Pick-and-choose for field staff

By ADAM GIFFORD

Wireless data specialist Econz has built Downer Engineering an electronic work management system to manage its Telecom patch contracts.

Last year, Downer bought Connectel, Telecom's own maintenance company, making it the largest maintenance and provisioning contractor.

Econz project manager Steve Sumner said the heart of the multimillion-dollar system was Econz's Central Message Queue (MsgQ) software, which integrated multiple information and communications systems.

Downer received faults reports and work requests electronically from Telecom. They were broadcast through WorkNet to field staff, who had Toshiba laptops in their vans.

Instead of being given individual jobs, field staff could see all the work available and select the best fit of jobs, increasing efficiency and saving time.

Paperwork had been eliminated, and the traditional dispatch role changed to a monitoring one.

Field staff could bill customers directly, using the information in the system.

WorkNet uses Telecom's CDPD (cellular digital packet data) network, but Econz is looking at moving it to CDMA (code-division multiple access).