Category Archives: Work Management Systems

The Calculator Watch

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The other day I saw a guy wearing one of these and I thought “Really?  I thought they stopped making those things in the 80’s.”

Did you ever have a calculator watch?  I did.  Ask me how many times I used the calculator function – probably about 3 or 4 times – each of which was to show off the watch to my buddies.  Not once did I actually find myself wishing that I had a calculator on my wrist – much less a calculator that was hard to read and required microscopic finger tips to push the correct buttons.  However, there were plenty of times when I wished that the numbers displaying the time of day were larger.

Then it hit me – a lot of cities and utilities looking for GIS based asset and work management software are shopping for calculator watches.   No, they’re not shopping for real calculator watches – but when I look at the extensive lists of features and requirements some of these organizations are looking for I wonder if they realize that they’re trying to cram a calculator into a watch – and although it might seem like a great idea at first, when it comes right down to it the solution is just not practical.

What happens when you cram a calculator into a watch? Both devices are crippled.  So when you’re out looking for new GIS-based asset and work order management software try to find the right software for the right job – and remember that mixing too many things together may result in a calculator watch.

Navigating the Waters of GIS Based Asset and Work Order Management

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I get a lot of phone calls from people who say their GIS based work order software is not being used and they want to find something that’s:

  1. Easier to use, and
  2. More affordable.

Usually they explain that they purchased a nice GIS-based asset and work order management system 5-10 years ago and it just never really got adopted.

Unfortunately, of all the cruise ships on the ocean, it’s not very fun to find yourself in this particular boat.  Someone probably spent a lot of time and money up front on the software, and let’s face it: breaking up can be hard.

However, if you find yourself in this boat, you ultimately have two decisions – you can either:

  1. Get back up to speed on the application and force everyone to start using it, or
  2. Dump your current GIS based asset management system and get something that your people will actually use.

Before jumping ship to a newer, flashier ocean liner, here are a few quick questions to help you evaluate the situation:

  1. Why is your software not being used?
  2. How much money and time will it take to get back up to speed and use the application to its full potential?
  3. Even if you had all the time and money in the world, could your field operators use the thing? Or is it just too complicated?

Many times we’ve found it to be quicker and less expensive to get a new application than to resurrect the old one.   At any rate, make sure to examine your current situation carefully before jumping ship – spending a bunch of money on one lousy cruise is bad enough, no one wants to go on two.

GIS-Based Asset and Work Order Management: Defining Work Order Types

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Before implementing your new GIS-based asset and work management software, note that you can save yourself a lot of time (and money) by defining two simple things:

  1. The most common types of work that take place within your organization, and
  2. The important information that you need to track for each type of work

Here are a few quick examples:

  • Type of Work: Reread Meter
  • Important Information: Who read the meter, time of day the meter was read, actual meter reading, did they notify the customer? If so, how was the customer notified? Does the meter need replacing?

  • Type of Work: Install New Service
  • Important Information: Has the Pre-Lot Inspection been completed?  Post-Lot Inspection? Are any other inspections required?  Have all inspections been completed? Which team installed the service? Time of day? Materials, labor, and equipment used?

These examples are maybe a bit oversimplified – but it should be enough information to get you headed in the right direction.  Be sure to write down the information – and remember, the more detailed you get the better off you’ll be when it comes time to implement your software!

Municipal Work Order & Asset Management Software Selection Tips

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This post contains several common questions asked by municipalities and utilities when going through the selection process for asset and work management software.  The objective of this post is not to sell one particular software application or method, but rather to put a few things out there on the table for you to think about and hopefully help you decide what is best for your individual organization.

When selecting asset and work management software for government and utilities, here are a few things to keep in mind:

Usability

There’s a fine line between powerful software and an application that’s too complicated for people to use.

The nature of powerful software often entails processes that can be difficult and/or confusing to the end user.  My recommendation would be to have some end users sit in on a demo – by this I mean end users like the guys in the field who will be filling out work orders, and end users like the office admins who will be logging the phone calls – not necessarily end users like the IT staff.  If the office and field personnel are confused in the demos, you can count on them being confused when it comes time to actually use the thing.

GIS Integration

Do you need to purchase additional GIS licenses?

Depending on your GIS setup, this may or may not be an issue.  For smaller systems with limited resources, this is definitely an area where you can save some money, depending on which work order / asset management package you select.

Do you need to ‘synchronize’ your GIS data between your main GIS application and the asset management software?

This can save money, but be careful – when pushing data back and forth wires can get crossed and you can quickly run into data integrity issues with your GIS if you’re not careful.

Is the application built exclusively on top of a single GIS vendor?

