While mobile technology has advanced at a breathtak- ing rate over the past decade, the options available to field workers have previously not advanced at a similar pace. In addition, to stay in pace with the current technological growth, professionals often prefer modern solutions and automation tools, which in turn has created a huge demand for mobility solutions. Realizing this, GISbiz team under the leadership of its CEO Babu Krishnasamy decided to take their love for automation and push button technology to the next level—eventually establishing GISbiz in the mobile market as atop provider of easy-to-use solutions for re- porting problems in maintenance, damage related issues, and also the facility to track the process until its completion.

However, along with the technological evolution, an array of mar- ket challenges also popped up. The increasing demands for compliance and cost-effective automation operations were the most significant ones. “The key problem was the need for an effective mobile solution to report &monitor field problems with an end-to-end support system,” says Krishnasamy, CEO, GISbiz Inc. To satisfactorily address the issue, GISbiz offers specialized mobile, web and desktop based geo- spatial applications to utilities, government agencies and commercial organizations.

Take the storm damage management as the prime example. “With the transformers, poles, lines and sub stations knocked down during an emergency situation, field workers have to inspect all these assets quickly, document the issues accurately and send them to right people so that the issues can be fixed in a timely manner and power is turned on for the customers. This effort involves lot of time and money,” ex- plains Krishnasamy. However, GISbiz’s robust GIS solutions enable users to capture all the basic information and save it as points on the map, which can be transferred to the technician immediately. “With the help of updates stored on the map, the system takes the technician directly to the pole. Unlike the traditional method, there is no need for the technicians to meet, they can do their job from anywhere, the sym- bol and color in the map will set the stage,” adds Krishnasamy.

geoORGANIZER suite of products, GisBiz’s Highlight

geoOrganizerFIT (geoFIT), a mobile field inspection software that is designed to work on iPads and iPhones is GISbiz’s flagship product that helps in accomplish measurable improvements in the field operations of Utility companies. geoFIT is used to stream- line the entire service order management process. With or without internet access, users can capture, update, and review data throughout the field inspection life-cycle, resulting in increased efficiency and reduced cost. “For ex- ample, recently our geoFIT tool was instrumental in bridging the communication gap, improving the efficiency and increasing the return of investment for a leading electric utility company in the U.S.,” Krishnasamy emphasizes.

To visualize critical business information in real-time, users can opt for geoDASH, a tool to manage operational data with maps, charts, list and other visualizations. It is used along with geoFIT to report, search and analyze data collected from field, and scheduling for field workforce. “The dashboard tools allow managers to quickly get a glimpse of real time field operations. They can choose a map with layers, search by address, filter data, view attached pictures and documents, print reports, analyze maintenance history and more,” adds Krishnasamy. With the increasing use of mobile devices, the company also introduced a geoMOBILE, to quickly and cost effectively migrate the web and desktop applications to mobile apps.

geoSLAM, a desktop- based service line automation mapping software is GISbiz’s solution to solve notoriously time-consuming service line mapping issue in gas utilities. A good number of gas utilities in North America do not have their service lines and related business information maintained in GIS.