Grafton Technologies provides broadband, television, and telephone services to the residents of Illinois for over 100 years. Throughout that time, the world of technology has changed dramatically, however, the team at Grafton Technologies has always remained relevant by adapting to the ever-changing needs of their customers. These customers want fast and hi-speed internet service as well as digital TV services in which the picture quality and sound is extremely important. To satisfy customers in this age of every-changing technology, Grafton Technologies must constantly upgrade and expand their network.
Challenge
Grafton Technologies’ has a complex underground fiber network. To keep the surrounding community safe, utilities and pipes must be identified before more fiber is laid or excavation occurs nearby. The team at Grafton Technologies processes several thousand tickets to locate utilities around their facilities in partnership with the state of Illinois contact center JULIE 811. It’s imperative that these locates are accurate to protect the infrastructure and maintain service to their customer base. Also important is that critical facilities have no downtime as excavation takes place near and within their fiber network.
“The current system of managing the tickets processed by the 811 center is antiquated with emails, paper maps and unorganized data and pictures,” said Andy Hamilton, OSP Supervisor at Grafton Communications, part of Grafton Technologies. “Our team of locators needed a software system that could provide operational efficiencies, time savings and a web-based and digital experience to bring us into the 21st century.”
Solution
After much due diligence, Grafton Technologies chose Norfield’s LOCATOR LOGiX as their new software platform. As a web-based locate management system designed specifically for utilities and utility locators to manage their utility line locate requests sent by JULIE 811 contact center, the system offers the functionality they were looking for and more.
“With LOCATOR LOGiX we now have an advanced solution that allows us to stay on top of the workload much more efficiently as our footprint continues to grow,” said Andy Hamilton. “The key benefits are that we can work anywhere – on a tablet, smart phone and in real-time in the field with next-generation mapping views and tools. The functionality around the ticketing is highly sophisticated in terms of details, revisions, grouping, images, alerts, filtering and routing the ticket responses for the day.”
Result
LOCATOR LOGiX provides seamless integration with JULIE 811 adhering to local laws and regulations so Grafton Technologies can focus on what they do best – delivering premium telecom services with no downtime to their customers. With LOCATOR LOGiX, Grafton Technologies modernizes their location procedures with state-of-the-art intelligence, mapping, and reporting.
Core Features of LOCATOR LOGiX:
- Response and locator assignments
- Predictive analytics for risk assessment
- Accurate GIS mapping
- Robust reporting
- Advanced search functionality
- Electronic Positive Response (EPR)
“We are extremely pleased to be using innovative technology at such a reasonable price point with features and functionality of way more expensive ticketing software systems,” continues Andy. “The solution permits us to safely expand our broadband network with ease to meet our customer’s needs.”
