Mobile crews were outfitted with Dig-Smart Field v3.0 allowing the locators to redline and produce real-time sketches as well as capturing site photos and posting additional information onto the locate record such as as-builts and other supporting documentation.

A sample of the new Dig-Smart based PowerStream, Inc locate request can be viewed by following this link: Download file

First and foremost, Staging is a unique technology exclusive to Dig-Smart, LLC. The concept of staging was developed by Dig-Smart, LLC developers back in early 2007 to address one major workflow issue: how to manage disparate or separate utility groups under one umbrella. Staging was and is the only answer. The scenario goes something like this.

For Public Utilities:

Let’s just say you are a city-managed utility group run by a commissioner of public works. Inside of the municipal structure, 4 groups have underground assets: water, wastewater, electric and fiber. Now even though these 4 departments are under one umbrella, they don’t work together nor communicate on their locating activities. In essence, they are separate entities. However, all of the geospatial data and other enterprise databases (i.e. SAP, Oracle, etc) are managed by a sole IT department which reports to the mayor’s office. It is the job of IT to centralize as much as possible to reduce operational overhead expenses. Therefore, instead of deploying 4 separate and independent databases for the 4 departments, they want to keep one database for ticket management. The workflow nightmare this potentially creates is having to duplicate the ticket load 4 times in order to generate enough records for the locating staff to respond. Furthermore, if your utility requires positive response notices (i.e. DE, FL, MN, etc) how can the software possibly send 1 notice to the state call center when all 4 utility groups check in a different times? Furthermore, what if 3 of the 4 departments say “all-clear” and the last department actually marked the site? How can you possibly centralize all of this under one database? Dig-Smart, LLC has the only answer. Staging. Staging keeps everything inside of one instance with no need for redundancy. Staging allows for the flexible distribution of tickets across multiple departments.

For Private Utilities:

Let’s say that you are a privately held oil company who is responsible for managing transmission lines in 4 US states and the onus of IT is to keep everything under one database in a centralized storage location. Each of the 4 US states have different protocols, workflows, email accounts, methods, displays and rules to follow specific to their one call center directives. Everything is done at different times and no one ever talks to the other. But the organizational management of the situation requires that all ticket records reside on a single database. Again, staging is the answer. By using staging the database can be configured to manage each of the states independently while not interfering with workflow requirements.

Summary:

Staging is truly a unique solution developed by Dig-Smart, LLC to help utilities who have strict requirements for database management and integrity. If you think staging can assist in your situation, please contact us and we will be happy to analyze your situation and develop the correct staging method for your workflows.

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.

So by centralizing all solutions on a web tier, IT now has full and simplified management over any deployed solution. This holds true for pure web applications and terminal server technology. But, there is a price to pay both financially and performance-wise. Pure web technology is written using different levels of code and development environments than that of client-server technology. In order to make a fair comparison, think hard about automobiles. If you drive off-road, on the frozen tundra, in the muddy bog, or in the desert dunes, would you buy a fuel-efficient 4 door sedan? No. That is pretty easy to understand. If you were to drive in those conditions you would be more inclined to buy an SUV, a heavy duty pickup truck or some-type of military cross-over vehicle. The reason is POWER. In order to brave the elements you need power. V8s (no not the vegtable drink), V10s, horsepower, elevated exhaust systems, performance tires, etc. You just cant drive up a sand dune in a mid-size sedan.

Make this same comparison to web-based vs. client-server. In order to go web-based, you need power. Absolute, raw, power. Why? To push those heavy applications sitting on the server to the terminals which hit them. Power is the key for web solutions but that's not it. If your network is sub-par meaning lacking space, bandwidth or cache on the servers, forget about going web-based. It's just not going to be possible. Your investments in network improvements and upgrades alone will completely break your budget. But, if you have power. If you have the resources and you have the management skill at the IT level then web-based is the way to go. Beyond that, there is only one flaw in web-based system architecture. What if my trunkline is cut? What if I loose power? What if a tornado, hurricane or earthquake takes down the communication lines? Well, I don't have to answer that because you don't need to know anything about computer technology to know the answer. The bottom line - you loose it all.

Client-server technology is not centralized. It does not reside in a server room under one roof. It is what most people are common with. Installing software locally on laptops, PC's or other devices. It requires patches, upgrades, service packs, etc. But what it doesn't need is that absolute power. It can run the applications on much cheaper configurations. Usually on the range of 2-3x cheaper than the web-server model. But it does pose the management problem of tracking and maintaining licenses. It also comes with the problem of synchronization where two devices need "synching" to keep consistency at the database tier as updates are not automatic. But, you can bet your bottom dollar that client-server technology is oblivious to network interruptions. Well, hold on just a second. If the network goes down, the database may be interrupted but you can still connect locally while running on short-term backup devices.  So if you loose power for 1 week your crews are not helpless. They can continue to work on their projects in the field becasue the software they needed is installed locally on their tablet pc's.

