Inventorying water distribution systems, installing new meters and automating billing processes.
Paper is an amazing tool. Think about it. Anyone can use it, it’s consistent, it requires zero training, and it’s inexpensive. In the technology age, the truly wise will not forget the lessons in simplicity from the great days of the pen and pencil. But we can do better. In field data collection, paper should be the inspiration, but not the operation. Here are four reasons why you need to consider the alternative to pen and paper surveys — mobile data collection technologies:
Since the release of SpatialVideo back in June, which allows you to collect GPS-tracked video from Fulcrum on iOS and Android, we’ve heard dozens of different ways that users are recording video for various projects. For covering large work areas quickly, video is great as it saves time, and allows field staff to capture large volumes of reference data for review and assessment in the back office.
GIS has become a newly cherished friend to the environment, standing out as the only tool multi-faceted enough to create predictive models. These models incorporate the multiple relationships and compound effects involved in environmental impact decisions. To gather the data for these essential models, fieldwork requires many man-hours. Read on to learn how environmental data collection has evolved.
The Problem
Tilson had recently been awarded a statewide fiber construction project for the state of Kentucky to provide broadband access across the state. The project was to survey 10,000 utility poles—including attachments, spans, and specific attributes—and provide an MRE solution for each pole in order to apply for an attachment license for the fiber cable. Tilson had been utilizing several other data collection apps, with mixed results. Prior to Fulcrum, Tilson was primarily tackling projects that had 50 to 500 poles for a given project, primarily small cell nodes. The collection process often involved taking photos with a camera and a GPS unit, writing records in Excel, then joining them back up in the office. Tilson needed a solution where data was only keyed in once, could be monitored remotely, and exported in a variety of methods easily.
Tribal data collection challenges
Household data collection is never cut-and-dry, especially on rural Native American Reservations, which often lack a complete inventory of households, consistent addressing systems, or even marked roads. Because these difficulties lead to lack of accurate records about houses in rural areas, rural populations are often undercounted compared to urban areas. It is quite common on many Native American Reservations for Tribal members to locate a house or mobile home on their own land without registering it with their Tribe’s housing authority, making it virtually impossible to find using existing records.
Inspection challenges before Fulcrum
Paper-based inspections brought all the usual headaches, including the lag waiting for the results to arrive in the office, the need to get the information manually transcribed into our maintenance management system, complicated further by the need to match up photos captured on digital camera.
Modern civil engineering with Fulcrum
SMEC was investigating mobile applications for efficient field data collection in order to deliver a high quality end products (complete asset inventory) to their clients, and began to use Fulcrum to perform field asset inventory on many different projects. To date they have successfully completed asset management work for government organizations, international funding & aid agencies, utility companies, and private sector clients using Fulcrum. Fulcrum provided SMEC’s team with an all-in-one mobile solution with a wide range of features that go far beyond simple data collection. So far they have created over 95 custom Apps in Fulcrum to collect over 20,000 assets for dozens of projects within South Africa.
The Challenge
After a series of deadly explosions, including two high-profile events in 2014-2015, the Public Service Commission (PSC) announced expanded mandated natural gas meter inspection requirements. To establish a baseline, gas companies must prove to the PSC that they have physically inspected all of their residential and commercial meters by April of 2020.
Before Fulcrum
In California, where millions of acres are consumed by wildfire each year, county fire departments are required to conduct defensible-space inspections to protect the property and residents of their region.
Field asset inventory with Fulcrum
The Philadelphia Water Department is in the process of removing their high pressure fire hydrants, left in place after the HPFS system was decommissioned in the mid-1990’s. Rodriguez was brought into the project to provide a final inventory of the hydrants and to document any potential construction impacts to surrounding street features (i.e. ADA ramps, paving, poles, etc.). The assumption was that the inventory would be performed using paper maps and digital cameras.
The Problem
Through a sophisticated system of data collection, enrichment, and analysis, RedZone monitors developing wildfires and deploys fire engines to mitigate the threat to its clients’ assets.
The Problem
A team of seven graduate students, researchers, and technicians were embarking on a three-week nematode study on the Hawaiian Islands. They needed a way to track each sample from the point of collection, take photos, and mark the GPS location of each collection site. Since they would be gathering thousands of samples, they knew they needed a simple, electronic tool to take out into the field.
Before Fulcrum
Northpower performs 85,000 pillar inspections over a cycle of 3 years. Until recently, Windows Mobile-based phones with 2.8” displays were used with a forms solution to capture inspection results. Paper-based maps were used to log and navigate to each pillar to conduct inspections.
Guma Valley Water Corporation
For our first assignment using Fulcrum, we were contracted by the World Bank and Guma Valley Water Corporation (GVWC) – the Government owned utility responsible for providing clean water to the inhabitants of Freetown, Sierra Leone.
