Microsoft calls its MapPoint software a business mapping and data visualization product. But for sales people and sales executives, it's more than that. Sure it can show you important marketing and business data based on geography. But it also can help you run your routes better.

Sales people want to optimize any activity that will help them get a jump on their territories by reducing travel time between accounts -- one of the ways in which they most often try to optimize their sales is by physically trying to traverse their geographies to hit more accounts in less time. Depending on the layout of their territories, this can be challenging. Microsoft's MapPoint software makes it less challenging.

By combining your own customer and prospect databases with MapPoint's enhanced visualization tools, MapPoint can help you plan your route -- whether it's local or requires air travel.

First you feed the data into MapPoint so the product can understand where each customer is. MapPoint shows them to you on a close-up map of your entire territory. You can set the map to show major highways, smaller roads, and even use different symbols for each type of customer or prospect -- based on the data you feed it. Once you see the data, you can use MapPoint to help you set your route for a remote business trip or for a single day's excursion into the field, complete with driving directions.

If you use a Windows Mobile device such as a personal digital assistant or a Smartphone, you can then download your route to your portable device, even have it read to you while you're on the road -- or combine it with a global positioning system to make sure that you don't miss your mark as you're driving. Suggested list price is $299.