing.
Social Media
Avinet has jumped on board the Facebook bandwagon. Please click the below links to add / "like us" on Facebook, Twitter and Linked In. By following our social media feeds, you will be among the first to hear about our latest news and updates, such as development enhancements, the 2012 Air Maestro® User Conference, upcoming tradeshows, media publicity, customer feedback and other useful updates.   
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| Upcoming Events |
HeliTech - United Kingdom, 26-27 September 2011
This September Avinet will team up with alliance partner SMS Aero at HeliTech. Taking place in Duxford UK, Helitech is the largest dedicated helicopter exhibition in Europe and is a significant event on the Avinet tradeshow calendar.
So visit our booth - number 1406 - and chat to one of our certified consultants. You will have the opportunity to view live product demonstrations, discuss the future direction of Air Maestro®, be kept up to date on industry news regarding safety and fatigue management and enter our business card competition.
More details will be made available on our website next month.
Safeskies - Canberra, 26-27 October 2011
 Safeskies 2011 is a highly regarded and informative Australian aviation conference that boasts an impressive line-up of speakers and attracts a huge global audience. This year’s conference is being held at Canberra's Hyatt Hotel and its theme is, “Future Growth - Future Challenges”. Avinet’s Aleks Banas will attend the event.
Air Maestro User Conference - Adelaide, 28-29 February 2012
After the success of the 2011 Air Maestro® User Conference, the 2012 Conference is going to be even bigger and better! Due to increasing user numbers, we have outsourced to The Sebel Playford, which is located in the heart of Adelaide. The Sebel Playford is one of Australia's leading boutique hotels and is renowned for its contemporary, classical conference packages and delicious food.
 The conference will include beginner and advanced refresher training and new release demonstrations coupled with keynote speakers, various industry presentations and an interactive user forum.
So block out your calendar for Tuesday 28th and Wednesday 29th February 2012. There is also the option for one-on-one or group training at the Avinet offices on Thursday 1st March.
Early Bird Registrations opens on Tuesday 2nd August 2011 and will close on December 2nd 2011. Registrations will then be accepted until 3rd February 2012. We advise you book early to take advantage of the early bird rates.
More information will be detailed on our website. Alternatively, please email conference@avinet.com.au for details. |
| Testimonials |
Air Maestro® is a consolidated and proactive system to facilitate and significantly improve your safety culture and operational needs. Following are some customer testimonials:
I found the [2011 Air Maestro User] conference very enjoyable and informative. The presenters and developers were extremely accommodating and willing to offer their expertise. It was an excellent forum to review feedback from current users as well as liaise with potential customers. I totally enjoyed the experience here in Adelaide and believe that this conference demonstrated Avinet's commitment to excellence in customer service and support. I strongly recommend that all users and prospective clients attend the conference to get an overall view of the software and its creators.
Yvette Ashlin
Technical Officer, Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter
Air Maestro has provided a program that has condensed a number of systems into one single system (one stop shopping).
Gary Oldman
IT Manager, Royal Flying Doctor Service SE Section
Air Maestro has provided our company with an all encompassing system for our operations. the system is secure, accessible for all staff, user friendly and constantly evolving in line with industry demand. Above all, our company is impressed with the level of support provided by Air Maestro staff.
Jason Davies
Logistics, Whitsunday Helicopter Group |
