Comcast Saves Millions With GPS

By Brian Albright, Field Technologies magazine

With GPS fleet management and dynamic routing, Comcast expects to save more than $24 million in just one year.

Field service automation solutions are only as good as the data held within them, which can include everything from technician notes to equipment serial numbers, as well as the updates technicians provide during their shifts so that dispatchers know where they are and how much longer they’re going to be there. Increasingly, these systems also rely on GPS-generated location data, which helps further automate a host of processes and operations.

Comcast Cable is the largest residential and commercial video, high-speed Internet, and phone service provider in the United States. The company’s field technician force is more than 20,000 strong, and the company operates a fleet of 24,000 service vehicles nationwide. Comcast recently deployed a GPS fleet management solution to complement its existing mobile workforce management system by providing real-time technician location data to dispatchers.