Avista Utilities, which provides electricity and natural gas service in Idaho, Oregon and Washington, has selected Advantex Mobile Workforce Management Software.

Advantex will replace Avista's paper-based dispatch system. Avista will use MDSI's "Advantex in a Box " implementation methodology to define, configure and test the software themselves. Once Advantex is implemented, field technicians will receive all work orders on a wirelessly connected laptop computer. They will no longer be required to drive to the office every day to pick up paper orders and return completion forms.

"Prior to selecting MDSI's software, we conducted an extensive review of workforce management solutions and found Advantex best met our requirements for booking customer appointments, automated dispatch, GPS tracking and enabling our field staff to wirelessly receive and complete work orders," said Don Kopczynski, vice president of transmission and distribution operations for Avista Utilities. "We also had an opportunity to visit another utility that uses MDSI's Advantex to verify it will be a suitable fit for our organization. We're confident we made the right choice."

More than 100,000 field service workers around the world are currently working with MDSI's Advantex software, according to MDSI. New users typically see a 30-50% reduction in overtime, 15-30% in travel time and up to 40% improvement in response times.