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Special Report GITA "Mobile Technology and Location Based Services" Webcast Coverage The Mobile Technology and Location-Based Services Webcast kicked off with Dana Hinkle of Intergraph Utilities speaking about Mobile Technology in Utilities. "In the last five years," he stated, "the use of mobile data and wireless devices has gone from a dream to reality for many utilities. It is estimated that 90% of the utility companies in North America have either evaluated, started a pilot, or deployed mobile data devices or wireless devices to field personnel." Hinkle outlined the progression of utility technology use: at one time field personnel were equipped with:
Then came "Technology" which equipped crews with radios. Although this was expensive it was necessary for the dispatch of crews. Now the crews could not only do scheduled work, but could be re-dispatched for trouble work via the new radio systems. Progress was slow because although it was a good idea to carry maps into the field, the production of maps was costly since they were being created by drafting departments by hand. Some utilities found ways to put map books in the hands of crews anyway. Computer Aided Design [CAD] systems made it more efficient to produce digital data, but at the outset, the initial output quality for paper maps was poor. As these new CAD systems evolved into AM/FM/GIS systems, plotting technology eventually caught up with the demand for quality output products. Paper maps and map books were deployed into the field as another tool. Next the PC became "state of the art" on the desktop, but there were no new tools for utilities. Utilities made attempts to deploy data interactively to field crews by supplementing paper map books with live data, via fax technology. Dispatchers could print the map, and send work orders to the fax machine in the crew''s unit. The laptop was the next step in evolution. Although expensive, the maps could now be accessed digitally rather than on paper. New capabilities, such as messaging, email, and other applications became available. Next, wireless data could be broadcast across the radio link, but this is still an expensive solution. The choices in wireless technology include the following: Radio side bands, radio vendor''s protocols, and CPDP modems. Newer technologies such as, CDMA, CDMA2000, WCDMA, TDMA, Bluetooth, GSM, 3G are being developed. For utilities, wireless communication from the crew''s mobile data terminal to the dispatcher allows text messaging, real time dispatching, and truly interactive crew response without using the voice band on the radio. Today "state of the art" for utilities has become:
The benefits of this technology are great. Initially the innovation of voice radio communication was an expensive investment, but it was necessary for crew control and response. Using radio data sidebands for data initially added traffic, but the overall traffic went down as voice traffic became superfluous. Ultimately, less packets (voice or data) means less paid in operational costs (this is dependent on investment in radio, and the method by which it is paid for). GITA "Mobile Technology and Location Based Services" Webcast Coverage Continued…
ROI....
For a typical workforce management implementation in the USA, the utility has an ROI between 15-18 percent (with the following considerations):
Geography Markup Language The following is Ron Lake''s presentation: Who is Galdos
Geography Markup Language
GML: What is it?
GML: What is it?
Why GML ?
GML Focuses on Content Modeling Features & Geometry in GML 2.
GML''s Model of the World
Key Applications Implications of GML for Location-based Services
A Spatial Data Transport Information Infrastructure GML Presentation
GML in Action! GML Summary
Information Resources
Mobility for Today and Tomorrow Representatives from Carolina Power & Light, Jean Jerger, Manager of Technical Systems Support and Tom Garren, Lead IT Analyst, outlined their experience with wireless at that utility. In 1995 CP&L implemented MDSI RM application, which allowed wireless dispatch of servicemen orders. Currently that system is nearing the end of its lifecycle. In 2001, they implemented wireless middleware, an IBM Gateway, and introduced two new applications that use middleware: wireless transmission of redline sketches and outage management reporting. CP&L''s current environment is very demanding: users want new mobile applications in order to reduce or eliminate paper, reduce re-keying of data, and allow faster analysis of data and allow more data sharing on a more timely basis. "As each new application is implemented, more are identified," said Jerger. During 2001, CP&L began to implement programs using PDAs and Compaq IPAQ was chosen as the standard hardware. At this stage, PDA usage is mobile rather than wireless. Mobile PDA applications include: pole-top inspection, line inspector forms, mobile work management and damage assessment. For the future, CP&L hopes to automate directions to job sites, implement location based trouble dispatch and location based service order dispatch. Some of the issues they will encounter for wireless expansion include coverage: rural service areas for example, are limited to circuit switched cellular. There are plans for improvement by the carriers for the near future. Also, the applications must be designed for a wireless environment, it''s not possible to put a LAN application on a wireless platform. And any application should have the ability to work in a disconnected environment. Summarizing the case study, Garren warned that wireless applications should be deployed with care, making sure that an infrastructure is in place to support wireless applications. This includes creating applications expressly designed for a wireless environement. And for now, mobile applications may make more sense. Q&A Q&A section of the discussion included the following questions and answers: What is the definition of location-based services in your view? Ron Lake: Location services does have a very broad definition, but in general, it means, to provide a service such as analysis, computation, presentation, related to location--that can be your location or anyone''s location and doing that, of course, in a wired or wireless environment. I think LBS is sometimes restricted to what might be the more hyped example such ''where''s the closest Chinese restaurant,'' but the kind of apps we''ve talked about this morning in things like the utility sector and CRM are much more important. A lot of the excitement around LBS is arising because of the fusion between wireless data transmission and and data availability and location of devices, such as the GPS cellular phones that we''ve got shipping in Japan, and we hope will be available in North America in the near future. What about wireless in very rural areas? Jean Jerger: Currently in our rural areas we are using circuit switch cellular, analog, while it''s been good for us in the past seven years, we are starting to see more attention paid to the digital side, and we are looking to start doing some satellite pilots in the near future. How are mobile projects sold internally to the actual crews? Tom Garren: One of the best selling points I have heard from a project manager-the crews were actually violently against the idea of mobile data terminals and in their case, in conjunction with GPS and AVL, what was pointed out was if we really wanted to know where you were, do you think we would spend $5K on a piece of hardware - we''d just have someone on an hourly wage basis follow you around for a week! Which actually helped sell that. Internally the selling point has to be, what they could do that they couldn''t do otherwise, several instances with my own customers, the 3 a.m. fire, we need to cut the power - how am I going to quickly find where the cutoff switches are. Being able to look it up on a mobile data terminal tells me that immediately. Can I really send XML in general and GML in particular to a mobile device? Ron Lake: XML--GML of course being written in XML as text is somewhat verboten, however, it''s very easily compressed and encoded, the compression ratios are typically 5:1, so we''ve been dealing with low bandwidth environments and it is certainly doable. We''ve been doing some experiments with Hitachi in Japan, with a phone called GPS 1 which is a cellular phone that supports GPS and they provide a scalable vector graphic in a cellphone, so while that stuff is still emerging it''s already in the domain of what is practical. Does a CP&L WMS integration use a MapView or technological displayer? Jean Jerger: The offering we have for our users is not systemically high but with the two different graphic viewers we have, users can view the distribution system graphically and the work management systems - both the mobile and the enterprise - are text based. For more information regarding GITA''s 2002 Webcast Seminar Series, and GITA''s current Archived Webcast Seminar Series please contact:
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