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What is Mobile Utility Management? The Benefits Of Making Your Utility Maps Mobile
A mobile asset management solution allows operators, office administrators, inspectors, engineers, and superintendents to access important asset information no-matter where they are.
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Key Takeaways
- Field operators are almost never at a desk — they're doing inspections, locates, repairs, and maintenance across miles of infrastructure. Mobile access means they have the full system record in their pocket.
- Mobile asset management lets crews capture and update infrastructure information in real time, from the field, on any device — no trip back to the office required.
- Customers get better service when your crew can see the full history of a location on their phone while standing at the site, instead of calling the office to check a filing cabinet.
- The business case is straightforward: fewer unnecessary trips, faster emergency response, and institutional knowledge captured before experienced employees retire.
In this article
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What is Mobile Utility Management and Why is it important?
With the introduction of mobile devices, people now expect real-time information to be available to them everywhere. A Modern Asset Management or GIS solution needs to be able to match this reality.
A mobile asset management solution allows operators, office administrators, inspectors, engineers, and superintendents to access important asset information no-matter where they are.
In the utility industry, employees are almost never "tied" to their desks; they're working on the go. Field operators are constantly doing inspections, responding to customer complaints, doing locates, fixing rotting infrastructure, or doing routine maintenance like flushing hydrants.
The work is almost never ending and keeping everyone on the same page as to what's been done, by whom, and when can be a challenge.
With mobile asset management software, mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones can deliver all the classic functionality of a system hosted on a laptop or desktop computer, but with the added benefits of on-the-go access.
Mobile Asset Management has many benefits for remote workers when they're away from their desk enabling them to:
- Access to up-to-date data at all times
- Capture and update infrastructure information on the go
- Track, manage, and respond to customer service requests
- Discuss, comment, or collaborate with anyone on their team in the field.
- Respond to emergencies quicker
- Reduce unnecessary visits or trips to assets in the field
Automatic updates mean that every field operator has the benefit of complete Utility data, analytics and customer-facing material at their fingertips, on any device – meaning no one is left out of the loop and team members can be confident in the work they're doing.
The importance of mobile asset management for customers
Beyond the benefits of empowering utility employees the entire knowledge base of the whole utility in their hands or pocket at all times, customers benefit from receiving better customer service.
A mobile asset management app can help ensure that your customers are getting the best service at all times. Their issues are resolved quicker. Follow-up work and conversations never fall through the cracks. It ensures that they know that you have those best interest in mind.
The business case for mobile asset management
An investment in a mobile-capable asset management platform can pay dividends throughout the utility and the community. As mobile reach and usage continues to boom, and the institutional knowledge of your utility is trapped in the minds of older employees, you need to unlock this knowledge, while your most experienced employees are still with you.
- Field operators benefit from a massive increase in efficiency. They don't spend energy visiting assets, or needing to make multiple trips because they didn't have the information they needed.
- Emergencies can be responded to quicker. When there is an emergency, like a main break, any employee with have the real-time up-to-date information to properly locate the leak, and shut off the proper valves and assets, as well as alert their teammates to the problem to ensure better customer service.
- Office Managers and Customer Service teams can pick up cases more quickly, track them and resolve them using the knowledge of the whole utility.
- You can act as if you had an entire IT-staff department, with the easy to use Ziptility platform, that allows anyone the ability to build a customized Asset Management solution affordably.
Ready to put your utility data in your crew's hands? Start your free trial, see how it works, or check what it costs for your system.
Related reading:
Why the Smallest Utilities Have the Most to Lose →
Paper Maps, Filing Cabinets, and the Monday Morning That Changes Everything →
From Paper Maps to Digital GIS: A Step-by-Step Guide →
The Retiring Operator Problem: How to Preserve What Your Team Knows →
Frequently Asked Questions
What is mobile utility management?
It's the ability for utility crews to access, update, and manage infrastructure data from mobile devices like phones and tablets. Instead of driving back to the office to check a map or write down a work order, everything happens in the field, in real time.
Why do water utilities need mobile-capable software?
Because field operators spend their days in the field — not at a desk. A tool that only works on a desktop computer means your crew can't access or update records where the work actually happens. Mobile access closes that gap.
How does mobile asset management improve emergency response?
When a main breaks at 2 AM, the crew can pull up the map on their phone, see the nearest isolation valves, review the work history for that section, and coordinate — all from the truck. No drive to the office, no hunting through filing cabinets in the dark.
