smart water technology

Smart Water TechnologyCreating the Cities of Tomorrow

Brought to you by Clevest

Smart Water Technology: Creating the Cities of Tomorrow 2

Creating the cities of tomorrowSmart water technology is revolutionizing the water utility industry, enabling the leap from paper orders and mechanical meters to workforce automation and Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) systems.

Water and wastewater utilities across the globe are implementing smart water technology as part of their strategy to create cities of tomorrow. These green cities view resources as the heart of a smart city – and this includes their mobile workforce.


The smart city strategy includes fully automating their mobile workforce for any type of work completed in the field. This ranges from AMI deployment, inspections and service work to damage assessment and service restoration. Adding smart workforce automation technology will address a utility’s aging workforce and infrastructure, as well as drive down the total cost of service by processing more field work quickly and accurately.

Utility-focused Mobile Workforce Management

A next-generation Mobile Workforce Management (MWFM) solution unifies the field and the office on a single, mobile platform to manage utility crews and any type of work they perform. MWFM provides the ability to create, receive, schedule, dispatch, and execute work orders.

For ease of use, it should include out-of-the-box integrations to leading utility Customer Information (CIS) & Billing systems, Outage Management Systems (OMS), Work and Asset Management (WAM) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), as well as extensions to leading AMI systems and hardware devices, when needed.

Out of the box integrations

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CIS: Customer Information SystemWAM: Work and Asset ManagementGIS: Geographic Information SystemMWFM: Mobile Workforce Management


Some of the measurable benefits of a MWFM solution include:

• Enhanced worker productivity

• Improved Service Level Agreement (SLA) compliance

• Enhanced customer satisfaction

• Improved on-time arrivals

• Improved first-time fix rates

• Reduced overtime

• Reduced travel time

• Reduced fuel consumption

The Architecture of a Mobile Workforce Management Solution

A MWFM system is built around a highly configurable architecture that enables a utility to quickly launch a production-ready system and transform their field operations. It includes next-generation applications (for office and mobile users) that empower the utility’s


workforce to complete more work accurately, efficiently, and in less time. These applications provide users with interoperable views of field operations while providing intuitive user interfaces with rich geospatial interactions.

The MWFM hardware and software platforms provide utilities with a number of configuration options. Third-party components are integrated seamlessly to provide extra support and functionality.

Integration and interfaces with leading CIS, GIS and OMS solutions provide dispatchers, managers, and supervisors with real-time visibility into outage locations and severity. This enhanced location awareness with an integrated map view of orders, vehicles, and workers in relation to the utility’s asset infrastructure enable faster and safer restoration of outages.

The office user applications feature rich, geospatial interactions that provide dispatchers and supervisors with a comprehensive view and toolset to manage their entire field operations safely and efficiently. Interoperable views of maps, orders, workers, vehicles, alerts, safety timers, and summary snapshots, along with advanced filtering and reporting capabilities, provide a highly personalized view, along with drag-and-drop capabilities between summary views and integrated maps. A dashboard provides real-time alerts for safety timers, lone worker emergencies, geofences, and general exceptions to enable office users to make informed and critical operational decisions and respond effectively to emergencies. This empowers office users with real-time visibility into field operations.

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User applications

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The mobile applications used by those in the field feature an intuitive user interface and rich geospatial interactions for use with laptops and touch-enabled tablets. These applications empower a utilities’ mobile workforce with maps, screens, and best practice workfows to have instant access to assigned work, including new

work assigned through the day. Mobile workers can visualize where they are in relation to their orders, create orders from GIS assets, search and filter GIS assets to view relevant information, and get optimized routes to minimize driving time. They can continue working even in out-of-coverage areas, allowing them to view, redline and annotate maps, and access GIS asset information offline. When back online, their work is automatically sent to the office and GIS asset information is synchronized. Mobile workers are guided through best practices workfows for any given type of work and provided the right information at the right time. To complete orders when out of coverage, mobile workers have full support in offline mode and can automatically synchronize orders when back in coverage.


