Utility and Smart Grid Asset Maintenance and Inspection

Trimble Field Inspector software for handhelds provides a robust GPS-enabled mobile solution for optimizing smart grid and utility field operations, including asset installation, maintenance, and inspection.

Using Trimble mapping and Geographic Information System (GIS) handheld devices, the software allows utility field workers to capture GPS time and location information along with 1D and 2D barcode data, digital images, digital sketches and electronic signatures. The GPS data can be used to route jobs, locate workers and assets, and provide a valuable validation of where and when work is performed to support regulatory reporting.

By putting utility maintenance inspection technology directly in the hands of the mobile workforce, Trimble Field Inspector allows field crews to complete their work faster and more accurately, enhancing utility service quality, improving system reliability, and reducing cost.

Trimble Field Inspector Desktop software leverages existing GIS, asset, and work management databases and workflows to deliver a complete end-to-end handheld maintenance inspection solution for field workers.

The desktop software can connect to an existing ESRI ArcGIS or Open Database Compliant (ODBC) back office system, Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) utility database or the Trimble UtilityCenter Maintenance-2 module. Field maintenance tasks can be defined, grouped together as jobs, scheduled, assigned, and automatically transferred to handheld computers running the Trimble Field Inspector software.

Utility field workers can then perform maintenance tasks using the predefined workflows and easy-to-use smart data entry forms. Field captured data is then returned to the utility's existing back office GIS, CMMS database or Trimble UtilityCenter Maintenance-2 module to update and track utility and smart grid field asset maintenance work status and history.

The Trimble Field Inspector solution is expected to be available in August 2010 through Trimble's Utilities Field Solutions group.