Question 1

Can we integrate our cemetery map with management software for staff and visitors?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Sentry Mapping delivers your GPR- and GIS-based cemetery map straight into our cemetery management software. Staff can search plots, update records, and plan burials, while a public portal lets visitors locate graves from any device.

Digital cemetery mapping from Sentry Mapping is designed to plug directly into modern software, not rest in a drawer. After our ground penetrating radar cemetery survey and burial-plot mapping, we upload every coordinate, headstone photo, and document into our optional, browser-based cemetery management software.

Your team can zoom around a high-resolution, clickable cemetery map, filter by owner or date, mark a new interment, or print directions for a funeral in seconds. Because the map lives in the cloud, everyone sees the same up-to-date information on a phone, tablet, or desktop for quick grave locating.

You can also share a public view, so families and historians can search names and walk straight to the correct grave without bothering the office. Need heavier-duty features such as online plot sales, work-order tracking, or multi-cemetery dashboards? Simply upgrade to a full management package when ready and all of your Sentry data flows forward automatically.

If you already run a municipal GIS, we export shapefiles and metadata so your IT team can load the same grave-location layer beside utilities, zoning, or flood data. Bottom line: your interactive cemetery map becomes a living management tool that cuts phone calls, prevents double-selling plots, and gives visitors a better experience.

Question 2

Can we upload photos of headstones/monuments and link them to each mapped record for staff and/or the public?

Accepted Answer

Yes. With Sentry Mapping's digital cemetery mapping and our optional cemetery management software program, you can attach headstone or monument photos to each mapped grave record. Staff with the right permissions can upload images, and you can also choose to display headstone photos on the public, read-only online map.

Sentry Mapping cemetery mapping can include headstone and monument photos linked to each mapped record for staff and for the public. After Sentry Mapping completes your GPR cemetery survey and burial plot mapping, your cemetery GIS mapping data is delivered in an interactive digital map where each grave is a clickable record.

With our optional cemetery management software program, authorized staff such as owners, administrators, and managers can upload images and attach them to the correct plot or burial record, while view-only users remain read-only.

For public access, you can enable online public access so families can search, view basic interment details, and see a headstone photo to confirm they have the right location. Public users cannot edit anything. You control what is visible, down to specific fields or even specific graves, so you can keep sensitive information staff-only.

Question 3

How can a churchyard with limited resources modernize its cemetery record-keeping?

Accepted Answer

Even on a tight budget, a churchyard can convert paper documents to digital records by outsourcing one turnkey survey. Sentry Mapping uses ground-penetrating radar, precision GPS and free web-map delivery to capture every marked or unmarked burial, then loads the data into Chronicle cemetery management software so volunteers can update records online.

Start with a professional cemetery mapping survey that respects tight budgets. Sentry Mapping offers a free estimate and can usually complete a small churchyard in less than a week. High-frequency ground penetrating radar cemetery equipment sweeps the entire site without digging, locating every headstone, footstone and hidden burial. Precision GPS fixes each plot, and our team reconciles old notebooks, ledgers and memory with the new data to prevent duplicate sales or accidental disturbances.

Within weeks you receive a printed master map plus an interactive cemetery GIS mapping portal that anyone can open on a phone, tablet, or computer. Volunteers simply type a name to see a grave’s exact coordinates, photos and available space nearby. Because the map lives in the cloud, the church avoids servers, licenses or IT headaches. Two complimentary years of Chronicle cemetery management software let you keep adding deeds, obituaries and maintenance notes.

The result is sustainable digitizing of cemetery records at a fraction of the cost of hiring surveyors or buying standalone cemetery mapping software. Accurate burial plot mapping today safeguards heritage, streamlines grave locating for families tomorrow and gives congregational leaders confidence that every future interment is in the right place.

Question 4

How can we determine how many available burial plots remain in our cemetery?

Accepted Answer

Commission a professional cemetery mapping survey. Sentry Mapping scans every grave with ground-penetrating radar, matches results to GPS, and builds an interactive GIS map. The digital map shows every occupied and vacant space, letting you see exactly how many plots are still available and where they lie.

Start with a complete cemetery mapping audit from Sentry Mapping. Our field crew walks every row with high-frequency ground penetrating radar (GPR) and sub-inch GPS. The equipment detects both marked and unmarked burials, then ties each location to a unique grave ID.

Next, our drafting team draws plot boundaries over recent drone imagery, so every lot has a digital outline. The occupied graves are shaded; open spaces stay clear.

The finished GIS map is uploaded to Chronicle cemetery management software and to a free public web map. In one click you can filter by “vacant,” export a count of unused plots, or print a color plan for board meetings.

Because the survey covers 100 % of the ground surface, you avoid the risk of selling an already occupied space or wasting room between rows. We also give you a spreadsheet of availability that updates automatically as your staff assigns new burials.

Most small cemeteries receive results in two to four weeks with no on-site digging, no disruption, and no ongoing subscription fees. The result is a clear answer to “how many plots do we have left?” and a reliable tool to plan decades of future interments.

Question 5

What are the best practices for protecting fragile monuments, flat markers, and landscaping while crews grid and scan each section for mapping?

Accepted Answer

For fragile monuments and flat markers, protect the grounds by using Sentry Mapping's non-invasive ground penetrating radar cemetery scanning. Our crews push a radar cart across turf like a stroller, with no digging and no contact with stones.

Best practices for protecting fragile monuments, flat markers, and landscaping during cemetery mapping start with a pre-walk and clear boundaries. Sentry Mapping’s Cemetery Mapping with GPR is non-invasive: a radar cart is pushed across the turf like a stroller and sends low-energy, non-ionizing radio pulses (like Wi-Fi), so nothing touches headstones and no digging is required.

Note any unstable stones, sunken ground, sprinkler heads, and new sod. Set simple no-go zones and safe travel lanes for our team.

After fieldwork, your Burial Plot Mapping and Cemetery Survey & Drafting outputs can be published as web maps for cemeteries and managed in our optional cemetery management software program, reducing repeat foot traffic and future wear.

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