BlackBerry Case Studies Nova Scotia Power Inc. - GPS Functionality

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	Nova Scotia Power Inc. - GPS Functionality BlackBerry

Nova Scotia Power Inc. - GPS Functionality

BlackBerry

Applicable Industries	Utilities
Challenge	On the Nova Scotia Power Inc. (NSPI) GIS Connectivity Project, field personnel travel on foot and by vehicle gathering data about asset locations and customer connectivity across the entire electrical distribution infrastructure. However, NSPI could not cover the company's extensive field operations. NSPI needed a secure mobile GIS solution that offered remote data transfer directly to its ARC GIS server software, without requiring additional travel and manual syncing. Read More
About Customer	Nova Scotia Power Inc. (NSPI) is an electrical distribution utility that manages $3.5 billion CAD of generation, transmission and distribution assets across the province of Nova Scotia in Canada. Read More
Customer Name	Nova Scotia Power Inc. (NSPI) Read More
Solution	The team decided that BlackBerry Enterprise Server, the built-in GPS capability of BlackBerry smartphones, and Freeance Mobile, an application for GIS mobility, were the right combination of technologies for their needs. Freeance Mobile was used to build customized data collection forms, configured with required fields and predefined values. BlackBerry smartphones helped NSPI’s personnel accurately fill out the forms to record field assets and connectivity details. Hardware Components - BlackBerry GPS - OtterBox Case Software Components - Freeance Mobile App Read More Log in to view content
Data Collected	Accuracy, Asset Location, Connectivity Status, GPS Tracking Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Applicable Industries

Utilities

Challenge

On the Nova Scotia Power Inc. (NSPI) GIS Connectivity Project, field personnel travel on foot and by vehicle gathering data about asset locations and customer connectivity across the entire electrical distribution infrastructure. However, NSPI could not cover the company's extensive field operations. NSPI needed a secure mobile GIS solution that offered remote data transfer directly to its ARC GIS server software, without requiring additional travel and manual syncing.

About Customer

Nova Scotia Power Inc. (NSPI) is an electrical distribution utility that manages $3.5 billion CAD of generation, transmission and distribution assets across the province of Nova Scotia in Canada.

Customer Name

Nova Scotia Power Inc. (NSPI)

Solution

The team decided that BlackBerry Enterprise Server, the built-in GPS capability of BlackBerry smartphones, and Freeance Mobile, an application for GIS mobility, were the right combination of technologies for their needs. Freeance Mobile was used to build customized data collection forms, configured with required fields and predefined values. BlackBerry smartphones helped NSPI’s personnel accurately fill out the forms to record field assets and connectivity details. Hardware Components - BlackBerry GPS - OtterBox Case Software Components - Freeance Mobile App

Data Collected

Accuracy, Asset Location, Connectivity Status, GPS Tracking

Impact #1	[Data Management - Data Collection] The wireless solution provided more accurate data at a lower cost.
Impact #2	[Efficiency Improvement - Maintenance] Real-time status reports enable field personnel to remotely diagnose the status of a device.
Impact #3	[Efficiency Improvement - Labor] ARC GIS software allowed reliable data collection without operator travel and manual syncing

Impact #1

[Data Management - Data Collection]
The wireless solution provided more accurate data at a lower cost.

Impact #2

[Efficiency Improvement - Maintenance]
Real-time status reports enable field personnel to remotely diagnose the status of a device.

Impact #3

[Efficiency Improvement - Labor]
ARC GIS software allowed reliable data collection without operator travel and manual syncing

Benefit #1	The utility reported a savings in travel and labor expenses totaling $200,000 per year.
Benefit #2	In large storms, NSPI can optimize the performance of 50 crews to minimize logistical costs and increase the speed of repairs.

Benefit #1

The utility reported a savings in travel and labor expenses totaling $200,000 per year.

Benefit #2

In large storms, NSPI can optimize the performance of 50 crews to minimize logistical costs and increase the speed of repairs.

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Overview

Nova Scotia Power Inc. - GPS Functionality

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit