PROJECT 07-19 | OCTOBER 2009 BUSINESS AVAILABLE EXECUTIVE AND STRATEGIC MOBILE TECHNOLOGY MOBILE SYSTEMS SUMMARY PLANNING SOLUTIONS FOR EVERY BUDGET FUTURE AND EMERGING TRENDS CASE STUDIES ACRONYMS Acknowledgements About the Authors Legal Notice OCTOBER 2009 PROJECT 07-19 Putting Mobile Technology to Work this page intentionally left blank PROJECT 07-19 Putting Mobile Technology to Work Prepared by Bill Durham Michael McGannon Engineering Associates, Inc. 1220 Old Alpharetta Road, Suite 390 Alpharetta, Georgia 30005 and Darrell Powell IT 4 Electric Co-ops, LLC 13197 Guyana Street Venice, Florida 34293 for Cooperative Research Network National Rural Electric Cooperative Association 4301 Wilson Boulevard Arlington, Virginia 22203-1860 The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), founded in 1942, is the national service organization supporting more than 900 electric cooperatives and public power districts in 47 states. Electric cooperatives own and operate more than 42 percent of the distribution lines in the nation and provide power to 40 million people (12 percent of the population). NRECA’s Cooperative Research Network (CRN) harnesses research and development to benefit its electric co-op members in four key ways: • Improve productivity • Control costs • Increase service excellence • Keep pace with emerging technologies CRN strives to deliver new products and services best suited to the particular needs of electric co-ops. CRN communicates with its members through its Web site (www.crn.coop), online and printed reports, newsletters, Web conferences, and seminars. In addition, CRN staff present at several annual events, including NRECA’s TechAdvantage Conference & Expo, the NRECA/Touchstone Energy “Connect” marketing conference. For more information about these events and CRN’s participation, visit the Conferences & Training section of www.Cooperative.com. For questions about CRN, call 703.907.5843. © Putting Mobile Technology to Work Copyright © 2009, by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. Reproduction in whole or in part is strictly prohibited without prior written approval of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, except that reasonable portions may be reproduced or quoted as part of a review or other story about this publication. Legal Notice This work contains findings that are general in nature. Readers are reminded to perform due diligence in applying these findings to their specific needs, as it is not possible for NRECA to have sufficient understanding of any specific situation to ensure applicability of the findings in all cases. Neither the authors nor NRECA assume liability for how readers may use, interpret, or apply the information, analysis, templates, and guidance herein or with respect to the use of, or damages resulting from the use of, any information, apparatus, method, or process contained herein. In addition, the authors and NRECA make no warranty or representation that the use of these contents does not infringe on privately held rights. This work product constitutes the intellectual property of NRECA and its suppliers, as the case may be, and contains Confidential Information. As such, this work product must be handled in accordance with the CRN Policy Statement on Confidential Information. Contents – iii contents Executive Summary ix Section 1 Mobile Technology Business & Strategic Planning 1 What Is Mobile Technology? 1 Mobile Technology’s Relevance to Overall Business Planning 3 Technology Planning Overview 5 Creating Business and Strategic Planning Habits 8 Section 2 Mobile Technology Solutions Available in the Marketplace Today 11 Wireless Cellular and PCS Mobile Data Network Providers 11 Private Land Mobile Radio Data Networks and Applications 14 Satellite Communication Services 19 Wi-Fi-802.11 Mobile Applications 21 GPS Mobile Data Applications 23 Combining these Mobile Technologies into an Integrated Solution 26 Section 3 Mobile Systems for Nearly Every Budget 29 Performing Mobile Technology Planning 30 Implementation Considerations 33 Mapping the Existing Workflow 36 Justifying the Cost 38 Selecting Tasks for Automation 40 Section 4 Future and Emerging Mobile Technology Trends 41 Co-op Technology and Industry Trends 42 Future Cellular and Mobile Broadband Data Technology Trends 44 Future Land Mobile Radio Technology Trends 46 Mobile Technology Disaster-Recovery/Business-Continuity Planning 50 Conclusions 57 Section 5 Mobile Technology Case Studies 59 Coastal Electric Cooperative, Georgia 59 Cobb Electric Membership Corporation, Georgia 64 Delaware Electric Cooperative 71 East Central Energy, Minnesota and Wisconsin 78 Nashville Electric Service, Tennessee 82 Wheat Belt Public Power District, Nebraska 86 Appendix A Acronyms 93 iv – Contents illustrations FIGURE PAGE E.1 GPS Route-Optimization Software. viii E.2 Screenshot of a Mobile Workforce Application. ix E.3 Field Workers Can Use Either of Two Different Wireless Data Networks to Connect, Real-Time, to the Internal Operations Center Using a Mobile Workforce Application. xi 1.1 Pillars of Support for Attainment of Cooperatives’ Strategic Business Goals. 