Can You See The Forest Through The Trees: Why Go GIS-Centric?
Odds are your utility will be faced with a decision regarding one call ticket management. Use traditional ticket management software or go GIS-Centric. So why would a utility want to go GIS-Centric? Let’s examine:
Traditional ticket management software uses database technology to sort and organize incoming tickets using either client software or web applications. These programs are usually robust, having sound database technology as well as useful front-end tools for organizing daily ticket volumes. Where traditional ticket management software programs typically fall short is in actually using and incorporating your geographic data. By 2008 almost all utilities will have digital GIS (or at least electronic CAD-based data). Regardless of which format you store your data in, why wouldn’t you want to use this data for ticket management? Odds are you just spent a few hundred thousand or even a few million dollars to develop it. This is where the true value of Dig-Smart technology comes into play.
While Dig-Smart, LLC also focused on building sound, robust database-driven ticket management tools that support high-end relational databases, Dig-Smart, LLC is the only true provider of GIS-Centric ticket management software. What that means to the utility is we can use your data, maximize your return on investment and provide intelligent maps for ticket analysis. Traditional ticket management vendors simply cannot provide this level of integration into your mapping environment. The toolsets provided by traditional ticket management solutions were designed primarily as a database viewer for incoming tickets with no foresight given to utilizing a GIS-Centric approach. So this brings us back to the headline of why use a GIS-Centric approach for ticket management?
The answer is simple: Data, Data, Data. Why do we use maps at all? Because oftentimes a picture is worth a thousand words. Would it be possible to visualize, study and analyze the impacts of Katrina without using satellite imagery or maps? Would it be possible to simply read a report on the great tsunami of 2004 and fully appreciate the impact it had globally without the use of maps or geographic data? The answer is no, and a very obvious no to that. The same concepts holds true for modern infrastructure management. Over the past 3 decades there has been a gradual evaluation of utility management from paper records, to electronic (CAD) to geographic databases. Why? Because it’s better, stronger and faster and provides more data, data, data for analysis. What causes a utility to go from paper to digital? What causes a utility to stop using microfiche? What causes a utility to outfit its fleet with laptops or tablets? What causes a utility to stop using traditional databases for ticket management and go with a GIS-Centric approach? The answer to all of these questions is identical. A geographic database approach will always provide more tools, resources and data than its competitors. Database-driven management was the first phase of evolution for the relatively young, one call ticket management industry. The next phase of evolution is to upgrade a traditional database system to a GIS-Centric approach. It simply provides far greater, long-term benefits than its rivals and already comes equipped with a sophisticated relational database on the backend. Couple this technology with the investments a utility has already made in its existing GIS and the ROI for GIS-Centric ticket management usually falls in the range of 8 to 12 months for full financial return, regardless of the utility’s size. So while contemplating which direction a utility should go, traditional or GIS-Centric? Just remember the evolution from paper to electronic records (CAD) to geographic databases. At some point in the future, all utilities will use a GIS-Centric approach for ticket management simply because it is the next phase in evolution for this industry and makes the most sense if you are looking at the forest and not the trees.