InPrint Summer 2006 by Cityworks, A Trimble Company

InPrint Delivering Innovative GIS-Centric Maintenance Management Tools for Your Organization

Vol. 5, Issue 2, Summer 2006

O’Fallon, Illinois Expands Implementation of Cityworks by Dan Gentry, City of O’Fallon, IL Aaron Zwiefelhofer, Varion Systems

The City of O’Fallon, Illinois, covering nearly 13 square miles, is one of the fastest growing communities in the Metropolitan St. Louis area providing service to 25,000 people. O’Fallon’s Water Division currently provides service for approximately 16,000 accounts, an estimated 40,000 people. This represents a growth rate of approximately 4.75 percent for metered connections in 2005 and a 22% increase over the 2000 Census figures. In response to such rapid growth, the City’s Engineering and Public Works Department constructed a geodatabase of utility assets, which was followed up with the implementation of Cityworks in December of 2004. During the past 18 months, Cityworks has become an integral part of street, water, storm, and sanitary sewer operations. The success of Cityworks has allowed the City to expand implementation to the Parks Department for management of maintenance activities, trees, and Cont. on page 6

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

President’s Corner

Edmond Oklahoma

FEATURE ARTICLE Cityworks Helps Agency Recover from Hurricane Katrina Gulfport, Mississippi By Brent Wilson, Azteca Systems, Inc.

On Monday, August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina slammed into Gulfport Mississippi with sustained winds of 143 mph and gusts to 165 mph. Technically a category 3 at landfall, Katrina levied insurmountable damage to cities along the Gulf Coast from New Orleans, Louisiana, east to Biloxi, Mississippi. Gulfport, Mississippi, took the most direct hit. I watched this from my livingroom television as did most of America and the rest of the world. Having grown up in southeast Texas, I thought I was familiar with the awesome power hurricanes can bring. But a recent trip to Gulfport this past spring has forever altered my impression. As I drove into Gulfport from the north side of the city, other than light scattered damage, life seemed to be back to normal and the city appeared to be in good shape. That

2006 User Conference

Partner News

evening, people were moving about in cars and trucks, coming and going like any normal day. However, the further south I drove towards the Gulf of Mexico and downtown Gulfport, the worse it got.

Traffic became less and less and as the sun set, I noticed a conspicuous absence of street lighting. It was downright dark. It was about 9:00 PM but the destruction was evident even in the dark of night. This area of town was literally destroyed. The next day, I drove along the Cont. page 8

Regional News

Client Services

......................................................................................................................................................................... For more information on Cityworks and Azteca Systems, visit us online at http://www.azteca.com

INPRINT / SUMMER 2006

PAGE ONE

InPrint Editor in Chief: Tom Palizzi Editor: Kaye Ryser Advertising: Tom Palizzi Azteca Systems, Inc. 11075 South State Street, Suite 24 Sandy, UT 84070 801-523-2751 www.azteca.com To receive a subscription or to change your address, please send your contact information to: inprint@azteca.com or call 801523-2751. Founded in 1986, Azteca Systems, Inc. is the leading provider of GIS-Centric Enterprise Asset Maintenance Management Systems for Public Works and Utilities. Built exclusively on top of ESRI’s leading GIS technology, Cityworks is powerful, scalable, and affordable. How to Reach Us: Tel.: 801-523-2751 Email: info@azteca.com InPrint is published by Azteca Systems, Inc. (Azteca), at 11075 South State, #24, Sandy, UT 84070. InPrint contains material of interest to utility and publics works organizations.

