Regular maintenance of water utility equipment and facilities is critical to the utility’s mission of providing safe drinking water 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year to city residents. Provided with the proper solution and guidelines, which you can also read on this website at airwaterice.com/.
Thus, water utilities are utilizing ultra-rugged tablets to improve inventory management, real-time asset monitoring, work orders, repair scheduling, safety audits, and compliance reporting, among other things. Rugged tablets make utility fieldwork far more efficient, allowing utility technicians to complete tasks in the field that previously could only be completed in an office, thanks to their ruggedness, powerful processing, connectivity, and communication capabilities.
3 Reasons Rugged Tablets Improve Utility Maintenance and Management
3D RealSense Camera
For utility workers, a 3D RealSense camera is a fantastic tool. The number of man-hours required to check and update records of pipes, lines, and leaks that need to be repaired is significantly reduced when rugged tablets are used in the field instead of a non-connected device. Instead of a person, a rugged tablet with a 3D RealSense camera is sent underground to check for a leak, reducing the risk of the unknown. The camera records every step of the journey, which the city worker can then save and send to the office via the tablet. The utility worker’s job then becomes to review the report and identify any repairs or issues that need to be addressed.
All repairs and issues are recorded and coordinated with the tablet and are accurately logged so that repairs can be made at a later time, reducing the chance of human error in later entering the information and also reducing the number of man-hours required to document all repairs needed across the city.
GPS and GIS Mapping
For infrastructure assets such as buried water, power, and gas utility lines, telephone wires, and CATV cables, rugged handhelds provide accurate GPS location data and GIS mapping. In a variety of urban, rural, and remote settings, technicians use rugged tablets to quickly identify, locate, and maintain assets. Even in remote locations, you can view and manipulate detailed maps and visuals thanks to the built-in GPS and WiFi. The rugged design, and sunlight readability, allow for fast processing in the field, even in the mid-day daylight. Many handhelds now include NFC and RFID readers, making locating and mapping underground assets even easier and faster.
Communication
To communicate critical data among dispatch, infrastructure assessment teams, and maintenance and repair crews, utility personnel rely on effective communication tools built into the rugged tablet. Rugged handhelds enable real-time status updates, work order submissions, and subscriber alerts, resulting in faster responses and better communication for everything from service connection or disconnection requests to outages and disruptions as well as paving the way for real-time decision making when problems occur. Even for utility technicians working in remote areas, rugged mobile tablets keep them connected via cellular broadband, bluetooth connectivity, WLAN, and wired devices such as external antennas.
In waste management and environmental services applications, our rugged tablets have been designed and tested for maximum performance, protection, and reliability. Ports can be connected with water testing instruments to enter data directly from the samples into the program on the tablet and quickly compared to other readings and loaded onto the office server instantly. DT Research’s tablets, which are compatible with many other applications, can be combined with our wide range of accessories to provide a complete solution for ease of deployment.