MAPPOINT Q & A

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393 Leah Fay - September 12, 2001

I am looking to create territories based on time zones in the U.S. Does MapPoint have this capability?

Answer:

MapPoint territories can only be created from boundaries that are in the product - census tracts, zipcodes, counties, states, countries. There are no time zones boundaries in the product, but if you are willing to put in a little bit of extra effort, and can live with a bit of ambiguity, you can still build the territories that you want by using counties as building blocks.

Before you start, you have to realize that time zones in the US aren't very clear. For instance, some states (including Arizona) don't observe daylight saving so they are in different time zones during winter and summer. Also, some communities in rural areas that are on or near a time zone border decide which time zone they want to be in...self-government at its best.

If you are happy to ignore these issues, just get yourself a time zone map (most road maps and atlases include one), start MapPoint and create a territory map with county as your geographic unit. In most cases, the time zone boundary runs along state borders, but some counties don't follow that rule, in which case you assign them, to the other time zone territory.

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