• Configurable to your administrations particular circumstances and requirements
  
• Build-in facility to assist regarding private cemeteries, church cemeteries, rural, and informal cemeteries

• Can be facilitated upon request
  
• Interface to Existing Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
  
• The SmartMun Cemetery Manager programme is spatially enabled and data regarding grave locations can be exposed to existing Geographic Information Systems
  
• In cases where no GIS is available, the fully integrated SmartMun GIS Viewer module is a pragmatic low-cost alternative

• As opposed to historical burial records, which are based on underlying paper-documentation, survey records are based on information gathered on-site. As such, survey records are of great assistance in cases where the existing paper-based historical burial records are either incomplete or non-existent, as well as in cases where old cemetery layout plans are no longer available
  
• Inscription details, grave details, photographic information, and GPS coordinates complete the information and every survey record can be found by any combination of search criteria within seconds

• To be updated at the beginning of each municipal financial year by authorised staff members
  
• Built-in facility to generate quotes electronically for burial services
  
• Quote layout adjustable according to each customers’ corporate identity

• Built-in electronic archive of historical burial records based on data gathered throughout the day-to-day operations of your cemeteries, as well as through the conversion of your paper-based historical burial records into electronic format
  
• Every burial record stored in the SmartMun Cemetery Manager programme can be found by any combination of numerous search criteria within seconds

E-government is a modern concept to bring information and services closer to the public, as well as to reduce the cost of conducting business with municipalities through electronic means. Two e-government web portal options are available for our SmartMun Cemetery Manager software:

• SmartMun Burial Search WebPortal allows members of the public to search for the location of particular graves, 24/7 from the convenience of their homes / offices via the municipal web page
  
• SmartMun Undertaker WebPortal allows authorised and registered undertakers and monumental masons to obtain quotes from the municipality, 24/7 from the convenience of their offices

Paper-based historical burial records are by law considered to be irrecoverable historical records and municipalities are thus under obligation to keep the records safe. Paper-based burial records physically deteriorate over time due to age and wear and tear and often get lost or even stolen which in turn is detrimental to municipal service delivery. Due to the often large amount of data and the unwieldy format of historical burial records, it is practically impossible to compile up-to-date and credible reports and statistics, thus depriving the municipal executive of vital information required to make well informed decisions.

The conversion of paper-based historical burial records into electronic format, while being an exceptionally time consuming and arduous task with a lot of room for human errors, is therefore of great importance for local government institutions. Synapsis Software offers the conversion of your paper-based historical burial records into electronic format as a value-added, outsourcing service to its customers. Our permanent, very experienced and dedicated team of data capturers, data auditors, and project managers have the capacity to handle up to 70 000 records per month.

In many cases there are substantial gaps that have gradually emerged over many decades in the existing paper-based historical burial records. Historical burial records gradually deteriorate over time due to the effects of age or wear and tear, get lost or are even stolen. Historical cemetery layout plans are often no longer available and large amounts of metal grave markers, mostly prevalent in the cemeteries dedicated to the poorer among our communities, are stolen and disappear in broad daylight. The loss of such vital information in the field is hugely detrimental to municipal service delivery and reflects badly on any local government institution.

Through surveys conducted on-site by our experienced and diligent team of surveyors we gather information in the field, which can in turn be stored in our SmartMun Cemetery Manager programme as so called ‘survey records’. Survey records contain photographic documentation collected on-site, details of the deceased, inscription details from the gravestone or grave marker, as well as GPS coordinates for each grave, thus preventing the ongoing loss of irrecoverable information in the field and filling in the blanks as far as possible. Survey records can be exposed to the municipal GIS to be overlaid over existing aerial photography. Survey records can be accessed by the public conveniently through our e-government web portal to assist people effectively in the location of particular graves.

Electronic grave makers represent an added layer of security for local government institutions in cases where the paper-based documentation is incomplete and gravestones and grave markers are no longer available at the grave to assist with the identification of the deceased.

Electronic grave makers hold an RFID chip which carries a unique reference number and is backed by a built-in battery with a guaranteed minimum lifespan of 50 years. The grave markers get embedded in the grave at a depth of approximately one meter at the time of burial and the unique reference number on the RFID chip can be added to the burial record as an additional search criterium in our SmartMun Cemetery Manager programme. The information on the grave marker can be read from the built-in RFID chip conveniently through a compatible surface reader and without disturbing the grave site. The unique reference number on the chip thus allows for the finding of any related burial records within seconds.

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