ViryaNet wins $3m Gold Coast Water mobile deal

Stan Beer
Thursday, 01 December 2005 16:30

IT Industry - Deals

Mobile workforce software provider, ViryaNet, has won a deal worth more than $3 million with Gold Coast Water (GCW) to implement a field service management system at the Queensland utility.

ViryaNet, a US company which earlier this year acquired local provider e-Wise, will install its FOCUS (field service case utility system) product at GCW, bringing its water utility sites in Australia to five.

GCW, a division of Gold Coast City Council, employs approximately 150 field technicians who manage day-to-day reactive and programmed maintenance and operational assignments associated with the company's assets. The assets are spread over a significant geographical area, and require a host of servicing requirements; from repairing simple water measurement products to maintaining complex wastewater pump stations.

GCW intends to use ViryaNet's FOCUS product to schedule and dispatch people and resources to various job assignments. FOCUS, a product originally developed by e-Wise and now supported by ViryaNet, consists of several software components, including call taking, dispatch functionality, case management, workflow, field-based GIS support, and integration software.

FOCUS, which will be accessible by GCW field staff via ruggedized tablet PC devices mounted in trucks.

"Providing excellence in service to customers is the mission of all operations within Gold Coast Water," said Shaun Cox, director Gold Coast Water. "Whether it is the front-end customer service section staff who replies to the initial inquiry, the first response field crew, the contractor working for GCW, developers working on contributed asset, all leave an impression on the public. We undertook significant research in determining the right solution for our needs. We are most impressed with the ViryaNet product and staff."

"Today's utility companies require a solution that provides real value and a demonstrated return on investment," said Jeff Oskin, VP, International, ViryaNet. "With a strong record of success in the utility marketplace, ViryaNet fundamentally understands the challenges faced by this industry, and addresses them with a mobile workforce solution that incorporates years of experience in field service automation. We are very pleased to welcome Gold Coast into our family of customers. We are also delighted with the market relevance we have established and market success we have achieved in this part of the world."