Copyright © Azteca Systems, Inc. 2006 All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. The information contained in this document is the exclusive property of Azteca Systems, Inc. The work is protected under United States copyright law and other international copyright treaties and conventions. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, except as expressly permitted in writing by Azteca Systems, Inc. All requests should be sent to Attention: Cityworks InPrint, Azteca Systems, Inc., 11075 South State Street, #24, Sandy, UT 84070. The information contained in this document is subject to change without notice. Azteca Systems and Cityworks are registered trademarks; Cityworks Desktop, Cityworks Anywhere and Cityworks Server are trademarks; of Azteca Systems, Inc.; and www.mycityworks.com, www.gocityworks. com, @azteca.com and www.azteca.com are service marks of Azteca Systems, Inc. The names of other companies and products herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective trademark owners. PAGE TWO

PRESIDENT’S CORNER By Brian Haslam, President

It’s time for another Cityworks User Conference. All of us at Azteca Systems are looking forward to the few days we can spend with you in Park City, Utah. We’re sure that this year’s conference will be the best one yet as we celebrate our 10th anniversary for offering Cityworks. Over 20 of the workshops will be given by Cityworks Users, proving that this conference is indeed a “user conference.” During our opening Plenary Session, we will report on the progress made by Azteca Systems over the last year. Time spent renewing friendships and acquaintances with fellow Cityworks users will be invaluable. We’re excited about our Cityworks Anniversary Spectacular to be held at the Utah Olympic Park on Tuesday, June 20th. Below is a preview of some of the things we will be discussing and showing at the conference. Cityworks 4.3.1: We are pleased to announce the commercial release of Cityworks® 4.3.1. This release has many useful enhancements and includes the support for ESRI’s ArcGIS® Engine. Many of you have requested that we provide support for ArcGIS Engine. Our initial prototype work reinforced our belief that support for Engine was a relatively easy task. Murphy’s Law #9: “If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.” We have found Murphy’s Law #9 to be true. What we initially believed would take 3 months turned into 10. The simplest explanation is Cityworks Desktop was designed as an extension for ArcView 2, then ArcView 3, and now ArcMap. Adding support for embedded GIS (ArcGIS Engine) impacted many obscure parts of our core code. These had to be found and modified. We are indebted to our excellent beta sites for helping us test and stabilize this release. Without their patience and thoroughness in testing, this release would not have been ready for commercial release. Many thanks to all those who participated. Customer Service: Azteca Systems continues to prioritize customer service. It can be a challenge to find a meaningful way to measure progress. One way is to hire a company who performs surveys to contact users and ask about customer satisfaction. We tried this once. To assure unbiased results, the people contacted are not supposed to be influenced by anyone at Azteca Systems so they are not told who is behind the survey. We made the decision to not tell our staff about the survey either because we did not want them to inadvertently bias anyone who would be contacted. Moore’s Law #6: “If you perceive that there are four possibleways in which a procedure can go wrong, and circumvent these, then a fifth way, unprepared for, will promptly develop.” The most interesting thing about this endeavor was the reaction of those who were contacted. One of our users called an Azteca Systems project manager to tell him that someone, perhaps a competitor, had called and was trying to gather information about Cityworks. The user proudly rehearsed how he had told the person to—well—let’s just say he told the unsuspecting survey caller to “shove it.” Nearly everyone called us and asked if they should respond. To try and maintain the integrity of the survey, we did not divulge that we were behind the survey but instead assured them that Azteca Systems had nothing to hide and it was OK to respond. We almost always received the same response, “Then what do you want us to say?”

INPRINT / SUMMER 2006

President’s Corner In almost every case, the person contacted thought something sinister was being perpetrated upon Azteca Systems by a larger foe. We gave up on that approach for measurement of customer service. We now measure customer satisfaction directly. We track every call made and email sent for support to Azteca Systems. We track the type of problem or question, who called, who took the call, the date, time, resolution, and the amount of time required to resolve the issue. We meet regularly to review the calls and emails, to share knowledge, and to assure that we respond to calls and emails in a professional and consistent manner. Looking at the call and email tracking data, there has been measurable progress in customer service over the last year. The number of calls and emails logged has substantially declined from the previous year. For example, in March of 2005, we received 206 calls and emails for problems and questions. This March we received 106 calls and emails. Each month in 2005 when compared against 2006 shows similar reductions.

