When two technologies converge: Supporting service restoration in the field
Service Data Collector (SDC) - 1999 Release 1
Service Data Collector was a data collection application, used to improve the quality
of the main geospatial data base. The data translation process was performed by
the Service Data Collector application. Edits created in SDC are output in a format
recognized by the main geospatial data base, as a result, changes made in SDC are
ready to load back to the main geospatial data base. The application was used for
digitizing service connections to customers, and to associate customer locations with
their account in the Customer Information System (CIS.)
Figure 1. Service Data Collector
- GIT data extracted from the main GIT
data base could be read into SDC.
The client did not perform any
additional conversions (the
application took care of the
conversion.)
- CIS information was extracted from
the Customer Information System,
and loaded onto the laptop.
- Hardware – Special monochrome
portable computers called pen tablets
– used a stylus and glass keyboard
- Good processors – Intel Pentium I processors
- Data was mapsheet based.
- All of the data had to be re-extracted to refresh – incremental updates were not
available.
Service Data Collector managed several things better than the original Service
Design System. As the application could import and export data from the main
geospatial data base in its native format, it eliminated the requirement to convert to
an intermediate format. It also supported attributes for the data. A second
conversion to populate attribute tables was no longer necessary. It also had
additional functionality, including a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver which
allowed the application to locate the correct map sheet to position the field
personnel. Still the application was mapsheet based, and incremental updates were
not supported.
Outage Management Systems:
Traditionally, trouble centre staff in each regional office would have telephones,
manually drafted maps, and a radio to receive customer calls, determine where the
outage might be, and to dispatch crews. In the late 1980’s the first computer aided
mobile dispatch system was put in place for the trouble centre staff. In the early
1990’s, the first computer system to manage trouble call entry was integrated with
the mobile dispatch system. The initial trouble call management system handled
customer calls, and kept track of whether crews had been assigned to them.
Following is a brief description of Trouble Call Management System (TCMS) and
Geospatial outage management systems (Geospatial OMS) with their interfaces to
Mobile Dispatch (MD). We’ll look at their main features, and the challenges
associated with their use.
Trouble Call Management System with Mobile Dispatch early 1990s First Release
Developed on the mainframe, TCMS allowed staff to create records for each trouble
call.
Figure 2, Trouble Call Management System –
Entering a new trouble call
- Provided the ability to send work
orders to crews
- Analysis of the trouble calls remained
manual.
- There was a map component in the
dispatching software that would give
you the approximate location of the
outages and the crews.
- Crews could update work status (received work order, enroute, arrived,
complete) through their mobile data terminal.
- Software had limitations during storms (only handle 1000 trouble calls at a time.)
Limitations
- If trouble centre staff were busy with another client or crew, clients would get a
busy signal.
- There was no mechanism to easily give clients an update on the status of their
problem – staff would have to look up the problem in two systems to determine
the status.
- System was vulnerable to overloads during storms.
- Dedicated hardware was required in the service trucks.
- Wireless dispatch system worked only in areas where radio or cellular network
repeaters are present.
- Crews kept map books in their trucks to determine where they are going, and
they also had sets of circuit location diagrams to assist in locating devices out in
the field.