Let’s face it – most people in the United States use ESRI for their GIS.  However, you may want to incorporate GIS data from multiple vendors into your asset / work management application – so keep that in mind.  We’ve seen some of our clients use their asset management software with MapInfo and other vendors as well.

Scalability

Can the application grow with your organization?

Remember, today you may only be interested in work orders, but next year you may want to integrate things like business licenses, permits, and inspections.

Is the application modular?

By this we mean do you have to buy each piece of the software separately or is it an all-in-one type application?  For example, do you need to buy a Work Orders ‘module’ and a separate Storm Water ‘module’?  The good news is, you only pay for what you need – the bad news is, you usually need more modules than you initially expect – and the dollars can add up fast.

Implementation and Maintenance Fees

How much is the annual maintenance?

Nobody likes maintenance fees, but unfortunately these fees are what make the world turn (in the software world at least).   20% of the software purchase price is pretty much industry standard, although software vendors vary on this and you may end up paying more or less depending on a) the vendor you select and b) your negotiating skills.

How much will you be paying for technical support?

Some companies offer an introductory period where you won’t pay for technical support.  Other companies are not so excited about giving away free support hours.  This is definitely an area that will vary with each vendor – but remember that support for niche products in niche markets typically doesn’t come cheap ($150-$250 per hour is industry standard).

How long will the implementation take?

For smaller cities and utilities (populations less than 10,000 or so) this can be fairly quick – sometimes as quick as 30-60 days or less.  For larger systems you can expect up to a year or more, depending on how complicated the workflow processes are and how much data needs to be converted.

What did I miss here?  I’d love to hear your comments and/or experiences.

Small City, Small Budget, Big Success with GIS & Asset Management Software

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Long Beach, WA – The City of Long Beach has recently integrated their GIS with new asset and work management software, increasing return on their GIS investment and reducing operating costs.

With a population touting 1,500 (1,501 if you count “Jake the Alligator Man” – Google that if you want to learn more), the small town of Long Beach began procuring GIS-based asset management and work order software in early 2009 to help organize workflow and improve maintenance records in the public works department.

The town implemented Elements Management Software by novotX in September of 2009 after being guided through the selection process by David Glasson, Finance Director and Assistant City Administrator.

Since the initial implementation of Elements Management Software, the city has been able to create work orders, log phone calls, keep track of job costing, and manage maintenance schedules in a GIS environment with Elements Management Software.  The staff at Long Beach is also associating pictures and other important documents to their GIS assets – including building permits, licenses, fire reports, and more.

Extending beyond public works, additional departments have also taken advantage of the software and the City of Long Beach is currently using Elements Management Software in the following areas:

  • Work Orders
  • Sign Inventory
  • Sign Applications
  • Sign Maintenance
  • Fire Hydrants
  • Fire Reports
  • Fire Pre-plans
  • Design Reviews
  • Boundary Line Adjustments
  • Customer Action Requests
  • Conditional Use Permits
  • Short Plat Applications
  • Special Use Permits
  • Variance Applications
  • Small Works Roster Applications
  • Water and Sewer Applications
  • Template Letters & Forms Including Property Information

Plans to expand Elements Management Software into additional departments are currently in the works.

About Long Beach (www.longbeachwa.gov)

Named one of ‘America’s Favorite Beach Towns’ by ForbesTraveler.com and voted ‘Best Beach’ by the viewers of Seattle’s KING-5 TV, the Peninsula offers visitors blocks of colorful shops, great seafood, comfortable lodging, small museums, horseback riding, and an expansive beach. Southwest Washington’s Long Beach Peninsula: home to a new national park, two historic lighthouses, renowned restaurants, cranberry bogs, and oyster farms.  Visit www.funbeach.com to learn more.

About novotX

Located near Salt Lake City, UT, novotX publishes GIS-centric asset and work management software for governments and utilities.   Elements Management Software, the flagship product of novotX, allows integration with any industry-standard GIS platform to provide a simplified, cost-effective approach to gis-based asset and work management.

For more information contact:

Justin Gough
novotX, L.L.C.
801.682.1400
justin@novotx.com
www.novotx.com

GIS and Asset Management: 5 Ways to Make Life Easier

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I love getting feedback from our customers – when it comes to our software I love hearing what customers like, hate, would like to change, and so on.

With that in mind, I’ve decided to quickly post a few of the things that make life easier for some of our customers in the GIS-based asset and work management world.

We’ll start with the Home screen.  There’s nothing fancy here – just a plain old simple, easy to understand screen that displays basic information about work that is taking place, who’s taking care of it, and which problems haven’t been addressed yet.