The most important measurement is up, too, which consists of unsolicited emails or phone calls complimenting customer service. Nothing pleases us more than to know that a client is successfully utilizing Cityworks. We know it is frustrating when your system has a problem and you have to call for help. We appreciate your patience and willingness to work with us. A New Designer: We believe the best way to improve customer satisfaction is to be proactive. Frequently recurring problem types are identified and analyzed to see if we can provide an enhancement or a tool that will help reduce this type of problem. Database Manager and the Cityworks Excel Template tools are examples of this proactive approach to customer service. The commitment to a thorough beta test for a new release is another. Another obvious place to improve customer satisfaction (the Cityworks DBA satisfaction) is Cityworks Designer. Commenting on Cityworks Designer, someone once said, “Who designed Designer? It is a real piece!” That was

INPRINT / SUMMER 2006

(cont. from page 3)

not a compliment. There never really was any design thought given to the Designer. We have always had a very utilitarian view of Designer. It is an under-thehood type tool for configuring Cityworks that did not have to be pretty as long as it worked. But, as the Cityworks product grew it became apparent that Cityworks Designer needed an overhaul. Moore’s Law #7: “Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse.” We are pleased to announce that Designer has been totally redesigned. Our tests show that a well-designed Designer substantially reduces the amount of time necessary to configure, maintain, and manage your Cityworks system. A well-designed Designer will help you get the most out of your Cityworks investment and reduce configuration errors which will improve customer satisfaction.

The new Designer will be available this fall. Many of you will see the new Designer at the Cityworks User Conference and ask that we speedily release it. We promise you it is that much of an improvement! In good humor (and some truth), we caution you to remember Law #13. Murphy’s Law #13: “Every solution breeds new problems.” We are thoroughly testing the new Designer. But, we need more than just Azteca Systems staff to perform the testing. We need some enthusiastic beta sites! Cityworks Server: Development continues at a rapid pace for Cityworks® Server, our Cityworks for ArcGIS® Server. We made several important design decisions that have set the timetable for development. We made the decision to develop for Microsoft’s Visual Studio 2005 and ESRI’s ArcGIS 9.2. Visual Studio 2005 did not become commercial until the Fall of 2005. ESRI’s ArcGIS 9.2 currently is in beta. Obviously, Cityworks Server cannot be released until the underlying foundation technology is fully tested and commercial. There is Cont. page 15 PAGE THREE

PROJECT MANAGEMENT UPDATE

Growing with Edmond, Oklahoma By Steve Thomas, Azteca System

In 1997 the city of Edmond, Oklahoma, began researching the available computerized maintenance management systems and eventually selected Pipeworks because of Azteca’s success in implementing their software with the city’s GIS data during the shortlist demo. The city was looking for a system that could track customer calls and work activities for their Utility Line Maintenance, Street, and Electric departments. At that time, the software was named Pipeworks because it only supported water, wastewater, and stormwater assets.

Most recently, Edmond’s city manager wanted to improve customer response by implementing a Customer Response System in all departments that contribute to customer service. They identified some key enhancements they wanted Azteca to make to the Cityworks service request form before they felt they could implement the software in the additional departments. At the 2005 Cityworks User Conference, Sara Cobb, the city’s GIS Coordinator, met with Azteca staff to explain their needs. As a result of the input, the following functionality has been added to the Cityworks 4.3.1 Service Request window:

The city staff were impressed enough with the software’s flexibility and the level of integration to the GIS data that they were willing to work with Azteca staff to determine new functionality required to implement Pipeworks in the Street and Electric departments. Implementation began with the kickoff meeting in March 1998. As development of this functionality continued, Azteca renamed the software, calling it Cityworks, to reflect its ability to be used throughout municipal organizations, large and small. The cooperation between Edmond and Azteca has continued to be very important.

