GIS Helps City Workers Report Road Issues Immediately
Working for a city, large or small, is like working for a conglomerate company with many, many different departments. These departments sometimes work in silos which can result in inefficient operations, duplication of efforts and conflicting communication. In addition to 100s of employees, cities often have concerned citizens who regularly report concerns about road quality, traffic lights, and plenty of other issues. That's where having a central system and mobile staff equipped with a
rugged tablet PC can really make a difference.
Rugged tablet PCs have a variety of applications that are available to make communication easier between field staff and those in the office. One of the applications that is ideal for cities is GIS. Geographic Information System Applications use space-time location as a key index variable for all other information. It cites relationships between unrelated information by using location as the key index variable. If something can be located spatially and temporally, it can be referenced using GIS.
What GIS means for your city is that city workers can report road issues immediately which can speed response time. When a concerned citizen contacts a council member, the concern can be input into the system and workers can be notified in the field who may be able to alleviate the problem with a minor fix, resulting in higher efficiency and approval for your department and your city. Using GIS allows for streamlining of requests and orders for the city. Residents who were previously passed from department to department will now find themselves only having to let one person know about the problem, which will be input into the central system and distributed to team members in the field using their rugged
tablet PC.
GIS can tie into your city's
work order management system, so supervisors will know what teams are equipped to be the fastest responders. The GIS application allows city workers to spend less time on the phone or corresponding via email with city residents while allowing crews to respond faster to the needs in the city.
GIS means city workers will know where the road issues are immediately. It means your crews will be able to respond quickly, all while having real-time communication and increased efficiency with supervisors in a central location.
Ruggedized computers can also be used by various departments across the city. While GIS may be a central system to let all departments know what needs to be handled, other departments may have additional needs that can easily be met with other applications for their rugged tablet PC. Some cities currently using GIS have reported that they've replaced the laptops that were previously mounted in vehicles with rugged tablet PCs that reduce the need for additional devices. Parking enforcement personnel might use a
scanner to input ticket information, while also reporting a broken meter to the crews with the proper equipment, all on the same tablet. Code compliance workers might be in the field checking out illegal dumping and could report a broken drinking fountain in a park nearby.
Has your city implemented GIS or other applications to streamline operations and incident/issue reporting? Are city workers using
Rugged Tablet PC systems? Tell us about your experience. For more information on Rugged Tablet PCs from MobileDemand, contact our qualified sales representatives at 1.877.784.4338,
request for more information, visit the
MobileDemand blog or
Rugged Tablet PC website.