Home Page in Elements Management Software

Nothing fancy here - just a plain old simple, easy to understand screen that displays basic information about work that is taking place, who’s taking care of it, and which problems haven’t been addressed yet.

Surprisingly enough, this is one of the favorite ‘features’ as described by our customers – here are 5 reasons they like the Home screen:

  1. One click and you’re there. Just click on the ‘Home’ button in the navigation panel and you’ve got a nice overview of all of the work that’s currently taking place throughout your organization.
  2. Work Orders. This is a great way to quickly see all of the Work Orders that are currently in progress, who is responsible for the work, and which type of work is taking place.
  3. Service Requests. Ever wonder where to quickly find a list of all problems in your department (or entire organization) that have not yet been addressed?  Here’s your answer.
  4. People are busy and they don’t want to see everyone else’s projects and problems here – “just show me the stuff that’s assigned to me and I’ll take care of it.”
  5. Scheduled maintenance coming up?  Do I have an appointment scheduled for today?  Here’s where I can see my date-driven events and appointments.

So there you go, I’ll be posting more customer favorites in the coming weeks – so stay tuned!

Jive Talkin’ with GIS, Work Orders, and Asset Management

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Have you ever sat through a GIS based asset and work order management software demo that sounded like this?

I have, and it stinks. I remember imagining how difficult it must be to actually use the software, given the nature of the lingo that was used during the demo. In fact, after the demo I remember wishing that the lady from this clip was around so she could translate:

Integrating work orders and asset management data with GIS should not require a crash course in Jive.

At the end of the day, integrating GIS with work orders and asset management data is not too big of a deal if it’s done properly. Believe it or not the process can be pretty painless and actually quite a bit of fun!

If you’d like a jive-free demo of some great GIS-based asset and work order management software just let us know!

Integrating GIS with Permits, Licenses, and Code Enforcement for Small and Medium Sized Utilities

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Raise your hand if:

  1. You’re reading this post and you work for a municipality or utility serving a population of less than 40,000.
  2. You use more than one application to manage your work orders, permits, licenses, and inspections.
  3. You’d like to be able to manage all of the above information in a GIS-based environment.

(way to go if you actually raised your hand)

Most people know about the GIS-based work management capabilities found in Elements (service requests, work orders, etc.).  However, a lot of small to medium-sized municipalities and utilities are using Elements to manage much more than just service requests and work orders so I thought I’d post a few examples here.

Building Department

The dynamic data management tools in Elements give users the ability to efficiently manage Building Permits, Inspections, Certificates of Occupancy and other construction-related items. Basic features include:

  • Customers and contractors can submit permit applications online
  • Notify customers and contractors of status changes and application progress via email or text message in real-time
  • Monitor interdepartmental approval statuses of each permit application
  • Manage fees, building valuations, and footage assessments associated with permits and applications
  • Create configurable inspections based on Permit Application types
  • Generate permanent and temporary Certificates of Occupancy
  • Monitor expiration and activity dates for certificates and inspections
  • Manage contractors, certification levels, identification numbers, and other contractor related data

Code Enforcement

Elements offers the necessary tools to manage and enforce municipal code. Users can manage nuisance calls, code violations, case files, and other code-related items including the ability to:

  • Monitor status updates for individual case files
  • Set follow up dates for code violations
  • Visualize code violation locations on GIS maps
  • Schedule field inspections and reviews
  • Manage fees associated with violations and permits
  • Allow customers to submit complaints and violation reports via the web

Licenses, Permits & Other Applications

Manage Business Licenses, Conditional Use Permits, and other applications specific to the unique needs of you organization with Elements. Typical examples of licenses and permits managed within Elements include:

  • Business Licenses
  • Inspections
  • Certificates of Occupancy
  • Solicitor Licenses
  • Home Occupation Permit
  • Alcohol Beverage Control
  • Animal Licenses
  • Firearms
  • Restaurant Licenses
  • Fireworks
  • Tobacco
  • Watercraft
  • Sign Permits

If you’d like to see how Elements can help manage permits, licenses, inspections, and code enforcement in a GIS-based environment you can request a live demo here.

Using ESRI for GIS-Based Asset and Work Order Management Software in Government and Utilities

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Recently I did a quick search on ESRI’s website for “work order software” and was surprised by the result: a couple of outdated articles from 2006 about Grand Prarie Texas and the City of Philadelphia.

ESRI Work Order Search Result

Search Results for "Work Order Software" on ESRI's Website

A search for “asset management software” returned more up-to-date results, but still not quite what I was looking for.

Search Results for "Asset Management Software" on ESRI's Website

If you’re looking to integrate your ESRI GIS data with asset and work order management here are some things to consider.

