Integration with Futura GIS amps up efficiency of service calls, outage restoration efforts
Comanche Electric Cooperative Association, which serves over 17,000 meters across seven counties in rural central Texas, has streamlined its service and outage restoration processes with a new automated mobile workforce solution from SEDC and geospatial information systems (GIS) from Futura Systems, Inc.
The SEDC solution sends work orders directly to the service workers in the field, shows them the fastest route to the job and communicates real-time status of the job back to the office so customers can get accurate information on the progress of their projects.
“Whenever there is an outage now, we’re able to see them as they happen in Futura OMS and notify our customers promptly,” said Comanche Electric Co-op Operations Director Eddie Strube. “We also can remotely notify a serviceman who is in the area. This saves us time and shortens outage times.”
The SEDC solutions have allowed Comanche to eliminate paper orders and record completed jobs automatically in the billing system – improving efficiency, eliminating lost paperwork and reducing written errors. Comanche also replaced its old mapping and field surveillance tools with a trio of Futura products, including FuturaStake (to create work orders electronically with accurate GPS support to ensure location accuracy), FuturaMobile (which allows field staff to map on site) and Futura ProjectTracker (for start-to-finish progress tracking of orders).
“Comanche has made smart choices in combining the mapping tools from Futura with the mobile workforce tools of SEDC to deliver responsive service across thousands of miles of Texas countryside,” said Kim Ponder, SEDC’s mobile workforce management product manager.