Oil and Gas

Fulcrum Audio FastFill is a voice-powered AI feature that replaces manual typing with real-time, structured voice dictation for field data capture. It solves common problems in the field by turning spoken input into accurate records, helping teams move faster and stay focused on their work.

Energy keeps the world running, but keeping energy systems running has never been more complex. Demand is rising, infrastructure is aging, and the push for lower emissions is reshaping how power is generated and delivered. At the same time, supply chains are strained, regulations are tightening, and skilled labor shortages make efficiency more critical than ever. The energy industry is in the middle of a digital transformation for fieldwork, with new technologies reshaping how field teams operate and respond to these challenges.

Digital transformation promises to revolutionize field operations, unlocking unprecedented efficiency, precision, and insight. But as exciting as this future sounds, the path to get there can be fraught with challenges. From unclear goals to resistance among team members, even the most promising field technology initiatives can falter. The good news? By anticipating these pitfalls, your organization can sidestep them and pave the way for meaningful, lasting change.

Field teams face constant challenges in keeping up with data demands. Typing on mobile devices in the field feels like fighting with one hand tied behind your back — slow, prone to errors, and frustrating when speed is critical. That’s where voice data collection takes the spotlight.

As the first Fulcrum Insider of 2025, Issue 44 delivers practical insights and tools to help you embrace digital transformation, streamline field operations, and maximize efficiency.

Field teams encounter challenges that demand immediate solutions. They often struggle with disconnected tools, fragmented workflows, and inefficiencies that delay results. Achieving efficient process management requires more than patchwork systems. Many organizations rely on bolt-on solutions or homegrown systems to address these issues. However, these approaches frequently create more problems than they solve, leaving teams overburdened and operations stagnant.

Fieldwork doesn’t have to be a constant struggle. Yet, many teams deal with outdated tools, disconnected workflows, and tedious manual processes that create more problems than solutions. To overcome these challenges, your team needs smarter tools and systems. This infographic outlines how Fulcrum software helps field teams simplify their work, eliminate inefficiencies, and achieve more.

The landscape of utility field inspections is rapidly evolving. AI-powered UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicle), aka drones, are taking center stage, offering a safer, faster, and more efficient alternative to traditional ground-based methods. 

Infrastructure inspections have always been essential to maintaining the structures that connect and sustain modern society. These field inspections are critical for bridges, pipelines, power grids, and roadways, but they have traditionally been slow, expensive, and risky. Teams conducting inspections often rely on labor-intensive processes that involve scaling dangerous heights or working in hazardous environments. These methods are not only inefficient but often fail to capture the full picture needed for accurate maintenance planning.

Stay at the forefront of technology with Issue 43 of the Fulcrum Insider featuring the latest advancements in artificial intelligence, privacy compliance, and streamlined workflows. This edition offers practical tools and strategies to help you transform your field operations and achieve measurable results.

Manual data entry wastes time and slows teams down. Fulcrum Audio FastFill field data collection changes the game. This voice-powered AI field data solution helps teams collect data faster, more accurately, and with less hassle. Unlike standard talk-to-text tools, Audio FastFill doesn’t just transcribe; it organizes. It automatically maps your inputs to multiple fields at once, turning your voice dictation into structured data.

Fulcrum’s Audio FastFill transforms how teams collect and organize data in the field. Designed to make workflows faster and more accurate, Audio FastFill uses AI to convert voice observations into structured form entries. This eliminates the need for manual typing or clunky tools that can slow you down. Instead, field teams can focus on their work while Fulcrum ensures the data is captured seamlessly.

Preventive maintenance is a cornerstone of asset management, and for many organizations, integrating AI into their maintenance programs seems like a no-brainer. Yet, while businesses race to harness AI’s analytical power, they’re often overlooking a critical factor: their data. In fact, many teams are falling into a common trap—focusing on AI’s potential without addressing the data quality issues that undermine its effectiveness.

Field teams today face challenges with tools that don’t meet their specific operational needs. These tools often fragment data, disrupt workflows, and fail to support real productivity in the field. Fulcrum changes that with a field software platform crafted to meet the real-world demands of field and office teams alike. Join CEO Jim Grady as he introduces Fulcrum’s fresh, field-first approach to operations technology.

Field operations teams work in dynamic environments that demand more than generic software. Many organizations struggle because enterprise applications often ignore unique business needs like offline access. Generic platforms frequently present a complex user interface that frustrates users working on mobile devices 

Welcome to Issue 42 of the Fulcrum Insider! This month’s edition focuses on how AI is revolutionizing field operations, offering tools and strategies to automate workflows, improve data accuracy, and ensure privacy compliance. Field teams across industries are adopting these innovations to streamline operations and make smarter decisions.