The mobile applications let workers manage work and capture information in the field. With an integrated map to view orders, order details, nearby workers, and GIS assets, workers can search, filter, and create orders from GIS assets, redline and annotate assets, and trace assets upstream and downstream. Workers can redline and annotate the map to send important field instructions to the office. Special work order indicators alert workers to various conditions at the property such as life support. Mobile workers can capture photos, signatures, GPS coordinates, and barcodes. Meter and device serial numbers can be scanned and validated to ensure the worker is working on the right equipment. Other features allow mobile workers to alert office staff and supervisors prior to engaging in potentially dangerous activity, so help may be dispatched immediately if needed.

Operating in offline mode

In the event mobile workers have intermittent wireless coverage, an application allows the user to continue working, buffering unsuccessful messages to the server and re-transmitting once coverage has been re-established. This application may also be operated in true offline or unconnected mode, using “store-and-forward” technology where the handheld device is cradled and orders are batch-downloaded at the start of the day (or start of the shift), then operated by the user in offline mode, and cradled again at the end of the day for batch upload of completed work information to the server.


Case Study for Mobile Workforce Management in Action

Some water and wastewater utilities use multiple AMR/AMI systems throughout their organization. Often times these systems are integrated into their operations with a centralized billing solution, which then becomes the central hub of the meter information and customer relationship business processes.

Utilities wanting to leverage their investment in the billing solution can include a Mobile Workforce Management solution for a streamlined, fully integrated workfow that mitigates or fully eliminates time consuming tasks. These tasks include the completion and transfer of hard-copy documentation and repetitive data entry.

A major water treatment and waste management utility engaged Clevest to provide a Mobile Workforce Management that will address several key components:

1. A framework that will allow standardization of work orders across multiple business units located in different parts of the country. The initial workflows and business processes created will be used as a model for subsequent implementations in other areas of the company.

2. Accurate workfow identification at a granular level. An example is the process of changing a meter including all activity and interaction with a customer visit. The outcome will include generation of a separate and unique work order for each activity involved in the process.


3. Real-time feet management.

4. Provision of a tool that measures workforce efficiency. This includes the performance of personnel and the related efficiencies in specific field operations/activities.

5. Provide the ability to monitor and report on work performance quality metrics.

6. Optimization of work assignments and staff scheduling as a result of the automation of the dispatch process.

7. Elimination of non-value added administrative tasks (manual re-entry) and those done via paper.

Additionally, Clevest will integrate the MWFM system with the utility’s Customer Information System (CIS), shall include full integration with Esri mapping to aid in route planning, will integrate with all AMR/ AMI systems, will be compliant with IOS, Android and the Windows mobile platforms, and the solution will be provided in a SaaS format.

Empower mobile workers

WorkBook is a mobile application with smart workflows, eforms and interfaces to enterprise systems, along with integrated maps to visualize work in relation to the utility’s asset infrastructure.


Embracing Smart Technology

As the water utility industry continues to move forward with intelligent devices, workforces will continue to embrace smart technologies. Mechanical meters and paper work orders are items used in the past. Green cities and smart cities view their resources, including their workforce and automation tools, as valuable assets.

Incorporating a mobile workforce management solution as part of this push forward, a utility can achieve multiple benefits such as enhanced worker productivity, improved on-time arrivals and first-time fix rates, plus reduced overtime, reduced travel time and reduced fuel consumption. Most importantly, smart technologies empower their workforce to make better and informed decisions leading to improved and enhanced customer satisfaction.

[email protected] | 866-915-0088 | www.clevest.com

Clevest provides software for mobile workforce management and smart grid operations exclusively for electric, gas and water utilities. We are specialists at enabling utilities to transform their field operations by rapidly automating and optimizing any field work activity or process to improve response time and effectiveness.

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