Case Studies - NFPA

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) had to find a secure, scalable solution for delivering its information on the web.

Background

NFPA is a global nonprofit organization established to protect people, their property, and the environment from destructive fire. Founded more than 100 years ago, NFPA is the leading worldwide advisor on the topics of fire, electrical and life safety. NFPA publishes nearly 300 fire, electrical and life safety codes and standards known as the National Fire Codes® (NFC), including the National Electrical Code® (NEC).

Problem

With more than 11,000 pages of copyrighted material, including complex tables and graphics, NFPA had to find a secure, scalable solution for delivering its information on the web.

Internet and disconnected access: NFPA realized that to remain competitive and provide optimal service for its customers, it had to deliver its National Fire Codes both when the customers have Internet access and when they are in locations where no network connections are available. As network access becomes more widely available in remote locations, NFPA needed their solution to be able to help transition users to the web-based product.

Security concerns: NFPA was also concerned about how to secure their content. All of the codes are copyrighted ensuring they are used properly and by authorized users. NFPA anticipated that over time most of their customers will migrate to the NFC web-based product. They wanted a solution that would let them ship content on CD-ROM in a secure, license enforced manner while also selling subscriptions to the web.

Personalization of content: While a subscription includes access to approximately 300 National Fire Codes, NFPA needed a solution that let users select specific codes to search that are relevant to their needs.

Scalability: With the potential for thousands of users accessing daily more than 11,000 pages of codes online, scalability was a high priority in the NFPA's choice of technology. In addition, product growth plans call for enhancing the codes with interpretations and other ancillary information from a number of sources.

Complex tables and images: NFPA had several concerns about moving to the web, including how to present large, complex tables and graphics online in a visually appealing way without experiencing slow download speed.

Solution

NFPA chose a solution from GVPi to give its customers web-based access to hundreds of megabytes of National Fire Codes as well as deliver the codes to an audience that still uses disconnected CD-ROM technology. With the help of GVPi, NFPA got its CodesOnline site up and running quickly.

Internet access: Because content is available from GVPi's hosting center, customers can access the codes from anywhere - the office, home, or any remote location with Internet access. Regardless of where customers access the codes from, they always receive a familiar view. With updates to the codes appearing online right away, often before being available in print, users are always sure to be using timely information.

Disconnected access: For those customers who need offline access to the Fire Codes, GVPi has also provided NFPA a Windows-based application solution. Particularly important for construction professionals and inspectors in the field, the National Fire Code Subscription Service CD-ROM allows customers to be confident that they will be able to get the answers they need no matter how remote they are.

Security concerns: While meeting the demands of customers for faster, easier access to the codes, GVPi also resolved NFPA's content security concerns. Combining GVPi's search and content delivery platform with its access control product, NFPA is able to securely sell access to close to 300 copyrighted codes on an annual subscription basis. When a customer's subscription expires, so does access to the codes.

Personalization of content: Even though a subscription still gives users access to the nearly 300 codes, with the GVPi solution they can now create a custom version of the codes, tailored to their specific professional needs. A user may need information from only 30 codes and doesn't want to perform a search and receive results from other documents. With the My NFC feature, the GVPi solution greatly increases the speed and accuracy of any search.

Scalability: The GVPi solution allows for smooth and seamless growth as additional users purchase subscriptions. GVPi's hosted solution has additional processing power and bandwidth ready for just-in-time delivery as NFPA's needs change.

Summary

GVPi has significantly improved the way NFPA delivers information to its customers. NFPA feels confident in the security and availability of their content without limiting their customers ability to access the codes.