1. Tracking the employee who takes each individual call.

Figure 1 PAGE FOUR

2. Saving custom field search criteria and search results field (column) settings with the Save Search function. 3. Searching for a substring in Problem Details and/or Comments. 4. Adding an attachment field that supports URLs associated to responses to the Q&A function. 5. Adding a floating window that displays Problem Details, Comments, Caller Comments (Caller Informa-

tion), and Questions and Answers on one screen to avoid having to toggle between panes. One of the important benefits of using Cityworks’ service request form as a customer response system is providing accurate and consistent responses to citizens calling in for information and services. To configure this function, Azteca worked in cooperation with city staff to interview each department concerning the types of questions received from citizens. This information was configured into a set of questions and answers linked to pre-defined request (problem) codes. After delivery of these codes, the city staff refined the configuration by working with each department, one at a time, to define the most efficient flow of information. In some cases, several departments met together to standardize the responses where they share responsibilities for the resolving specific problems. City staff improved the flow of information by adding cyclical responses, which allows the call taker to jump back to the beginning of the question sequence. Because of the flexibility of service

Figure 2

INPRINT / SUMMER 2006

PROJECT MANAGEMENT UPDATE (cont.) requests, city officials are able to provide responses to multiple questions that a citizen might have regarding a number of issues. If the citizen is reporting a problem or requesting service from city staff, the call taker can save the request which is automatically submitted to the correct city department. Any response can have an internet URL associated to it, directing the call taker to the city or other relevant website to provide the information the caller needs. (See Figure 1) The caller can also be directed to the website if they have internet access. For example, when a citizen calls to get information about sports activities, the questions are organized to allow the call takers quick access to information about recreation programs. (See Figure 2) Once that information has been provided, the looping lets the call taker respond to another question about the location of certain venues or followup with issues the citizen wants to report about a certain playground at a park, all within the same Q&A loop. (See Figure 3) The substring search allows a user to search for requests that contain keywords in either the Problem

Details or the Comments field. If a city official wanted to find all of the complaints that have come in regarding a certain development, whether it be dusty conditions, erosion, noise, or restoration issues, they could search for the name of that development in the Problem Details field. The city often receives duplicate calls for a single problem, such as power outages, requests for storm cleanup and other issues. These duplicate calls are stored on one or more requests. If more than one request is generated for a single problem, the user is able to move all of the calls to a single request. However, in previous versions of the software, the historical data didn’t include the call taker’s name. Now the call taker is listed with each call on the caller information pane. Because there is so much information that can be stored with each request, it is impossible to display all of the fields on one screen. Edmond reported that having to toggle between Problem Details and Comments was encouraging users to use the Caller Comments field to record the information because it was easily accessible and was always displayed. However, this

Figure 3

INPRINT /SUMMER 2006

created an inconsistency in where data was recorded, making it difficult to search for the information. The new window allows all of these fields to be displayed concurrently (See Figure 4) and is fully configurable to suit each user’s preference. It also includes a list of up to fifteen recently opened requests. Any of these recently opened requests can be re-opened by double-clicking on the request number in the list. Each of these enhancements is available for use by all Cityworks users in version 4.3.1. Azteca is pleased to have this type of relationship with its clients. Azteca recognizes the value of client ideas and tries to accommodate all viable enhancement requests. We encourage our clients to provide suggestions for improving the functionality and efficiency of the Cityworks software just as Edmond has done. J

Figure 4 PAGE FIVE

O’Fallon, Illinois

(cont. from page 1)

facilities. One of the hallmarks of O’Fallon’s success with Cityworks has been the integration of Cityworks with other critical city data and systems. Integration with the Utility Locate System, SCADA System, Sewer Inspection System, and Meter Reading System has allowed the City to track asset “events” and maximize the analysis of those events, while at the same time minimizing the burden of data entry.

