FINLAND, a country renowned world-wide for its leading role in meteorology, joined in June 1999 the group of 60 countries that use MESSIR systems today when COROBOR engineers finalised the installation of a MESSIR-COMM automatic message switching system at the Finnish Meteorological Institute.
COROBOR was especially proud to have been chosen by the FMI, an institute renowned worldwide for its serious and deep involvement in meteorological research.
This particular project included the installation of a MESSIR-COMM message switching system and three MESSIR-VISION forecaster's workstations.
Via MESSIR-COMM, the FMI is linked to a wide range of data sources, with a set of about 50 communication lines handling RMDCN connections to Sweden and Estonia, AFTN domestic connections, public telex and fax, ....
The MESSIR-COMM switch installed at the FMI includes a new module dedicated to the reception and dispatch of meteorological messages via e-mail.
With this new module, the FMI has becomes one of the first meteorological institutes in the world to use the Net as a means of exchanging met data. Any station of observation or meteorological data user connected to the Net can exchange data with the FMI in the easiest of fashions, via e-mail.
By developing this new Internet tool especially for the FMI, COROBOR has once again proved that it was capable of adjusting easily to the specific needs of a customer.
Kari Karlsson, a senior research scientist at the institute and manager of the project, said he had been particularly pleased with that flexibility.
He said:"The particularities of the FMI were well taken into account by a very flexible COROBOR software team.

Kari Karlsson, Michel Bourguès and Jouko Saari of the FMI

The MESSIR application software has also shown a great adaptability to our local particularities."
Mr Karlsson also insisted on the ease with which operators had been able to learn MESSIR. His remarks are the result of COROBOR's long-time policy of developing systems that are easy to use, install and maintain.