MAPPING: Field Computing Strikes Gold at Pacific Bell
Getting complete, reliable land and facilities data is still the biggest GIS challenge. Pacific Bell has found a solution with an integrated field computing application.
By J.D.Wilson

Pacific Bell has discovered gold in the form of sound, reliable land and facilities information from which to design its new broadband wire centers.
      Actually, "gold data" is a term started by the designers of the teleco's GIS and engineering systems to differentiate data collected and purified using an integrated field data collection process.
      When Pacific Bell, San Ramon, Calif., launched its consumer broadband initiative in late 1993, it decided from the start to pursue a strategy of integrated support systems that would make design, deployment and maintenance of its hybrid fiber-coax network efficient and cost-effective. Part of that support system includes an integrated land and facilities data system that enables PacBell to collect accurate and reliable information from which to design its broadband wire centers.
      "The physics of broadband networks are far more exacting than copper," explained Kerry Smyth, project manager for the field automation initiative. "We knew early on that if we were going to conduct field surveys, we needed to capture the data in a structured format that we could leverage throughout the life of the project and the company. You need accurate land and facilities information upon which to design a new network."

The Gold Standard
The Advanced Communications Network (ACN) is an aggressive program to jump ahead of the competition in providing broadband voice, data and video services to consumers and businesses in California. The initiative called for entirely new business systems. PacBell's gold process is based on three key independent components:
     • The GIS landbase, built in ARC/INFO (from Environmental Systems Research Institute, Redlands, Calif.).
     • The Engineering Design System, using AutoCAD (Autodesk Inc., San Rafael, Calif.), Lode Data (Lode Data, Denver, Colo.) and DB-Able (Information + Graphics Systems Inc., Boulder, Colo.).
     • The Field Data Unit (FDU) a pen-based computer for field data collection using Field Notes (PenMetrics Inc., Corvallis, Ore.).
      Each system is customized to meet PacBell specifications and is fully integrated with the other systems.
      The process is simple: First, an existing landbase is acquired from any of a variety of sources, including counties, municipalities or other utilities. They look for the best existing land data and use it as the foundation.
      Next, a field crew is dispatched to confirm the landbase. They focus on addresses, apartment numbers, rear units, front units, foot prints, and other information to be sure that all potential customers in the area are accounted for. Data is input directly to a data collection application using a pen-based field computer.
      The GIS group compares the new field information to the legacy landbase and creates a master landbase, analyzing and confirming the changes to assure the integrity of the landbase.
      Then the Field Data Unit (FDU) returns to the field to do the "outside fielding" or "stranding." This time they propose a route for new network cables, suggest trenchlines and measure distances essential to the basic design parameters. In a way, they are sketching the proposed design in the field, while they are looking at the location.
      Accurate field data is much more important in broadband networks, because inaccurate distances can impact the performance of the network. Since the number of customers that can be serviced by a node must be determined in advanced, it is essential to design the system to accommodate existing needs and future growth.
      The field data is returned to engineers who complete the design, optimizing routes, service areas, transformer placements and other details. The design is then run through the RF design system, an automated process which uses rules-based analysis to test the design for connectivity and for consistency with the physical requirements of the hybrid network.
      The design is then submitted for approval, costing, construction scheduling and other steps in the design-build process.
      Smyth estimates the process can reduce project cycle time about 20 percent. This equates to significant savings in a capital- and manpower-intensive endeavor like telephone network installation. And in such a competitive environment, it also translates to an ability to bring new services to market faster than the competition.
      "We get better quality and we get it right the first time. This enables us to produce standardized components and signals that assure the quality and reliability of the ACN network," he added.
      "This is an exciting integration of technologies," Smyth noted. "We're dovetailing GIS and CAD with field computing to create a very reliable and usable database."
      Originally, PacBell planned for both land and facilities data to be collected by a single crew on just one trip through an area, but they discovered it was actually faster and eliminated a lot of potential errors to split the fielding into two steps.
      "There's a lot of responsibility required in the field, and we were overloading our fielders," Smyth explained. "The gold process, says we will do it twice, once for land data and once for facilities to insure accurate data collection. But with a disciplined two-pass process, we shouldn't have to do it again. We'll know exactly what's out there."

Reality from Vision
The field computing strategy grew out of a cost-benefit study, performed by PenMetrics. The study demonstrated significant savings in fielding expenses by going with a pen computer fielding program vs. paper maps.
      Using an activity-based costing model, the PenMetrics study revealed the substantial savings available by automating the field data collection process. In the traditional process, 54 percent of the design time was spent collecting field data manually and then drafting to digital format. Once the design was done, additional field work was required to validate and execute the design. Altogether, 68 percent of the project time was devoted to collecting, inputting and confirming the accuracy of the field data.
      By automating the data collection and validation process, PacBell could expect to:
      • collect more accurate and more complete information,
      • spend less time on quality assurance and data re-validation,
      • reduce project cycle time by 15 to 22 percent by eliminating redundant drafting and double handling of data,
      • eliminate costly redesigns caused by designing to inaccurate field data, and
      • achieve a better return on investment, by extending the structured data to other systems throughout the company, such as maintenance, inventory, customer service and disaster response.
      "The tool is most valuable in terms of quality," Smyth said. "Even if you don't consider the cost or time savings, if the quality is right the first time, then we are saving by not going back and doing the same thing three or four times."