Utility Locate Integration – Locate requests are received from the Illinois JULIE system via email and are now immediately converted into service requests in Cityworks with code written by Varion Systems. This application, referred to by staff as “JULIE’s Nanny,” also prints locate tickets for crews and automatically dispatches emergency locates via Nextel text messages. Having utility locates tracked via Cityworks has not only helped ensure timely handling of requests, it has also allowed O’Fallon to track work performed by private contractors and other utility companies. This is particularly useful when residents call to inquire about work being done in their neighborhood, but do not know the contractor or utility responsible. For example, if a resident calls the City wondering why there are flags in their front lawn by the street, our call takers can immediately do a search in Cityworks to determine which contractor requested utility locates and the reason behind the request. Although the City is not responsible on reporting what type PAGE SIX

of work is being conducted, it has greatly enhanced customer service and hence relationships with the residents. The citizens’ perception of the department’s operations has improved simply with the ability to answer questions in real-time. Prior to Cityworks and tracking of JULIE locates in this fashion, O’Fallon had no easy way to answer inquiries regarding the activity of other utilities. Currently, the City maintains two JULIE locate crews – one for water and one for sewer. It is believed that a higher level of coordination between the two crews for stake outs can be achieved; therefore, more efficiently managing the locate requests and saving the City money. In order to evaluate this potential, the City began performing spatial analysis of the locate requests. Entering and geocoding locate requests has enabled spatial analysis of the more than 10,500 locate requests received over the past 16 months. The City has performed ‘Anselin Cluster’ analyis and ‘Nearest Neighbor’ analysis to identify patterns of JULIE locate requests throughout the City’s service area. See the section on “Spatial Analysis of Locate Requests” for a full description of the analyses. Alarm/Callout Documentation – O’Fallon has also linked alarms/callouts from the MISSION SCADA system, used for managing the City’s 15 sanitary sewer lift stations, via the same technology used for utility locates. MISSION RTU has been adapted for use by police dispatchers to call out street, water, and sewer emergencies, such as main breaks or sewer blockages.

Dispatchers use touch screens to select the appropriate callout category. The callout is managed by MISSION but is also documented as a service request in Cityworks by an extension to JULIE’s Nanny. For example, when the MISSION system sends out an alarm for a lift station pump failure, a service request is automatically created and assigned to the appropriate staff for investigation. The ability to track and report on the MISSION Alarms created in Cityworks has afforded the City deeper knowledge of trends that affect lift stations as well as documentation of staff callouts. Now the City can track and report on historical patterns of failure and estimates it can help prevent future sewer backups - which can save as much as $20,000 or more in sewer claims. In addition, by automating the data entry through the JULIE extension, the City has saved several hours per week of staff time. PACP Client – The Sewer Lines Crew has taken advantage of the Cityworks PACP client in order to import deficiency codes into Cityworks from inspections documented by sewer camera software. As tap locations are also documented during camera inspections, this data has allowed the City to begin mapping sewer lateral locations. The Department purchased a mass storage device to allow storage of inspection videos for the entire sewer system. The video is linked to the inspection data logged into

INPRINT / SUMMER 2006

O’Fallon, Illinois Cityworks so the end user can select and view the inspection from within ArcView. Meter Read “Trouble Code” Integration – O’Fallon reads meters for 16,000 water accounts via remote-read technology. It has recently secured the services of Varion Systems to integrate documentation of “trouble codes,” which are manually read by meter-read crews, on handheld meter reading equipment for “skips.” The ability to track trouble codes in Cityworks is important because of the department’s problems with residents damaging pit ERTs with lawn movers. Since mower damage to ERTs is billed to the customer, documentation as to the timing of discovery of damage and repairs is important for cost recovery. Field Applications – O’Fallon is currently in the process of purchasing a Citrix server and rugged-ized laptops to allow for the expansion of Cityworks and GIS to the field crews. Initial plans are to provide laptops to water- and sewer-locate crews to allow for faster response and immediate data entry of completed service requests. It will also assist with the identification of affected utilities and isolation traces during water main breaks or other emergencies. Spatial Analysis of Locate Requests – Address locations in Cityworks for JULIE locates has yielded a wealth of spatially-enabled data. The “collect events” function was run on the geocoded points to create a weighted-point set of features that then could be processed with the various geostatistics/raster functions of the ArcGIS Spatial Analyst. (See Figure 1) The Anselin cluster analysis processed the weighted points to determine where the most heavily-clustered area of JULIE locates has been throughout the O’Fallon service area. At the statistically-significant level of 95%, the function returned the clusters depicted in the figure.

