Business Objects Gives Man's Best Friend Something to Howl About
Business Intelligence Software Helps Reunite Owners with Lost Pets and Increases Adoption Rates at the Austin, Texas Town Lake Animal Center
SAN JOSE, Calif.; PARIS, France - March 14, 2006 - Business Objects (Nasdaq: BOBJ; Euronext Paris ISIN code: FR0004026250 - BOB), the world's leading provider of business intelligence (BI) solutions, today announced the Texas-based Town Lake Animal Center (TLAC) is using Crystal Reports® software to help facilitate pet adoption and track the health and well-being of dogs and cats living at the center. By using Crystal Reports, shelter employees and community members are better able to access information about pets, which in turn foster new adoptions and reunions for lost pets and their owners.
Approximately five years ago, the City of Austin took over the animal shelter from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty for Animals. When the shelter was turned into a city agency and renamed Town Lake Animal Center, the shelter's number one priority was to reduce euthanasia rates. Accordingly, the TLAC, which provides shelter for over 23,000 animals each year, developed an online system to better track and manage their animal inventory. First, the city put together a SQL database that contained the entire animal inventory, animals' diseases or special conditions, as well as information about their disposition. Second, the TLAC deployed Crystal Reports on top of the SQL database to gain better insight into their animal inventory and create reports on all the adoptable animals.
Using Crystal Reports to track and report on the shelter inventory, the shelter staff can automatically post profiles of all adoptable animals to the TLAC web site. Information about the animals gathered by Crystal Reports is posted so citizens can search for a lost pet or an animal based on particular criteria, like a child-friendly dog or a missing long-haired black cat. Using Business Objects has turned the TLAC site into an effective way to reunite owners with their pets and connect unwanted animals with potential pet owners.
"By giving our employees and volunteers up-to-the-minute information on all animals at the center, we can quickly and easily determine which pets are ready for adoption and match them with the perfect family," said Duron Davis, systems support technician at Town Lake Animal Center. "Using Business Objects enables us to help save animals' lives. By matching animals - whether dog, cat, lizard or emu - with loving homes, Crystal Reports allows us to try and reduce overcrowding within the center and continue our quest to reduce euthanasia rates."
The center also relies on Business Objects to track and report on animal medical incidents as well as citations for animal cruelty and expired pet registration. These reports go to the municipal court and help with law enforcement. For example, if a pet license has expired, the court sends a note reminding pet owners to renew the license. Crystal Reports also helps identify trends like whether neutering rates have increased or neighborhood demographics for families who adopt pets.
"Town Lake Animal Center is a great example of how technology can change lives, not just of employees, but of the animals in their care," said Jay Johnson vice president of government at Business Objects. "Crystal Reports enables the shelter to more accurately track information about the animals in its care, and has dramatically improved the shelter's ability to find homes for those animals. Like many state and local organizations, the City of Austin counts on Business Objects to improve its operations and performance."
About Town Lake Animal Center
Town Lake Animal Center is the largest animal shelter in Central Texas, providing shelter to over 23,000 animals each year and animal control services to all of Austin and Travis County. A division of the Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department, the shelter is an open-intake facility - we will not turn any animal away.
About Business Objects
Business Objects is the world's leading business intelligence (BI) software company. With more than 42,000 customers worldwide, including over 80 percent of the Fortune 500, Business Objects helps organizations gain better insight into their business, improve decision making, and optimize enterprise performance. The company's business intelligence platform, BusinessObjects™ XI, offers the BI industry's most advanced and complete platform for performance management, planning, reporting, query and analysis, and enterprise information management. BusinessObjects XI includes Crystal Reports®, the industry standard for enterprise reporting. Business Objects has built the industry's strongest and most diverse partner community, and also offers consulting and education services to help customers effectively deploy their business intelligence projects.
Business Objects has dual headquarters in San Jose, Calif., and Paris, France. The company's stock is traded on both the Nasdaq (BOBJ) and Euronext Paris (ISIN: FR0004026250 - BOB) stock exchanges. More information about Business Objects can be found at www.businessobjects.com.
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