Electric Cooperatives Benefit From Storm Damage Assessment Software

AUSTIN, Texas - Jan. 23, 2014 - PRLog -- GeoSpatial Innovations, Inc. (GSI) announced today that it released a cloud-based storm damage assessment software for electric cooperatives, GSI Scout, supporting digital data collection and analysis for major storm events that cuts the time and costs of conventional solutions.

GSI Scout allows assessors and patrollers to record equipment damage and restoration requirements in the field. It sends the assessment data to dispatchers without radio traffic and assists all stakeholders with seamless communication for optimal service restoration.

"Implementing GSI Scout on the cloud cuts start-up and maintenance costs significantly and allows electric cooperatives to work together with their restoration efforts," Carl Livingood, President of GSI, says. "The transition from paper to digital is important for electric cooperatives to improve their member services."

Storm damage assessment allows mutual assistance contractors to use their own mobile hardware, saving utilities the cost of purchasing and maintaining expensive devices. With GSI Scout, cooperatives can eliminate paper in the field and use smart phones, tablets or laptops.

This “Software as a Service” model is trending in the utility industry and offers scalable, affordable solutions for data collection and storage. “It alleviates back-end IT infrastructure and expertise, and it also integrates to Outage Management Systems (OMS) or GIS,” Michael Hamsa, Chief Technology Officer of GSI, says. “This model puts the burden of managing IT on our shoulders and enables cooperatives to use high-end software solutions that will save them money and improve customer service.”