For several years, First Electric Cooperative Corp. in Jacksonville, Arkansas, U.S., envisioned the day it could extend front-office solutions directly to the field. The visions were very technical in nature and spanned the cooperative's many departments and software platforms. They also were not always clear.

First Electric began the process of bringing front-office solutions to the field by reviewing companies that could provide an automatic vehicle location (AVL) solution that would interface with the utility's existing outage management system (OMS). While AVL companies were being reviewed, other departments within the cooperative were questioned as to what type of information they would like to send to the field if a communication path were available.

This questioning led to ongoing discussions regarding mobile field solutions. As the discussions progressed, everyone began to realize the benefits of combining AVL with a mobile field solution. By doing so, the utility would see a dramatic increase in return on investment. This was a turning point in the project.

Help from the accounting, information technology (IT) and operations departments was enlisted to locate companies that provided viable solutions. The cooperative had several obstacles to overcome because of its diverse terrain, wide service territory and fleet size. These obstacles, combined with the obvious technical nature of the project, proved to be challenging yet very rewarding. The possibilities are endless once a reliable two-way communication path to the field is established. The two limiting factors are bandwidth and the cost of appropriate bandwidth.

Communications Options

First Electric teamed up with Clevest Solutions to install a mobile workforce solution that provides two-way communication to and from the field. Once the vendor was chosen, the utility had to decide which type of communication path was most cost effective. The options First Electric evaluated were satellite, existing radio and cellular. Each option presented a different set of challenges and questions and each had its own pros and cons.

Satellite communication historically has been the most reliable type of mobile communication, but along with that reliability is a hefty price tag for the equipment and fairly limited bandwidth. Existing radio systems in cooperatives and other businesses have been used; however, First Electric's existing radio system would need to be upgraded, which would have required several new towers. The cellular route, which is probably the most common, was the path First Electric eventually chose.

Coverage Study

Having equipped service trucks in each of First Electric's five service districts, Clevest performed a coverage study to ensure a reliable communication path. The study resulted in a greater than 95% coverage using a BlueTree modem (model BT4500) and Sierra Wireless AirLink PinPoint X (model H4322-C) coupled with AT&T's telemetry data plan. Other cellular companies also were evaluated to ensure the best coverage and data plans were chosen.

Since not all vehicles in First Electric's fleet would be using the same amount of bandwidth, a systemwide shared data plan was selected. After a few months of operation, the heavy users were identified. Now First Electric has two separate data plans: 50 MB\month shared plan for service vehicles and 5 MB\month shared plan for line vehicles.

By identifying which vehicles needed more bandwidth, First Electric was able to group vehicles by bandwidth usage and work with AT&T to tailor a data plan to fit its needs. These needs are still being evaluated as technology evolves and as different mobile solutions are introduced.

Realizing the Many Benefits

In First Electric's implementation, each vehicle is equipped with a GPS device that reports back to the central office through a cellular modem mounted inside the vehicle. This information is used to integrate AVL data into existing software packages such as Partner's staking software and Milsoft's outage management software.

Dispatchers can see the location of every truck in relation to outages that are currently working and outages that need to be assigned. This graphical view of the vehicles and outages combined together in one application allows dispatchers to assign crews to outages much more efficiently and reduces outage times and fuel costs.

While very valuable, this information is really a byproduct of the mobile workforce solution. First Electric realized the first benefits when service orders began being transmitted directly to the field. The Clevest system monitors the customer information system, and as service orders are created, they are assigned to a serviceman in the field based on a predefined geographic area, so that when the service order is transmitted to the field, only the assigned serviceman sees the service order. Orders appear in the trucks on laptop computers that are connected to the cellular modem. Servicemen can then easily manage their work by viewing the screen and arranging by priority, date needed or location.

Safety Benefit

Safety was a primary player when first evaluating an AVL system. With a fleet of more than 100 vehicles, First Electric needed the ability to view the location of vehicles in relation to ongoing outages or switching operations. This has proved to be an extremely valuable tool, but in the wake of all the mobile applications, safety has become a byproduct and not the sole basis for implementing a mobile solution (or AVL system). Safety remains a critical part of the way First Electric does business.

Outage Response Benefit

First Electric is working with Clevest, Partner and Milsoft to determine the best method to transfer outage tickets to the field. The result will allow dispatchers to assign outages automatically sent to the assigned truck. Once received in the field, the crew will be able to select a variety of options: outage received, en route, on site, verified, restored and close. The dispatcher will then view the proposed changes to the outage and make the final decision to close the outage.