Predictive Analytics Improve Storm Response

Dispatchr, an Esri Emerging partner, is rethinking how organizations manage their field workforces. Companies in the energy industry use the Dispatchr service to automate work processes, optimize personnel, and predict work before disasters occur.

Many energy companies still manage their field staff using printed maps and work order forms to route employees. This manual process is labor-intensive and susceptible to human error. To solve this problem, Dispatchr uses integrated internal, operational, and external data to generate predictive analytics. This information helps energy companies identify, plan, and communicate repairs. Power companies such as the Pacific Gas and Electric Company use Dispatchr with Esri technology to predict storm threats to their infrastructure.

Before a storm hits, a user can predict how the weather system will most likely impact the power grid. Integrating with Esri ArcGIS, Dispatchr searches large volumes of relevant geospatial data including storm trajectory, topography, and vegetation. It shows these features’ relation to infrastructure data and predicts where and how badly the grid will be hit. This helps the power company prepare for the storm by pre-positioning equipment and personnel. Once the storm hits, the power company is ready to respond.

Dispatchr is the first service to use predictive analytics to optimize work crew response. The mobile workforce system prioritizes risk and guides field staff to the most critical work first. This improves response time to the areas most affected and to those outages that have the highest priority.

Energy companies continue to use Dispatchr after storms as well to enhance their restoration efforts. Dispatchr fully automates the work order process. Users can follow field crews’ location in real time and see the status of their restoration efforts. Utilities say that Dispatchr significantly improves field communication and increases worker productivity by several hours each day. One company reports that it saves about $17 million annually.

Dispatchr improves utility customer service by helping crews quickly get the lights back on. Moreover, customers can use the Dispatchr mobile app to report outages and receive restoration updates.

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