Two experienced members of the Owaka based LandSAR team hid in an unspecified location in the Catlins on Friday night.
The Catlins LandSAR team had eight hours to locate the two team members on Saturday while trialling the new software system. The men were found by 2.30pm on Saturday.
Co-ordinator Malcolm Landreth said the software, dubbed LandSAR Management System (LMS), helped the team communicate better by logging radio conversations.
It was first developed in 2014 by former students of the Southern Institute of Technology as part of their bachelor of information technology studies.
One of the former students, Ben Hormann, continued to develop the software with the help of Mr Landreth.
Mr Hormann said the IMan software now used by search and rescue teams was complicated and its interface was difficult to use.
The mapping module of the software was still used during the exercise but Mr Hormann believed the LMS system was more effective for accurate auditing.
Some of the tasks the software was able to do had in the past been done entirely on paper, he said.
Mr Hormann had coded about six additional modules over the past two years which included a team logging and tracking system.
Mr Landreth was "very happy" with how it functioned overall.
About 20 people were involved in the search and rescue operation, including two dog teams.
The LandSAR team concluded the exercise with its celebration for the end of the year.
