According to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), 90% of weather-related outages are caused by trees hitting power lines, making vegetation management an integral part of any utility’s business. In the last three to four years, FERC has introduced additional regulations; one stating that by 2012, utilities should supply 95% of all customers with absolute, uninterrupted power 99.999% of the time.

These regulations show a need for innovation within the utility sector and a greater call for vegetation management. To address this issue, we partnered on a presentation at DistribuTECH with vegetation management specialist Henry King of ArborMetrics Solutions Company Inc.  ArborMetrics has deployed convertible tablet Toughbook 19s to its mobile workforce which operates in 12 states, often in remote forests locations only accessible on foot.

During our presentation, “Automating Vegetation Management,” we discussed the value of rugged mobile computers to the utility workforce, focusing on how connectivity can provide field employees with the latest work orders and information, thus maximizing worker productivity. Additionally, Henry discussed the challenges and benefits of transitioning his workforce from pen and paper to a wireless mobile computing solution.

The deployment surpassed the company’s goals and has now become a benchmark for other initiatives with parent company, Asplundh Tree Expert Co. Some of these topics are addressed in a video case study we recently developed, which can be found here.

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To address this critical mandate and in order to avoid paying hefty fees that can stack up to millions of dollars, utilities need to keep trees away from the right-of-ways. They also must have timely and clear insight into records and arborists’ activities along their powerlines, all with an ultimate goal of keeping the lights on for their residential and business customers. In a number of instances, utilities outsource such jobs and duties to third-party contractors.

ArborMetrics Solution is a U.S.-based vegetation management company that provides contract personnel to perform such tasks on behalf of utilities. In order to move away from a pen-and-paper process and streamline their reporting internally as well as to their utility customers, the team needed to deploy wirelessly-enabled mobile computers, hardened enough to withstand extreme weather conditions and rough terrains in often quite remote areas of the country. The company deployed our fully-rugged Toughbook 19 convertible laptops, equipped with embedded wireless broadband modems that connect to Verizon Wireless for seamless, always-on Internet connection to the home offices as well as their customers.

Take a look at the video of ArborMetrics’ mobility success story and please read through their implementation story, as published in Integrated Solutions earlier this year, here.

If you have a compelling story to share with us as well, we invite you to please leave us a comment. We would love to hear from you.

These questions have lately focused on what type of device to deploy with their growing number of “walking workers.” These are individuals who are completely mobile for large parts of their day and have to operate in environments hostile to technology such as rain, dust, bright light, vibration and extreme temperatures. These environments are typically found with utility meter readers, line repairmen and utility vegetation management personnel. Besides being rugged enough for the work environment, these workers need a device that is light weight, fully functional and integrated with a host of practical features. 

A new class of rugged ultra-mobile PCs (UMPC) is finally providing these workers with a functional mobile computing solution that combines the mobility of a handheld with the functionality of a laptop. Although these devices fit into the palm of the user’s hands, they integrate barcode scanners, RFID, GPS, cameras and hot-swappable batteries, improving device functionality and driving productivity.

Walking workers also need reliable mobile Internet connectivity offered by WiFi and mobile broadband for tasks such as remote water management and central database access. The also a rugged package for maximum durability for the environment in which they work.

Panasonic’s Toughbook U1 is a mobile solution for utility workers with all of the features described above. If you’re interested in more information about the role of rugged UMPCs in the water and wastewater sector, check out this article in Water Utility Management.