INPRINT / SUMMER 2006

The majority of statistically-significant clusters of repeated JULIE locate requests are on the fringes of the O’Fallon service area, while the more routine requests are prevalent throughout the older sections of the city. The total number of JULIE locates are very densely packed throughout the most heavily populated regions of the service area, as Figure 2 illustrates. The density functionality of Spatial Analyst was used to create this figure. This procedure creates a raster that shows an indicative spatial pattern of point density for the features in question. The locate points were processed in conjunction with the “nearest neighbor” function to determine the mean distance between one point and the next, nearest the given point. The function takes the extent of the data and determines the expected mean distance. The areas shown in blue are the most highly clustered with red being more dispersed. If the expected difference is much less or much more than expected, we can now determine that the observed phenomena is either “clustered” or “dispersed.” The nearest neighbor function expected a difference of 478 square feet, while it only observed a difference of 169 square feet. This yields a ratio of approximately .35, which is considered a large magnitude. The same function also returned a “z-stat” for normal distributions. The reported z-stat of -76.820550 implies there is much less than a 1% chance this clustering of locates is random. (See Figure 3)

(cont.)

helpful not only for staff planning for utility locates but also for other classes of service requests. Cityworks has positioned the City to quickly service its rapidly growing resident base. J

Figure 1

Figure 2

The anticipated growth of weighted locate requests are shown without respect to municipal boundaries in Figure 3. A weighted-locate request typically represents areas of new construction because the weighted function captures point-magnitudes associated with new construction. The anticipated growth has O’Fallon utilities developing into East and Northeast sections adjacent to the current municipal boundaries. As O’Fallon plans for the future, trend and clustering analysis will be

Figure 3 PAGE SEVEN

Gulfport, Mississippi

(cont. from page 1)

coastal beach from Biloxi to Gulfport. What I had remembered as a scenic, picturesque drive lined with shops, historic homes, and lots of trees had been laid waste. This lovely place had been ravaged by nature. In fact, as far as six blocks inland of the beach, everything – and I mean everything - was completely wiped away and for as many miles between these two cities. Palatial historic houses that once stood 2 and 3 stories tall were wiped clean off of their concrete slab foundations and re-arranged into piles of lumber. Yet even more compelling, several foundations had been broken into rubble from the intense flooding and erosion. Office buildings, schools, and churches that once commanded their presence along sleepy streets looked more like the aftermath of the World War II Europe I had seen in school books. Concrete rubble, piles of brick, and steel now lined the roads. Buildings that had somehow managed to remain standing were gutted and windowless with pipes and electrical wiring hanging from beams. And this was what I saw in just a short 30-minute drive. Awestruck, I called my wife and struggled to describe what I was looking at. It’s hard to verbalize what you see in Gulfport and Biloxi. If you had not been there before Katrina, you may very well think these cities never occupied the area near the beach. But I had been there – many times. Yet what struck me deepest is that it was now some eight months since the disaster and cleanup efforts were still in full swing. I had traveled to Gulfport to visit with our customer there. Gulfport has been a Cityworks customer for four years. Prior to Katrina, the city was using Cityworks for the typical workflow activities – tracking citizen issues, managing work, and caring for their asset infrastructure. As soon as they could after the storm, Cityworks was deployed to track the cleanup efforts. And now 8 months later, I realized firsthand what a daunting task this truly is. After spending several hours with Ron Smith, Assistant Public Works Director, and Kris Riemann, Director of Public Works, it occurred that in the entire time I was with them, neither complained about the hand they were dealt. They simply went about their business in true-hero fashion, never looking for a congratulatory pat-on-the-back or similar mention. It is interesting to me how the media zeroed in solely on New Orleans though Gulfport was essentially “ground zero.” Police and fire/rescue received due credit for their lifesaving efforts, while without a word of gratitude, Public Works and Utilities was putting out fires of there own, restoring the infrastructure we so depend on. Working days without sleep and then in the few moments they could, sleeping on the floor, they PAGE EIGHT