The Problem
Before Fulcrum, House of Hope outreach workers would spend a few hours on the streets, talking with clients and taking notes on paper, then come home and write down who they spoke to and what the conversations were about — as best they could remember, anyway.
The Problem
HaMaarag is a joint operation of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, and Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael – the Jewish National Fund, with funding by the Heritage Project of the Prime Minister’s Office. The group studies and reports on seven wildlife classes (vegetation, birds, large mammals, small mammals, reptiles, invertebrates, and isopods) across Israel to contribute to the advancement of knowledge-based management of natural resources.
The Problem
“The challenge we had with some of our clients was that the methodologies and standard operating procedures we assisted them with was mostly paper based, which obviously has its limitations and is quite a cumbersome process,” said Louis Pienaar, Senior Manager of Infrastructure Asset Management. “We set out to see how we could assist them to improve these processes.”
A Dangerous legacy
In Cambodia, almost 20 years after the last mines were laid, 1,000 square kilometers of land in the northwest are still contaminated by small plastic anti-personnel mines which can sever limbs and larger anti-vehicle mines, which can destroy a farmer’s tractor and kill passengers—there have been thousands of civilian casualties in the past decade.
What data is GreenCollar collecting?
GreenCollar Group uses Fulcrum not only to collect data, but also as a navigation and feature validation tool. Some of the applications that they use Fulcrum for are:
What type of data is DCQ collecting?
Wherever they need to collect, collate and analyze data, DCQ uses Fulcrum. They have built Fulcrum apps to collect data for:
A Project with purpose
The mission of the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) is to preserve and protect the nighttime environment and our heritage of dark skies through environmentally responsible outdoor lighting.
The Problem
Part of our work in the Cancer Registry of Baja California Sur involves the analysis of medical records and relating these to other variables such as patient environment (household location, education/work location) and general demographics with the goal of performing cluster analyses and conduct scientific research to ultimately help in the formulation of better-targeted public health policies and budgets.
The Problem
In 2019, the State of Michigan required water providers to complete a water distribution system material inventory. This inventory needed to include water service line material information and be complete by January 1, 2025. For the City of Wyoming, a community of approximately 75,000 residents with over 20,000 water service lines, this information needed to be better organized and aligned.
Program Management Solutions with Fulcrum
Century Engineering, Inc. (Century) is proud to work with the Delaware Department of Transportation Railroad Program (DelDOT) providing engineering design and technology solutions services related to over 500 railroad crossings that they manage and maintain statewide. DelDOT is responsible for ensuring that all crossings promote safe travel for Delaware citizens, visitors, and railroad operators. This responsibility comes with the task of ensuring all railroad crossing structures are operational and compliant based on Federal and State regulations (ADA and MUTCD). In addition to maintaining the physical assets of the State’s railroad crossings, DelDOT also handles public complaints, reported incidents, and coordinates / monitors all construction activities related to maintenance and redesign projects.
The Problem
Before switching to Fulcrum, Trimat had laptops assigned to its service employees to write up their inspections in Microsoft Access, on an old system that was built eight years prior. Inspectors in the field would conduct an on-site inspection, and then, while in their car or back in the office, write up their report in the Access database. This process was time consuming and often led to errors in data and incomplete information. Trimat looked into rebuilding the Access system or building a new in-house system and had received quotes exceeding $10,000.
The Problem
With 85,000 geographically dispersed planted acres, the folks at Wonderful Orchards spent a lot of time and effort getting information from their ranches back to their offices.
Find out how to choose a solution that improves your workflows today and can also adapt to the changing needs of your field organization.
Find out how the Fulcrum platform enables teams to improve the quality of their work and their processes
The Problem
Before she found Fulcrum, Carrington Risk CEO Kristin Carrington was ready to quit working in the field. “I dreaded the report writing,” she said.
Field inspections play a crucial role in maintaining safety, efficiency, and compliance, but outdated processes often get in the way. Paper-based systems, slow data sharing, and manual errors can cause delays, frustrations, and even compliance risks for field teams. It’s time to embrace a better way of working. This guide is designed to help you modernize inspections with practical, actionable steps. By identifying pain points and adopting modern tools, you can transform inspection workflows into efficient, streamlined processes that save time, reduce errors, and boost productivity.
As a technology company, focused on building software, we consider ourselves to be in a fortunate position during this global pandemic. With one-third of our workforce already working remotely, we are well-positioned to continue operations with minimal disruption.
