A 166Kb PDF of this article as it appeared in the magazine—complete with images—is available by clicking HERE

Drastic changes in the U.S. economy, including the recent runup in the price of gasoline, have had a direct effect on how firms use technology to remain competitive. Civil engineering and land surveying firms have had to make serious decisions, and time management is one of them. Clients are demanding quicker results without increased charges.

It is true that "time is money," and making the best use of that time is critical. One area that can be optimized is the data flow between the office and field. In response to this, MicroSurvey developed OfficeSync as a seamless and easy way to transfer data wirelessly.

Their first step was to find out how firms were operating their businesses and determine what issues surrounded their everyday work flows. They wanted to demonstrate ways in which wireless technology could have an immediate effect and eliminate some of the issues. It soon became apparent that there were five main areas where OfficeSync could be put to use: 
• Allow out of town crews to send in their projects wirelessly. 
• Unforeseen calculations for field work could be done in the office while crews were still at the jobsite. Once calculated, the new calculations could be wirelessly sent to the crew.
• Instead of verbalizing coordinates or calculations over the phone, files could be sent wirelessly.
• When jobs had to be cancelled, or rescheduled, new projects and assignments could be sent to field crews without the need to come back to the office.
• Traffic delays and high gas prices could be offset by allowing urban field crews to work remotely from the office.

OfficeSync comes with everything needed to begin sending and receiving data between the office and your field crews. Field crews use a field kit that includes a Verizon modem and two cables (one that plugs directly into a data collector serial port and another that connects to a cigarette lighter port for power). On their data collector they use FieldConnect, a program that allows them to send and receive files.

The office staff uses Job Monitor, a program that monitors incoming data. It also allows office staff to easily send data to the field. For managing the system, a management program called Office Manager is available and it allows managers to create user accounts, logins and reports. There are no servers to set up, no FTP accounts to create, and no expensive data plans to buy. OfficeSync provides everything you need, and is compatible with all data collectors and software. 

A 166Kb PDF of this article as it appeared in the magazine—complete with images—is available by clicking HERE