Automapping: a bold new world for business automation – Bozeman
How Bozeman Automates Utility Mapping Requests
The city of Bozeman needed a more efficient way to manage utility locate requests and support its GIS mapping operations. Previously, enquiries about underground water and sewer lines involved manual email processing, administrative work and site visits by field teams.
Using ThinkAutomation’s workflow automation software, Bozeman City Commission developed a system that extracts information from incoming emails, records requests in a database and transfers the data to a cloud-based mapping provider. The solution has streamlined the process, reduced unnecessary journeys and given staff a more accessible way to manage utility mapping requests.
Sector: Public
Requirement: To improve the speed and efficiency of GIS mapping
Solution: A creative ThinkAutomation implementation with custom, hyper-specific workflow builds
The challenge: Managing Utility Locate Requests Manually
If a member of the public or a company wishes to dig underground in Bozeman, they first need to contact the council call centre to check whether underground sewer and water lines are in the way.
Bozeman call centre agents then process these enquiries and send an email to a dedicated team, who manage them manually. The emails, or ‘locate requests’, are assigned to a driver to investigate. The driver must then travel to the location and mark out any utility lines with spray paint. As you can imagine, this process is time-consuming and requires manual input at multiple stages from start to finish.
The solution: Automating Email Processing and GIS Mapping
Tired of drowning in emails, Bozeman Council completed some online research and found ThinkAutomation. The organisation took out a free 30-day trial to see if the product was a fit for handling their locate requests. ThinkAutomation’s email automation capabilities allow incoming locate requests to be monitored and processed automatically, extracting the information needed to trigger the next stage of the workflow.
Bozeman Council created ThinkAutomation workflows to automatically mine emails containing locate requests for their key data. These emails are then recorded into a database and exported to a cloud vendor. Next, the cloud vendor maps each locate request via GPS. Rather than having data gathering in an inbox, Bozeman Council now has a portable, visual and efficient tool that everyone can track in the palm of their hand. Using ThinkAutomation’s database automation capabilities, the extracted information can be recorded and transferred between connected systems, reducing the need for manual data entry and helping maintain an efficient flow of information.
The Results: Faster Processing and Reduced Fieldwork
Thanks to ThinkAutomation, City of Bozeman has:
A portable, visual and efficient tool that everyone can track in the palm of their hand
Streamlined processes that allow workers to spend more time on critical components rather than sifting through emails
Reduced repeat journeys, saving Bozeman Council time and money
Extended business process automation into other departments, including finance
Presented a ThinkAutomation use case at government conferences, due to its success
Bozeman’s experience demonstrates how public sector automation can improve the delivery of essential services by connecting existing systems, reducing repetitive administrative tasks and giving employees more time to focus on operational priorities.
The time savings so far in using ThinkAutomation have been considerable. We’re just scratching the surface of the potential efficiencies the product can provide an enterprise of our size.
ThinkAutomation gives us a significant advantage over our competitors.
ThinkAutomation provides a simple solution to often complex administrative systems.
Simply put, ThinkAutomation is strategic to my company’s operations
It is the glue between all of our disparate software elements, acting kind of like Zapier on steroids.
Since ThinkAutomation doesn’t require a genius programmer, we save a huge amount of cost and get things done for clients quicker. If we have a problem, ThinkAutomation support has always been great. Even suggestions for feature improvements receive a response. our experience has been great.”
Within 30 days, it became obvious this software would be ideal for improving the efficiency of locate requests in Bozeman. The learning curve wasn’t too steep and we were able to get workflows working right away with the help of the user guides provided.