Full GIS Integration

Elements Management Software (www.novotx.com) provides a comprehensive set of GIS-based asset and work management tools in a single, standalone application giving utilities and municipalities the ability to:

  • Manage work orders, permits, licenses, inspections and other important data in a GIS-based environment using GIS data from any industry standard application including ESRI, MapInfo, Manifold, Autodesk, and more
  • Maintain assets and critical infrastructure in a GIS-based environment without requiring third-party GIS licenses
  • Tie work history and asset management data to any GIS asset
  • Associate asset and work management data to non-customer related assets and accounts
  • Take advantage of GIS-based asset and work management without incurring additional GIS expenses
  • Visualize work history and asset locations on GIS maps
  • Visualize geographic areas containing high concentrations of work orders and other data
  • Effectively distribute capital improvement funds by quickly finding problem areas and assets with high failure rates
  • Maximize existing GIS investments
  • Use GIS data from any source or application to manage assets and infrastructure in a visual, geographical environment
  • Powerful GIS Tools In a Standalone Application

Asset, Work Order Management, and GIS Data in a Single Application

Maintaining all of your data in a single, standalone application enhances the overall user experience and reduces implementation time.

  • Reduce costs and minimize the learning curve
  • All information, including GIS data, is accessible in a single application
  • Full GIS integration is provided without requiring third-party GIS licenses
  • Reduced learning curve; third-party GIS applications are eliminated
  • Reduced maintenance and overhead for support staff
  • Quicker overall implementation

Industry Standard Compatibility

Elements Management Software also allows municipalities and utilities to maximize their GIS investment, regardless of which GIS technologies are currently being used by the organization.

  • Full GIS support for any industry standard GIS application including ESRI, MapInfo, Manifold, Autodesk, and others
  • Organizations with little or no GIS can use Elements to take advantage of GIS-based asset and work management by obtaining GIS data from resources such as counties, state, and local governments then using that data with Elements
  • GIS data from varying sources and multiple applications can be used together to manage assets and infrastructure

Elements Management Software integrates with ESRI and other GIS applications to provide GIS-based asset and work management tools for utilities and government. To learn more about Elements and related products offered by novotX visist www.novotx.com .

3 Quick Tips for Selecting GIS-Based Asset and Work Management Software

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When selecting GIS-based asset and work management software, companies can save a lot of headache (and money) by doing a little bit of homework upfront.

So for those of you who are currently evaluating your options for GIS-based work order and/or asset management software, here are a few quick tips:

“Ready, Fire, Aim!”

There’s only one person in the real world who can consistently find success using this approach:

Seriously, check out those balloon shots at 1:08!

So, unless you’re buying your GIS-based asset management and/or work order software from Bob Munden (featured in the above video), you may want to avoid vendors that don’t aim before they fire.    Look for a vendor that will take some time prior to contract signing to carefully analyze your business processes and clarify how their software will address the specific needs of your organization.  This takes more than a demo or two – often times this takes several weeks or even months to complete.  You may end up paying for this service from the vendor, but the time and money savings down the road will be well worth the extra effort up front!

Surprises are awesome on your birthday; not-so-awesome when you’re buying new software.

Here’s a good example of how awkward things can be (for both parties) when expectations are not clearly laid out ahead of time:

When you buy a new iPod, headphones are in the box – and it’s a good thing, because you need them.  Make sure you know what’s “in the box” (and what’s not) before you sign any contracts.  Remember, there’s nothing worse than finding out after the fact that the single most important feature you saw in the demo is part of an additional module or third-party application that you need to buy separately… especially when you have to go through the entire budget process (again) to purchase the required module.

Sometimes “no” is the best answer.

Remember the movie Yes Man?  Sometimes I think that certain vendors put their sales reps through the magical “Yes” course in the movie:

Believe it or not I’ve had people tell me that they prefer vendors who say no once in a while – as in “no, we don’t have that feature” or “no, we don’t support that type of data” or maybe even “no, our software is not the best choice for your company.” They say it indicates honesty and a trustworthy vendor.  Now – obviously if a vendor tells you that their software is not the best choice for your company, I would recommend not purchasing their software.  However, if a vendor says “no” to certain features that you may be looking for, I wouldn’t give up hope – I would suggest digging a little deeper and looking to see if the vendor has a possible workaround or maybe a different  (possibly better) solution for your problem.

In summary, selecting GIS-based asset and/or work order management software can be a daunting task.  Remember to take your time, make sure everything is clearly explained (for both parties) before signing any contracts, and don’t be afraid to hear an honest answer from a vendor.

Have an experience selecting software that you’d like to share?  Let us know!