Tracking Efficiency

Dec 2008 , Sponsored by BlackBerry

The 25,000 residents of South Windsor, Conn., are enjoying better service from their local government because of technology that tracks town operations like snowplowing and leaf removal.

South Windsor is using smartphones to track the locations of public works crews in real time, enabling increased productivity and reduced operational costs. This is made possible by the combined use of BlackBerry smartphones, Freeance applications and existing GIS data.

Public Works managers now deploy a BlackBerry with each piece of equipment. The devices let managers track crews during the day and monitor their progress. The technology tracks such tasks as leaf removal, lawn mowing, sidewalk inspections, zoning enforcement and, later this winter, snowplowing.

In the fall, the town uses large vacuumlike machines to pick up leaves raked from residents' yards. The solution allows managers to track the machines' progress, making the pickup program more efficient.

"We can actually track the position of where these leaf machines are," said Michael Gantick, the town's director of Public Works. "So we know where they are collecting leaves at any time, and also for historical purposes determine which streets they've collected leaves on."

In summer 2008, South Windsor purchased 20 BlackBerry devices. According to Scott Roberts, the town's IT director, it took about two weeks to get the devices prepped with the software and forms, and connected to the town's server.

One BlackBerry smartphone equipped with Freeance Mobile is deployed with each piece of equipment in order to track its GPS location and transmit the coordinates back to the town's server. The data points are extracted and displayed on a browser-based map that can be viewed by a PC or smartphone using the Freeance Web and Freeance Direct software.

"One of the interesting things that GPS and GIS give us in the government sector is the ability to take this information that we've traditionally kept in a database, on paper or in Excel spreadsheets - which are all great - but now we're able to place them on a map," Roberts said. "And when we do that, we're able to see all different kinds of analyses pop out that you wouldn't see otherwise."

The solution is a cost-effective use of taxpayers' dollars. Governments of all levels are facing budget deficiencies, so by marrying existing technologies with forward-thinking ideas that increase efficiency and reduce costs, the town can be a better steward of its citizens' money.

"In South Windsor, we are always looking to improve our services to our citizens," said Matthew Galligan, South Windsor's town manager. "Knowing in real time where our resources are helps us respond more quickly and cost effectively to the changing demands. Having GIS and GPS in the field is currently assisting the Public Works Department in managing and informing the public with regard to our daily autumn leaf collection process. Time is always a critical factor with the winter season approaching, and this software will help us manage the process more efficiently and cost effectively."

Saving Valuable Time and Resources
The solution has also saved South Windsor time and manpower. The manager of the leaf pickup program saves about an hour each day using the technology. Before the BlackBerry solution, the manager had to meet with crews at the end of every day to determine what areas were completed and predict what work would be finished the next day, Roberts said. Now he receives nearly real-time updates during the day and can make informed predictions without talking with each crew.

"It gives you predictability for forecasting where you're going to be in future days and predictability of when you've got bad weather coming in and trying to figure out how many leaves you collected last year versus this year, and so forth," Gantick said.