OREANDA-NEWS. November 06, 2015. A broad range of market factors, from historic-level weather events to increasing consumer expectations, are leading regulators and customers to demand improved service from their utilities. This heightened expectation requires utilities to make changes across business processes, from supporting consumers with new and mobile customer experience to improving field response during outages and other unplanned events. To meet this need, Oracle Utilities introduced Oracle Utilities Operations Mobile Application, a mobile device application that field workers can access on demand and use to address cost, speed, and information accuracy challenges of grid and outage-related field work.

In its initial release, Oracle Utilities Operations Mobile Application, a component of Oracle Utilities Network Management System, enables electronic data capture to help mobile crews improve damage assessment and manage and report back to dispatch and back-office systems regarding non-outage, unplanned events such as road closures and tree-down events. Via a wireless and on-demand “download and go” approach, field crews get faster access to the tools, system, and processes they need to immediately commence damage assessment and service restoration work, and the application supports the most common mobile devices they might bring into the field.

“During weather-related outages—which cause significant and complex operational challenges—many utilities need a way to improve the speed with which they can assess damage and restore service to their customers,” said Rodger Smith, senior vice president and general manager, Oracle Utilities. “Oracle Utilities Operations Mobile Application provides utilities with improved flow of information from the field to dispatch and the control center—as they can send and share information directly from a mobile device—increasing the speed and accuracy of status updates to customers.”

Utilities can use the mobile application to eliminate emergency response crews’ idle time, including mutual aid teams that utilities rely on heavily during severe storms. With this resource, utilities using Oracle Utilities Network Management System can provide any of their field workers—contractors, mutual aid and loaned crews, and employees—with electronic access to grid workflow, forms, and information tools on a wide range of mobile devices. The solution also allows for faster dispatch of personnel and integration of field crews into work, as well as quicker damage assessment, restoration, and grid maintenance processes.

By managing field and grid processes through an end user self-install and intuitive application, Oracle Utilities Operations Mobile Application also enables utilities to avoid the cost and complexity of enterprise mobile systems geared more toward routine and repetitive work.