The Fulcrum field data collection and process management platform streamlines field operations by supporting AI technologies that improve task efficiency, enhance data accuracy, and increase productivity. With built-in functionalities and the flexibility to integrate bespoke AI models, the platform adapts to meet your specific operational needs, ensuring seamless AI integration for optimal performance.

Greetings, everyone. Today, I’m thrilled to share an important step forward for Fulcrum, one that brings to life our vision of enabling field efficiency and unifying the field with the office. 

AI-driven field data collection makes fieldwork smoother, faster, and error-free. With modern tools at their fingertips, field teams now capture real-time insights and act on data directly in the field. Industries like utilities, engineering, telecom, and environmental management are getting actionable information on the spot, cutting out delays and transforming raw data into instant solutions.

Field data fraud leads to major safety issues, expensive repairs, and lost public trust. Each fake report or reused photo allows critical issues to go unnoticed, often until a failure occurs. Unfortunately, these risks stay hidden without the right tools to catch red flags early.

Ready to streamline your field operations? Download our data sheet to see how Fulcrum’s field services can support every aspect of your team’s work. From tailored onboarding to seamless integrations and continuous support, this data sheet provides all the details.

In Issue 41 of the Fulcrum Insider, we’re focusing on innovations in water utility management and how technology is helping teams streamline their processes. Whether you’re managing infrastructure, tackling stormwater challenges, or improving leak detection, this issue offers practical, real-world insights to keep your operations running smoothly.

When it comes to managing your GIS systems, control is everything. Esri ArcGIS Enterprise gives you full command over your GIS infrastructure, and now with Fulcrum’s integration, that control extends seamlessly to your field data collection. Whether it’s GIS, IT, or field operations, Fulcrum ensures that your data stays secure and fully within your grasp—just the way you need it. 

For GIS professionals, managing geospatial data can be a complex, multi-step process. Fulcrum’s seamless integration with ArcGIS simplifies this by allowing teams to collect and sync data directly into the ArcGIS platform. This eliminates manual data transfers, reduces errors, and speeds up data management for faster decision-making. With Fulcrum, field teams and GIS analysts collaborate easily, ensuring accurate, consistent data across both platforms.

Empower your field operations with improved productivity and accuracy through location intelligence. This infographic demonstrates how automated, real-time location data delivers essential insights for every member of your team. From inspectors in the field to directors overseeing operations, location intelligence brings new levels of efficiency, accuracy, and cost control.

By using AI to automatically identify and blur out faces in photo fields, Fulcrum makes it easy to protect privacy when collecting data.

Welcome to the Issue 40 of the Fulcrum Insider, packed with insights to enhance your water management. From AI-driven tools to cloud-based solutions, we’re all about making your field teams more efficient and smarter on the job.

The fieldwork landscape is changing fast, evolving from outdated manual processes into a domain driven by AI-powered solutions. What used to be a slow, error-filled, paper-based process has evolved into a system driven by digital precision, efficiency, and real-time decision-making. As the leap from paper to tech, and now to field AI, transforms how on-site operations are conducted, the result is not just faster processes, but smarter, more reliable workflows.

Transform your field inspections with AI dictation in the field—no typing required. This demo highlights a sample task: a wood utility pole inspection. By integrating OpenAI’s ChatGPT API, we convert spoken observations into structured form data, streamlining your workflow and cutting down on manual entry.

AI has advanced beyond the “figuring it out” phase and is now delivering clear, measurable benefits. As a result of recent technological advancements, field teams can now achieve significant ROI from AI by enhancing efficiency, boosting team productivity, and improving resiliency. Furthermore, these improvements are highly cost-effective, with every dollar invested in AI returning $8 to $18. Consequently, this significant return on investment frees up resources for other critical initiatives, making AI an indispensable tool for modern field operations.

Field operations often suffer from inefficiencies and errors due to inconsistent processes. Standardizing your field processes is a powerful way to mitigate these challenges, ensuring smoother workflows, reduced mistakes, and faster project completion. In this blog, we’ll explore the benefits of standardizing field processes and how this approach can transform your operations.

If you’re not quite on board with the idea of practical AI, you’re not alone. Between generating nightmare images of uncanny valley mutants with too many (and too bendy) fingers and news stories of AI missteps and hallucinations, it’s easy to dismiss AI as another tech novelty. 

The geospatial industry is experiencing a profound shift, driven by rapid technological advancements, evolving user expectations, and an unyielding demand for more intelligent workflows. The Trimble State of the Global Geospatial Industry 2024 report highlights several key trends shaping the future of this field—from the essential need for reliable field data collection to the decisive move towards Software as a Service (SaaS) models. 

