Client Situation
This customer provides electric service to more than 1 million residents of New Mexico as well as wholesale customers throughout the Southwest. They deliver power from several different plants to cities and towns over a series of power lines and neighborhood substations. Along with electric service, this utility also provides gas service to homes and businesses throughout the state.
In October of 1999, officials at this utility decided to increase their focus on mobile workforce management. Upon preliminary research, they quickly realized they needed more than just mobile computers to “mobilize” their workforce. They discovered KorTerra in their search for a workforce management system that could automatically process their One Call Center locate tickets and integrate the information back into their existing Oracle database.
Solution
The utility project team selected the KorTerra Product Suite because it promised ease of implementation with Oracle’s products. They were also pleased with the positive reviews from other KorTerra users. The KorTerra team worked diligently with the utility’s project team to select the most appropriate product modules for their needs: KorTerra Dispatch and KorTerra Mobile.
KorTerra Dispatch receives all of this utility’s locate requests electronically from the New Mexico One Call Center. As tickets are received, KorTerra parses the information and stores it in a central database. The ticket information is automatically dispatched to the field based on the geographic location.
KorTerra Mobile is a completely paperless system that allows the utility’s locators to download their tickets electronically without having to pick-up paper tickets at the office. In addition to being able to start work sooner, they are able to efficiently route their work for the day, better manage their workloads, and reduce vehicle wear and tear. Operating in a paperless environment also means that paper costs, printer expenses, and paper storage costs are eliminated.
KorTerra Mobile enables the locator to receive the locate information electronically for processing. With this utility utilizing KorTerra Mobile, they reap the benefits of having information in the field and in the office. In the office with electronic ticket transmission and no paper to manage, dispatchers can focus time on load leveling, effectively handling emergencies and performing other office tasks. With KorTerra Mobile, completions are being performed electronically in the field, which translates to dispatchers having that completion information in the system without data entry. KorTerra Mobile has an automatic date/time stamp on completions, having the locators complete tickets electronically in the field creates an audit trial for management to understand how locators are spending their time. The bottom line for this utility having KorTerra means their management is enabled to make better decisions and better understand their operation.
Results
The KorTerra s oftware solution has streamlined this utility’s work order process and eliminated the reams of paper that were processed in their offices. With KorTerra there are safeguards in place which have erased the possibility of losing a ticket. KorTerra Mobile has enabled the mobile technicians to go right to their work sites without having to go to the office each morning to pick up their work orders/locate tickets, saving time and money.
They were able to reap the benefits of ROI within the first six months, because KorTerra enabled them to eliminate the need for a full-time dispatcher. Since the original installation, they have since expanded the system to seven additional office sites. This utility has expanded seamlessly because the ease of system use makes training time minimal and installation a snap.