GIS Dashboards 101

Simplifying Fiber Construction

Winning the FTTH race comes down to finding fiber construction efficiencies that accelerate your time to market. However, designing, constructing, and managing a fiber optic network is demanding.

Challenges include coordinating with key stakeholders, navigating regulatory requirements, meeting funding requirements, and finding ways to reduce fiber construction costs. Deploying a fiber broadband network with geospatial services and GIS dashboards provides construction efficiencies at every project stage, from planning and design to managing network operations, including compliance requirements for grant funding like BEAD.

GIS in Fiber Construction

Geographic information system (GIS) offers deep insights by integrating location-based data with descriptive information. You’ll be able to pinpoint infrastructure such as water pipes to visualize your fiber construction project clearly before any crews are on site.

Given the demands of funding programs like BEAD, resource allocation is even more essential for project success. GIS dashboards offer effective project management solutions with advanced data visualization tools that combine location-based information with performance data for real-time project tracking.

They can also facilitate compliance management for grant funding and permitting by helping project managers track permit statuses, funding requirements, and their respective deadlines. Broadband networks and contractors who use GIS dashboards will gain a competitive advantage for getting to market faster.

Finding Efficiencies During Fiber Construction

Challenges such as labor shortages, material delays, and resource deployment can hinder fiber network construction. Access to reliable, real-time field data is crucial for meeting milestones and addressing these obstacles. Users can use GIS dashboards to manage the construction process accurately and in real-time.

GIS dashboards facilitate:

• Efficient labor management and oversight
• Streamlined workflow delegation
• Comprehensive project reporting 

By integrating field maps with GIS dashboards, project managers can log real-time fiber footage and mark completed fiber sections for expedited invoicing and timely project reporting that can accelerate the as-built process. The potential return on investment of incorporating GIS in the construction process is significant, particularly in an environment that prioritizes speed and efficient labor management.

Designing and Planning Stage

Using GIS to design and plan your fiber construction sets your project up for success from the start. A customized map gives you a detailed understanding of your service area, allowing you to build your network efficiently.

GIS helps you choose both a high-level design (HLD) for your network that captures your overall network architecture and a low-level design (LLD) that gives you nitty gritty technical specifications for managing your fiber construction project like splicing diagrams that show fiber routes and splitter locations. Using GIS as both a design tool and asset management platform, broadband businesses can efficiently geo-locate and track changes across your network builds.

Millennium GIS Dashboards for Fiber Construction and Network Management

Reliable field data is your construction lifeline to meeting key milestones, and GIS dashboards are the ultimate fiber construction tracking tool through all phases of project engineering and implementation. Millennium Engineering¹ can set up industry-specific GIS dashboards for your build, including engineering tracking, bill of materials (BOM) tracing, permit tracking, construction tracking, and fiber splicing management. 

Not only are dashboards user-friendly they’re also highly customizable to your fiber construction needs. Pulling layers of paper trails, databases, and index stats together gives you a big picture look at your business in one snapshot. These dashboards are also compatible with Esri’s ArcGIS Field Maps app, which works on smartphones or tablets. This app gives you the power to connect your back-office people with real-time updates from your field crew, allowing you to find construction efficiencies that save money and get you to market faster.

Splicing Management Dashboard

Stay in control of your splicing operations with this dashboard, which gives you live insights into the location and quantity of your network splices. Knowing the required splicing materials can help secure cost-effective bulk purchases from your suppliers. 

Construction Tracking Dashboard

Monitor construction progress in real time and assess whether you’re on track to achieve your ROI milestones. Immediate updates inform you about any geological obstacles your team encounters, allowing you to address issues promptly and prevent delays.

LLD/BOM Dashboard

Anticipate the materials and labor needed for your fiber construction project and identify potential shortages before they happen. As construction progresses, your material staking units update in real time, enabling you to provide a bill of materials to your distributors for quick quoting.

Millennium Engineering is an Esri Business Partner who has earned the Esri Release Ready Specialty, committing to a fully certified technical staff. This partnership allows Millennium Engineering to offer software and training services.

REFERENCE

1. Millennium Engineering, www.mymillennium.us/geospatial-services/what-we-do/geospatial-engineering