Welcome to the Issue 39 of the Fulcrum Insider, your essential guide to the latest trends and insights in the world of GIS and field data management. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or just starting your journey with enterprise GIS solutions, our newsletter delivers the information you need to stay at the forefront of your industry.

In industries like utilities, engineering, and environmental services, field data collection is a critical component of daily operations. You might consider developing a custom solution in-house to gain complete control over your processes. However, it’s important to carefully evaluate the costs and challenges of building from scratch versus the benefits of using a FieldTech Platform-as-a-Service solution.

If you’re considering migrating from Survey123 to Fulcrum but are concerned about potential challenges or disruptions, we’ve got you covered. Our comprehensive data sheet is designed to help you navigate the transition smoothly. This ensures that your operations continue seamlessly as you explore the benefits that Fulcrum has to offer.

At Fulcrum, we pride ourselves on enabling loose coupling in your workflows. But what does that mean? Loose coupling integration allows different systems and components to work together seamlessly, without heavy dependencies on each other. This flexibility makes it easy to integrate new features or replace components without disrupting the entire system.

Watch this session to discover how Fulcrum is transforming field inspection workflows for thousands of clients. We’ll explore how teams use Fulcrum’s low-code toolkit to build dynamic solutions for digital field inspections. You’ll learn how to capture geopositioned images, record videos, and collect detailed inspection data efficiently.

Efficient data management is essential for success in field operations. Fulcrum, an industry-leading field data collection and process management platform, offers robust tools to automate data workflows, enhancing both efficiency and accuracy. This blog explores the benefits and processes of automating data exchanges between Fulcrum and other platforms, providing practical steps and real-world examples to guide users in implementing these integrations.

In this Issue 38 of the Fulcrum Insider, we’re all about Esri User Conference, our takeaways from the event, and sharing resources focused on the GIS element of the Fulcrum GIS field data collection platform. See below for a sneak peek!

Efficient and accurate data collection is the backbone of many businesses, especially those with teams in the field. Integrating your field data collection platform with other systems can significantly enhance your operations. This integration not only boosts efficiency and accuracy but also provides numerous other benefits that can transform how your business functions. Here, we explore these benefits and outline steps for a successful integration.

Ready to help turn your customers’ field operations from chaotic to cutting-edge? Discover the powerful benefits of a Fulcrum partnership. Download our data sheet now to see how we can give you the competitive edge you’ve been looking for.

Uncover how cutting-edge technology is revolutionizing field operations in this on-demand webinar, presented in partnership with Geo Week. Learn practical steps to integrate FieldTech like drones and sensors as well as AI into field ops to enhance efficiency and data accuracy.

Welcome to Issue 37 of the Fulcrum Insider, your monthly resource for the most innovative solutions in GIS data collection. This June, learn how enhanced grid stability, optimized field operations, and cutting-edge multimedia documentation can revolutionize your approach to electrical utility management.

Subsidence is the gradual sinking or settling of the Earth’s surface, driven by both natural forces like soil compaction and human activities such as groundwater extraction and mining. Threatening more than two billion people globally, The effects of subsidence include cracked building foundations, reduced aquifer capacity, damaged infrastructure, increased coastal flooding, and habitat deterioration. With urban expansion leading to increased groundwater extraction and climate change intensifying drought conditions, the need to monitor and mitigate subsidence has never been more critical.

Achieving a balance between customization and standardization in field processes is essential to maintain flexibility while ensuring consistency and efficiency. Here’s how to strike that balance effectively.

Tired of data overload and inefficient processes? It’s time to take control. We’ve designed an exclusive infographic to help you visualize a day in the life of field data and streamline your field data workflow.

As we gear up for the 2024 Esri User Conference, Fulcrum is excited to showcase several groundbreaking features and recent developments that enhance geospatial field data collection and management. These innovations promise to streamline field operations and improve data reliability, setting a new standard for GIS integration and field data handling.

Ready to revolutionize your enterprise operations? Choosing the right enterprise GIS solution is essential for businesses aiming to boost efficiency and drive growth. This guide is your ticket to making informed, impactful decisions that can elevate your organization’s capabilities.

Unlock new levels of efficiency and accuracy in your workflows with Fulcrum’s seamless integration capabilities. This guide explores how Fulcrum connects effortlessly with the tools you rely on, from mapping software to data management platforms. Learn practical ways to synchronize your systems, eliminate redundancies, and achieve a streamlined operation that keeps your team focused on what matters.

Implementing new field software can significantly enhance operational efficiency and data accuracy, but it requires careful planning and execution. To ensure a successful implementation, here are five best practice tips to guide you through the process!