A Customer Spotlight
Clallam Public Utility District (Clallam PUD) serves local communities in 2,000 square miles of Washington state. It has 30,000 electric customers and water, sewer, and high-speed telecommunications services.
Clallam has been utilizing NISC’s Mapping & Staking software for eight years. Clallam PUD utilized NISC’s Work Management Solutions software to integrate Service Order information with staking jobs within Mapping & Staking.
Challenge
Clallam PUD’s mission is to provide reliable, efficient, safe, and low-cost utility services in a financially and environmentally responsible manner. Recognizing an opportunity to improve these services, the utility staff extended their successful use of NISC Mapping & Staking with paired Esri GIS functions supporting additional field activities.
The agency initially focused on three needs: integrating scanned as-built drawings with maps into the field, managing vegetation, and tracking aggressive dogs to protect employee safety.
These solutions are needed to distribute offline maps to field crews and capture their new data. In addition, Clallam PUD wanted user-friendly dashboards for these workflows to improve information access and collaboration across the enterprise.
Partner
National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC) develops and supports software and hardware solutions for nationwide utility cooperatives and broadband companies. NISC is an industry leader providing advanced, integrated IT Solutions for consumers and subscriber billing, account, engineering & operations.
NISC’s Mapping and Staking solution is designed around ESRI’s ArcGIS products, allowing customers to use them easily in daily operations. NISC’s Mapping and Staking continues to lead the industry with desktop, mobile device, and web-based applications for an integrated suite throughout their members’ organizations.
NISC continues to develop Mapping and Staking software upon ESRI’s Enterprise applications. Clallam can use information collected through NISC and ESRI’s mapping products to integrate with their Service (CIS) and Financials (ABS) software and streamline redundant tasks.
Solution
As an NISC customer, Clallam can also access Esri software to provide additional maps and data across their organization.
The first step was to make the foundational mapped NISC data available from Esri ArcGIS Online. There, it is accessible for additional uses while ensuring the existing NISC workflows remain secure. With universal secure access, ArcGIS Field Maps displays customized information on any device, whether online or disconnected.
NISC Mapping & Staking keeps the network system of record current, while ArcGIS Online builds upon it. Ken Brilhart, Sr. Systems Administrator, Clallam PUD said, “People here are very aware of the capability and they really like it.”
PDF as-built drawings are conveniently accessible from devices in the field.
As-Built Drawings
Vegetation Management
In the Pacific Northwest, trees are the leading cause of service outages, underscoring the importance of utility vegetation management. Historically, tracking these needs and activities was a manually intensive process based on interpreting lengthy 10-digit pole numbers and the affected spans. Today, crews draw a line on their cell phones to indicate the completed work and schedule the revisit cycle. Meter readers also note minor issues, such as vines, which summer student workers address. All inputs are instantly accessible from any device through easily created web dashboards.
Aggressive Dogs
Any field employee can use their cell phone or device to mark the location of an aggressive dog. Furthermore, they are alerted when they come close to such an animal’s known location and access details from their device. Meter readers and service workers may even enjoy these safety alerts from their smartwatches to remain safe.
Of its approximately 150 employees, Clallam PUD has almost 100 users of these apps. In addition to the Esri ArcGIS capability included through NISC, Clallam PUD also maintains an Esri Small Utility Enterprise Agreement to support additional users.
Results
Brilhart went on to say, “The crews love it.“ Field staff appreciate referencing and capturing information directly on their devices. Drawing on a map is easier and more intuitive than writing 10-digit pole numbers on paper. The apps know the users’ location and take them directly to what they need to see. All data is also available on corresponding web maps and dashboards.
These are three examples of streamlined workflows that save time and money while improving customer service levels. Beyond these applications, Clallam also uses dashboards and reports for many other things, including system metrics and capital budgets.
“Users can import NISC data to enhance or expand upon it for further business requirements. On the horizon, as Clallam PUD moves to AMI, they plan to use similar functions to record meter change-outs and key information, including before-and-after photos. Also, the innovative staff will use apps to perform equipment inspections and plan their fiber build out.“