While the rest of us are busy washing our hands, the folks in Nashville, TN and surrounding areas are recovering from damage caused by several tornadoes that touched down on March 2nd and 3rd – while also monitoring COVID-19. Seventy thousand residents lost power, 300 injuries were reported and 25 lives were lost. We can’t stop these events from happening, but when we respond with the right tools, we can help the Nashville Strong recovery take place faster.
Rivers serve as lifelines to the humans, animals, and plants in the areas where they flow. They naturally assume excess rain and minerals and nurture the growth of every living thing they touch. That’s why it’s imperative that we preserve our rivers and the natural space surrounding them. Rivers naturally change over time, but recently extreme flooding and other imbalances have caused the erosion of river boundaries, destruction of property, mold, and other problems that pose a danger to the surrounding people and area. Since 1981, the Tennessee River Gorge Trust has provided a helping hand to preserve the Tennessee River Gorge and the precious plants and animals that live and migrate in that area. The Gorge, a beautiful 26-mile canyon formed near the Tennessee River in Chattanooga, TN, is a wonder to geologists, who believe that it was formed some 290 million years ago.
We depend on millions of commercial vehicles — from semi-trailers to school buses — to transport people and goods every day. And every year, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) conducts about 4 million fleet inspections across North America to ensure they are operating safely.
Regular roof inspections are critical for detecting damage from severe weather, improper construction, and even regular wear and tear. Using a mobile roof inspection checklist can help you streamline the process and conduct more thorough inspections in less time.
Last month, we shared a video walking you through the steps of creating a custom mobile form with Fulcrum’s drag-and-drop app builder.
Last week we hosted a hands-on workshop on data collection with Fulcrum during the NetHope Summit in San Juan. As part of the joint workshop from myself and Mapbox’s Mikel Maron, we wanted to showcase how to go from the beginning to end — creating a mobile collection survey through field collection all the way to visualization (online or disconnected) with Mapbox’s Atlas server.
September will never be the same for the Bahamas. Hurricane Dorian obliterated the Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama in a matter of hours, changing the island and everyone that lived there. At the present time, there are 67 reported deaths, 777 people living in shelters, 200 reported missing and thousands of residents are displaced. In one day, the northwest region of the Bahamas was forever changed and it’s expected to take years before it returns to a livable community.
Data collection can be beneficial for just about any business. You can streamline processes and workflows by asking the same questions across your entire workforce, and receiving the information in a specified format.
Haiti is home to mesmerizing beaches, tropical flowers, great food, and beauty reflective of the sun’s love affair with the Caribbean. Unfortunately, it is also home to hurricanes, earthquakes, torrential storms, flooding and the many issues that follow disasters, particularly in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.
If you’re a firefighter, you need a hose. If you’re a surgeon, a scalpel. As NetHope prepares to help assess and respond to the devastation of Hurricane Dorian, we need a full complement of digital tools to aid the work in emergency situations.
The part of the world which I call home is a place in California that most people only pass through, or fly over, on their way between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Recently however, I had the good fortune that NetHope was conducting its Bay Area Disaster Response Training (DRT) right in my “backyard,” in San Luis Obispo County, CA.
It was extremely hot and dusty as the caravan of humanitarian aid workers from Team Rubicon pulled up to a farmhouse in Matarara, Mozambique – 40 miles west as the crow flies from Beira, but a nearly 8-hour journey overland due to road washouts and poor conditions. Team Rubicon had arrived to as part of the Cyclone Idai response after the storm ripped through Mozambique and caused monumental flooding throughout the country.
In 1996, I went to work for Cambric Corporation in Salt Lake City, Utah as a deputy project manager for a telecom operations outside-plant (OSP) data conversion project. The client was Bell Canada, and we had three primary subcontractors, based in India, that were responsible for the vast majority of the labor in converting legacy analog engineering design and “as-builts” drawings in to a full AM/FM/GIS for roughly 255 telephone exchanges covering the eastern provinces of Canada. I was largely responsible for managing the production schedules, operations and quality control of our Indian subcontractors. This required a fair amount of time on the ground in India providing guidance, oversight, supervision and management of nearly 1,000 project team members for more than 18 months.
Fourth of July in Southern California was different this year. I’m sure most were prepared to enjoy family, friends and traditional fireworks. They most likely had made their last grocery store runs and mapped out their entertainment plan, when out of nowhere the plans were literally shook up. An earthquake measuring 6.4 in magnitude shook at 10:33 a.m., causing a swift change to the Independence Day celebrations in Searles Valley and surrounding areas. In classic Cali fashion, some felt the shaking happening and kept moving afterward thinking it’s normal California stuff since they have become accustomed to experiencing these tremors.
There’s a lot more to construction work than just — well, constructing. Contractors and project managers are also responsible for meeting deadlines, construction standards, and safety regulations.
