Mobile Geoengineering: Extending the office to the field

Introduction
There are more than 46 million field workers in the United States and less than 15 percent of them work with any level of automation. Compare that to the more than 85 percent of all office workers who use computers regularly in their jobs. To date, most field automation has occurred in dispatch and delivery systems for companies like Federal Express and UPS, or in simple, repetitive field data collection processes, like utility meter-reading.

In the geoengineering disciplines, including utilities, telecommunications, public works and transportation, the level of field automation is 5-10 percent-despite the fact that 40 to 50 percent of their entire workforce works in the field. Their field tasks may account for 60 to 70 percent of the work performed by these organizations. Automating these field activities can lead to substantial cost savings and improvements in efficiency.

By providing meaningful, useful information to the field, where and when users need it most, mobile engineering systems can bring all geoengineering activities into a unified, collaborative environment that improves productivity and reduces both cost and time.

Today, all of the key technology components—the building blocks of a field geoengineering network-are available and affordable. What companies need is a plan for effectively building and deploying a field computing system that increases the efficiency of their field workers, supports their work flow and integrates intelligently with their office systems.

Understanding the Field User
The first step in developing an effective field computing strategy is to define the users it will support and the types of tasks they will perform. They can be divided into two camps: on-line and off-line users. Much of the discussion in this paper will stem from the fundamental differences in developing solutions for these different types of users.

Off-line: Minimal Mobility, Intense Processing
Some users rely on their machines for constant work throughout the day. They are typically performing detailed work at one or a few locations during a day. Technically, these users require a thicker client solution. The nature and volume of data they use make constant reliance on the server impractical, so local data storage is necessary. In addition, they need sufficient local processing power and applications to perform complex operations. These users require only occasional communications with the host server. The volume of data they share with the server requires a more traditional, hardwired approach to downloading/uploading.

On-line: Maximum Mobility, Lighter Processing
Other mobile users tend to require less local processing power. They may move more frequently from location to location and may not even know where their next calls will take them. These users require frequent, quick interactions with the server. GPS provides a direct monitoring of their location and can accommodate automated delivery of necessary data, without requiring an active query to the server. Two-way data sharing is important to these users, but the amount of data transmitted must be minimal, The need for local processing power is also limited. They may use machines with minimal processing capabilities-lightweight and easy to carry-that rely on server-resident applications to manage data and processing. Their tasks may include service calls, routine maintenance, inspection programs, response and dispatch.