White Paper: Linking Field Force Automation To Geospatial Information Management: Past, Present And Futures

Geospatial Information Management (GIS) is a long-accepted technology that has proven its value repeatedly to thousands of utilities worldwide. Likewise, Field Force Automation (FFA) has enjoyed similar success and utilization over many years. The former originates essentially in an office environment, with paper maps then produced and used by mobile crews and technicians. The latter occurs primarily in the field, used also by mobile crews and technicians, but also by dispatchers and managers. Over the last five years in particular, these two technologies have been converging in ways that are powerfully useful in contributing to both improved workforce productivity and more effective asset management. To better appreciate this convergence and its likely direction and development over the next five years, it would be helpful to first review how FFA has developed to where it is today.

Utilities conduct business with a unique set of operating characteristics that have evolved over decades, beginning with paper-based operations and evolving into complex IT-driven business processes. Aiding in this transformation is the arrival of improved workforce management (or, FFA) technologies and systems that have helped utilities more efficiently keep the lights on, the water running, and the gas flowing.