MDSI, ABB Integrate Outage, Workforce Management Systems

Aug. 8, 2006
ABB and MDSI have announced the integration of ABB's Network Manager DMS and MDSI's Advantex products at City Public Service in San Antonio

ABB and MDSI have announced the integration of ABB's Network Manager DMS and MDSI's Advantex products at City Public Service in San Antonio (CPS).

In the combined Network Manager/Advantex system at CPS, as soon as a customer calls in to report an outage, a program automatically analyzes the situation and sends the outage information to a laptop computer in the crew's truck while a work order is generated simultaneously.

The CPS crew can then acknowledge the outage, indicate changes in status, and provide an estimated restore time. Once on site, the crew can enter the cause of the outage, update the estimated restoration time, and even refer the outage to another department for follow-up work. Once the outage is complete, the work order is closed out automatically.

"Outage management and mobile crew management used to mean two separate systems," notes Gordon Woolbert, senior vice president and general manager of ABB's Network Management business unit. "This integration brings these functions together to greatly enhance efficiency and customer service for the utility."

Building on the joint solution at CPS, MDSI and ABB will be collaborating on sales and marketing activities worldwide for MDSI's Advantex workforce management solution and ABB's Network Manager DMS outage application. The result of these efforts will be a solution that enables utilities to reduce implementation and integration costs and risks, while offering superior customer service by restoring power quickly and efficiently.

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