INPRINT / SUMMER 2006

Gulfport, Mississippi

(cont.)

worked hard to isolate broken water mains, restore fresh water treatment and services, and clean up debris. Like most Americans, we take it much for granted, though our Public Works and Utilities personnel truly deserve a medal for keeping our infrastructure systems operational – even in the face of such disaster. In the few days before Katrina, Gulfport was using Cityworks service request to track requests for sand bags. Less than 24 hours before the storm hit, they took Cityworks offline and stored the server in a safe place. The server was back online 6 days later, logging every call and work order. Many of the calls were water system leaks. Basically, Gulfport’s potable water system had turned into a huge sprinkler system. Fire hydrants had washed away and pipes cracked from the severe erosion. Plotting these leaks using ArcGIS, they were able to illustrate clear patterns along sections that needed to be rehabilitated or replaced. With the work history data and mapping, Gulfport was awarded $50 million for water line reconstruction from FEMA. Most everyone in Gulfport lost something that day. For many it included personal belongings as well as job-related losses. Few complained. As Kris, Ron, and I talked, they patiently answered each and every question I had – knowing they had probably done so a million times before. I could have chatted about Katrina for hours more, but I knew they were busy. It is comforting to know that Cityworks has withstood the test of devastation, though more comforting to know my two good friends in Gulfport survived and have such good hearts. J

INPRINT / SUMMER 2006

PAGE NINE

Cityworks 2006 User Conference June 19-21, 2006 Park City, Utah See our website for details conferences.azteca.com If you weren’t here last year, see what you missed!

Vendor Fair & Chuck Wagon Social

Workshops

Don’t miss out! We hope to see you there! Good Grub!

Doctor’s Office

PAGE TEN

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly!

INPRINT / SUMMER 2006

Monday - June 19

Tuesday - June 20

Wednesday - June 21 7:30 am - Continental Breakfast

8:30 am - Plenary Session Welcome - Tom Palizzi Welcome Address & Report to Users Brian Haslam Technology Review Implementation Overview

8:00 - 8:50 am • Cityworks Server Configuration and Customization • Introduction to Designer (1) • Cityworks Toolkit (1) • Data Pump - An Open Discussion West Bend, WI • The Process of Integration: Cityworks 4.3 and WinCan 7 - Denver Wasteswater 9:00 - 9:50 am • Cityworks Customer/Service Request Web Kit • Advanced Designer (1) • Storeroom • Enterprise Asset Management Integrating Cityworks with Your Existing Information Systems Horry County, SC • Using Cityworks to Support an Environmental Data Management System at Charlotte/Mecklenburg, NC

8:00 – 8:50 am • Introduction to Asset Data Models (2) • Cityworks Desktop, Service Requests, Work Orders Product Feedback (2) • Service Request (2) • Hamilton, OH • Implementing an Object-Based System for Wastewater Lift Stations - Loveland, CO 9:00 - 9:50 am • Advanced Asset Data Models (2) • Call Center & Add-Ons Product Feedback (2) • Work Orders (2) • Data Integration, Performance Management and Predictive Modeling: the Back End and Front End of a Cityworks Implementation Varion Systems • Recovering from Hurricane Katrina Utilizing Cityworks - Gulfport, MS

Te n

ta t ec ive t t Ag o Ch end an a ge

7:30 am - Continental Breakfast

10:00 am - Morning Break

10:30 am - Plenary Session (continued)

