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Mobile - Taking it to the street
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When two technologies converge: Supporting service restoration in the field
Geospatial OMS with Mobile Dispatch 1999 Release 1
Geospatial outage management system (Geospatial OMS) is being phased in to
replace TCMS. Geospatial OMS uses the network connectivity of the GIT data to
allow for prediction of failed devices on circuits. Geospatial OMS is linked to the
Customer Information System (CIS) to relate customers to their phone numbers, so
when a customer calls, they can be located in the GIS by providing their home
phone number.
Figure 3, Geospatial OMS – Geospatial
display of a crew truck that has arrived at
the service location
- Trouble calls are received, then using
the network connectivity information,
the likely failed device is predicted.
- Additional trouble calls can change
the prediction to a device further
upstream.
- Subsequent calls for outages on the
same device are then filtered out by
an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system.
- If the outage is already known, the IVR returns a message explaining the
status of the outage to the customer.
- Integrates crew dispatch function with trouble call analysis
- Once the prediction is made, crews are dispatched using the same mobile
dispatch system that was developed for TCMS.
- Uses the Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) network where available
- Otherwise crews must go to the local office to pickup hardcopy trouble orders.
- Crews feed information back to the dispatchers using their Mobile Data
Terminals (MDT.)
- Crews inform dispatchers of en-route, arrived, predicted time of restoration,
actual restoration time, actual cause of outage, comments.
- Changes to the work order can be sent to the crew via the mobile dispatch
system.
- Introduced an Intranet interface (Q4 2000) that allows a text based interface to
dispatch crews
Figure 4, MDSI – Trouble order as received in the crew truck
Limitations
- Proprietary MDT hardware.
- MDS hardware aging and becoming
difficult to maintain.
- Requires excellent data (geospatial
and CIS) to be successful.
- Crews do not have access to
electronic mapping.
- Crews must be in the cab of the truck
to receive or send information.
- Wireless dispatch system works only in
areas where radio or cellular network
repeaters are present.
- Crews still keep map books in their trucks to determine where they are going,
and they also have sets of circuit location diagrams to assist in locating devices
out in the field.
Convergence - new products for GIT and OMS Mobile Computing
As our dependence upon electrical devices grows, and the infrastructure to deliver
electricity grows, the urgency of restoring power to customers grows more important.
BC Hydro recognized that its geospatial data could be used to assist with the outage
management process. In 1999, installing the new geospatial outage management
system and merging it with the existing mobile dispatch, and trouble call entry
systems, proved that you could assist the service restoration dispatchers by giving
them geospatial data. We will describe the new products that ha ve emerged in
2001. New products that make mobile dispatching more flexible, and new products
that equip the service restoration crews with geospatial data. Finally we will look to
the future, the plans for 2002 and beyond, and how convergence of the existing
technologies, and new communications technology will help “keep the lights on” for
BC Hydro.
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