4 1.2 Technology Planning Conceptual Diagram. 5 2.1 Standard Type II Card (or AirCard). 13 2.2 Express Card/34 Card. 13 2.3 Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) Digital Versus Analog Technology. 15 2.4 Analog Versus Digital Waveforms Integrating Voice and Data. 17 2.5 Satellite Integration of Voice and Broadband Data. 19 2.6 Communications-on-the-Move Systems. 19 2.7 Globalstar GSP 1600 Satellite Phone Made by Qualcomm. 20 2.8 Typical Service Yard Wi-Fi Coverage with Single Access Point. 21 2.9 Typical Service Yard Wi-Fi Coverage with Multiple Overlapping Access Points. 22 2.10 The DOD Navstar Satellite System Surrounding Earth. 23 2.11 Examples of Global Positioning System Screens. 24 2.12 GPS Devices for Fleets Showing Real-Time Tracking for Each Vehicle. 25 2.13 Field Workers Can Use Either of Two Different Wireless Data Networks to Connect Real-Time to the Internal Operations Center Using a Mobile Workforce Application. 27 3.1 Application Systems Interface Diagram. 31 3.2 Screen Shot of a Mobile Workforce Application Work Queue. 33 3.3 Screen Shot of a Typical MWM Field Scheduler. 37 4.1 A Handheld Garmin Rino Two-Way Radio with GPS Receiver. 46 4.2 A Yaesu Two-Way Mobile FM Transceiver with Quad-Band Capability. 47 4.3 Unlicensed 6-GHz Horizon Compact Ethernet Microwave Transmission System. 50 4.4 Licensed System Using Andrew 6-GHz Ultra-High-Performance Antenna. 50 4.5 Technology DR/BC Life Cycle Planning Process Methodology Diagram. 52 4.6 Sample Telecommunications Diagram. 54 Illustrations – v illustrations FIGURE PAGE 5.1 Mobile Field Service Via the eMobile Data Service-Link. 60 5.2 Creating a Mobile Service Order. 60 5.3 Service-Link Dispatcher Application Screen. 61 5.4 Dispatcher and Mobile Application View of a Cancelled Service Order. 62 5.5 A Ruggedized Pedestal Holds the Non-Ruggedized Laptops Used by Field Crews. 63 5.6 A Mobile Laptop Installed in a Cobb EMC Service Vehicle and Displaying the OMS Software. 65 5.7 Screen Shot Listing Outage Jobs by Number and Type. 66 5.8 Screen Shot Showing Outage Details for a Particular Job. 67 5.9 Screen Shot of Street Map Showing Cobb EMC Infrastructure and Service Vehicle. 68 5.10 Screen Shot of Real-Time Map of Cobb EMC Service Territory Showing Service Trucks in the Field. 69 5.11 A Screen Shot of the Georgia UPC Homepage. 69 5.12 Size Comparison of an Earthmate GPS to a Typical Cell Phone. 74 5.13 Screen Shot of a DeLorme Navigation and Route Optimization System. 75 5.14 Screen Shot of the DeLorme System’s Route Optimization Process. 76 5.15 Two Views of the Garmin StreetPilot 7200 GPS Navigation System. 80 5.16 Three Views of Field Technician Cell Phones Using the eTrace Program for Reconnects. 84 5.17 NES’s eTrace Service Area Map Showing Status of Every Job and Worker. 85 5.18 WBPPD Data Superimposed on a Google Earth Map. 89 5.19 Weather Data Superimposed on a Google Earth Map Showing WBPPD Data. 90 vi – Tables tables TABLE PAGE 2.1 Satellite Solutions Providers. 20 2.2 Wi-Fi Options and Performance Data. 22 4.1 RTO Comparison Among Cooperatives. 55 5.1 Comparison of DEC’s Five MWM Applications. 72 Acknowledgements – vii acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the following individuals for their time and contributions to this report: • Mark Bolton, Vice President of Marketing and Customer Service for Coastal Electric Co-op • Larry Chalupsky, Energy and GIS Technical Source • Corbitt Clift, Manager of Special Projects–Engineering, Cobb EMC • Gary Cripps, Vice President of Finance and IT for Delaware Electric Cooperative (DEC) • Harold Gardner, Vice President of Sales, GPS Fleet Solutions • Linda LaTourelle, IT Manager, East Central Energy (ECE) • Tim Lindahl, IT Specialist, Wheat Belt Public Power District (WBPPD) • Dave Sickels, National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC) • Joe Trentacosta, Vice President and CIO, Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative (SMECO) • Keith Wheeler, CIS Group Leader for Nashville Electric Service (NES) viii – About the Authors about the authors Mike McGannon is the author of a previous CRN-sponsored technical report entitled A Guidebook to Land Mobile Radio. He has worked in telecommunications for over 20 years as an engineer and technical project manager. Mike has experience with many wireless technologies, including cellular, PCS, LMDS, MMDS, land mobile radio, Wi-Fi, MESH, SCADA,