So which way should you go? To me, it is simple. If you have money, resources and lots of patience go web-based. It is an easier management model but with slower performance, weaker application design, security threats and natural disaster threats. If you are not in the position to spend oodles of cash and resources reconfiguring your utility to a web environment, stick with client-server technology. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it and it usually provides a faster, more powerful application that the web-based solutions.

Dig-Smart, LLC is pleased to offer 2 levels of licensing for our customers. We offer both a web-based solution using the core elements of ArcObjects and we offer the client-server model also using the ArcObjects development library. Our web-based customers are required to have a license of ArcGIS Server and our client-server customers are required to have a license of ArcGIS. Please contact us for more information on which way your organization should go.

About the author: Jim Schoenberg, President of Dig-Smart, LLC has 10 years of experience designing and implementing system architecture design models for both federal and local governments as well as public and private utilities. Using GIS as the core, Mr. Schoenberg is experienced in client-server as well as web-based designs at the single, dual and three-tier level of enterprise architecture deployments.

This unique functionality of Dig-Smart Field gives utility owners the peace of mind knowing they have full documentation of work performed in the field.

Format #1:  As a Microsoft Excel Output File

Format #2: As a printable / savable PDF document

Format #3: As an ESRI Feature Class or Shapefile

This unique offering of 3 different reporting styles allows end-users to pick and choose what they want to see, and how they want to see it. Using the report generator, this sample report showing time stamps on active tickets was generated in less than 5 seconds.

Download file

Soon the Dig-Smart, LLC website will be redesigned to showcase all the functions, features and enhancements of the new build. Please stay tuned for more information as we begin to roll out Version 3.0.

You will need the username and password assinged to you. The new file is a web-based powerpoint. The file name is:  UsingGrids.mht

This slide presentation will prepare you for using the 1/4 mile by 1/4 mile grid layer issued by your one-call center or an internal geographic reference file to pre-sort your tickets based on geography.

To re-visit the conference, hundreds of participants from the US, Canada, Sweeden and New Zealand visited the Dig-Smart booth to see the newest technology being deployed for GIS-Centric One-Call Ticket Management. Dig-Smart, LLC along with our partners iWater (www.iwater.org) and Bergmann Associates (www.bergmannpc.com) also exhibited at the UC drawing a massive audience of GIS-Centric users to the various booth displays.

We'd like to thank our strategic partner, Azteca Systems, Inc (www.azteca.com) for hosting another very successful event and we look forward to participating again next year in Park City, UT.

NEW DIG-SMART ENTERPRISE 3.0 ICON SET 

By loading your GRID or ZONE shapefile or feature class into the Dig-Smart data loader, you can specify its type to OTHER, allowing for it to be referenced and recognized by Dig-Smart Analyzer as a look-up file. This will enable any Tag created in Dig-Smart to receive tickets that are pre-sorted against the geographic boundary of the look-up file.

We are very excited to have increased the user options for sorting tickets from the previous 2.3 and 2.4 Enterprise Versions. Users now have much greater flexibility in analyzing and routing tickets; not only can they confirm its proximity to underground utilities with our traditional buffer ring technology but also with the geographic look-up file. Also note that this look-up file can be anything your utility uses internally for ticket distribution or the 1/4 x 1/4 GRID file issued by the State One-Call Center.

http://dig-smart.com/blog/ZonesFinal3.html

Our upcoming testing and release schedule is as follows.

1. We will tie up lose ends and perform rigorous internal testing on Enterprise 3.0 BETA this week. On Friday we will run through one more internal test of the software and all of the supported components.

2. Assuming that the final test will result in a satisfactory result, we will begin the build process for shipment.

3. Next week each BETA tester will be contacted directly by Dig-Smart, LLC staff in preparation for its arrival.

4. Near the end of next week Dig-Smart, LLC will ship Enterprise 3.0 BETA to the BETA testers.

We shall also build a TESTERS ONLY, password-protected site on the Weblog so that online interaction can occur between the various testers. And in addition to the TESTERS ONLY page, we will begin to release screen shots and concepts onto the general Weblog so please check back frequently or load the RSS feed so that as we announce new concepts you'll be able to review them.