Bringing Gold to Projects in Progress
The "gold" procedure, was developed for use in new projects. It outlines a process for establishing reliable data from the outset and designing and building wire centers with confidence, reducing errors and eliminating costly redesigns and changes. But what about wire centers already in progress?
      The ACN project had been underway for two years before the gold fielding system was completed. Multiple data sets already exist for different areas and design and construction were well underway based on data available at the time.
      They needed a means to upgrade existing designs to reflect the latest specifications in a technology that is changing faster than it can be installed. To accommodate this need, PacBell, with the help of PenMetrics, developed a data purification process, called the Rewalk application, based on a modified gold process.
      The objective was to check for discrepancies and find inadequacies in the current design, based on updated technical specs.
      With the land and facilities data downloaded to their pen computers, a crew "rewalks" a wire center and verifies every element, including the landbase, addresses and stranding. "If we find conflicts, we get field confirmation and update the GIS and engineering masters," Smyth said. In this way the master databases are continually upgraded to the highest level.
      The FDU rewalk produces an electronic overlay that "redlines" changes which are reviewed to determine their impact on the design. "We lay in the RF information, and hand it off to designers who determine which changes affect the design and which do not," Smyth said. "We bring our master documents up to gold standard."

Fast Track Implementation
PacBell needed the Rewalk applications quickly and challenged PenMetrics with an ambitious development schedule. "We sat down in a brainstorming session with PenMetrics and asked how can we use this technology?" Smyth explained. "In four weeks we had a prototype. In six weeks they delivered a production model and in eight weeks we started our first training class."
      They started using FDUs for rewalk in Northern California last May. Now they are introducing the program in the south as well. "People are seeing a real value in the quality product from this tool," Smyth said. Introducing the program in the north was a little tricky, because we were inventing the process along the way. The roll-out in the south is going much smoother."
      Smyth and his project team learned a lot about introducing new technology to the field.
      "Until you put something into the hands of the field workers, everyone is really just speculating about what they really need or want," explained Griff Jay, PenMetrics project manager assigned to the PacBell project. "Fortunately they threw us in with the field engineers and we all listened to what they were saying."
      "When mapping outside structures for phones system, there are all kinds of utility information that needs to be shown," explained Jay. "Field engineers wanted to be able to move address numbers, rotate and size them so both landbase and CAD annotation would be visible. But new annotation needs to go back to the landbase and has to stay moved. It's a subtle thing but can be a challenge to the developer."
      Jay pointed out that the field crews knew their jobs well and how they fit into the overall process. They could help define what would work and what would make things more difficult.
      "They don't need to know everything about CAD and GIS, but you don't have to shield them from it either." Jay said.
      "A developer's view of processing speed is one thing. All we're concerned about is, can the field workers be expected to use this effectively?" Jay continued. "They're used to juggling so many tasks and using so many tools that are hanging all over their body, they're very adaptive."
      PacBell and PenMetrics were determined to create a system that field crews could use, without encumbering their work with complicated computer activities. "Field crews really have a lot to do, and they're are not in an environment where they can sit down and play with their computer," Jay said. "We made many tasks into a one-button process so they could input data effortlessly and then move on."

From Incremental Development to Continuing Benefits
The intense effort to develop an integrated support environment is paying off handsomely for PacBell, although it has taken some time. Different pieces of the system were functional at different points in time. It has all come together in the last year.
      Fortunately, each system application demonstrated its value incrementally during the phased deployment and engineering and management support remained strong.
      "To make ACN the network we wanted it to be, we needed to start with an intelligent design and support system to serve its many features," Smyth explained. "It's all been done in less than three years. The right decisions were made and the appropriate application of technologies have been integrated. Now we are leveraging our systems and data to refine and streamline the design and construction process."
      Smyth noted, "PacBell's guiding principle of structured data capture was the key. With intelligent data available, sophisticated design and production tools have been developed to automate the design process. The result is an intelligent and powerful broadband network.
      "We have an operational integrated system that includes field computing, GIS, CAD, RF Design and an Engineering Document Management System," Smyth declared. "With this kind of integration and end-to-end electronic design, you start to realize benefits in orders of magnitude."

About the Author:
J.D. Wilson is a freelance writer and industry analyst in Aurora, Colo. He reports on the application of technology to business, especially the GeoTechnologies. He may be reached at 303-751-0755.

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