10:10 - 11:00 am • Interacting with Cityworks Web Services • Mobile solutions (1) • Cityworks 101 (2) • Expanding Cityworks at the City of Edmond, OK • Fort Collins, CO - What We are Doing 11:10 - 12:00 pm • Meeting Regulatory Requirements for Water, Wastewater & Stormwater (2) • Work Orders (1) • Reporting • Security Cityworks - Westin Engineering • Managing Forestry Operations and Sidewalk Inspections Using ArccGIS and Cityworks at City of Ann Arbor, MI

12:00 – 1:00 pm -

12:00 – 1:00 pm - Boxed Lunch

Boxed Lunch

Exhibit Hall Open

10:00 am - Morning Break

Exhibit Hall Open

7:30 am - Continental Breakfast & Registration

1:00 - 1:50 pm • Service Request • Cityworks Desktop, Service Requests, Work Orders Product Feedback (1) • Migrating to the Geodatabase • Streamlining the Asset Maintenance Management Process through Systems Integration: The Naperville Story • Current Status of Cityworks Across the City and the Creation of an Automation Tool for Employee Additions, Security Settings and Employee Relates Newport News, VA 2:00 - 2:50 pm • Cityworks: Behind the Scenes • Call Center & Add-Ons Product Feedback (1) • Introductions to Asset Data Models (1) • Waterford Township • DELCORA - Bridging the Knowledge Gap Between Computer Geeks and Utility Operators 3:10 - 4:00 pm • Customizing the GUI & Output • Storeroom Product Feedback (1) • Advanced Asset Data Models (1) • Managing the New York City Urban Forest: Design and Development of the Forestry Management System (ForMS) • Town of Whitby, ON - Innovative Knowledge Base within Cityworks

3:00 – 6:00 pm Exhibit Hall Open House 5:00 pm Vendor Fair & Reception

5:30 pm Cityworks Anniversary Spectacular Utah Olympic Park

INPRINT / SUMMER 2006

Exhibit Hall Open

1:00 - 1:50 pm • Cityworks Server • Cityworks 101 (1) • Meeting Regulatory Requirements for Water & Wastewater (1) • Fast Track Implementation of Allegheny County, PA • White House Utility District, TN Extending Access to Cityworks Data 2:00 - 2:50 pm • What’s New in Cityworks 4.3.1 (1) • Interfacing with Cityworks • Tests & Inspections • Public Works GIS and Cityworks System Imlementation at Encinitas, CA • Managing and Tracking Work at BC Transit Bus Stops

10:00 am - Morning Break 10:10 - 11:00 am • Introduction to Designer (2) • Storeroom Product Feedback (2) • What’s New in Cityworks 4.3.1 (2) 11:10 - 12:00 pm • Advanced Designer (2) • Mobile Solutions (2) • Cityworks Toolkit (2)

12:00 – 1:00 pm - Boxed Lunch

Travel home safely! Be sure to join us next year for another great conference!

May 23-25, 2007 Park City Marriott Hotel

PAGE ELEVEN

PARTNER NEWS Partner Directory Authorized Business Partners • • • • •

ATS-Chester Engineers Bowne Management Systems Civil Solutions EMH&T Enterprise Information Solutions, Inc. • IT Nexus • Jones, Edmunds and Associates • Mactec Corporation • Municipal Information Systems • North Arrow Technologies • NTB Associates • OHM, Inc. • OneGIS • PBS&J, Inc. • Power Engineers, Inc. • Schneider Corporation • Short Elliott Hendrickson • Sunrise Engineering • Timmons Group • Velocitie Integration, Inc. • Vanasse, Hangen, Brustlin, Inc. • Varion Systems • VESTRA Resources, Inc.

Partner Services Jen Hernandez 706-364-8812 jhernandez@azteca.com

At Azteca Systems, we believe partnering is good business. We actively seek to align with firms that have earned a strong reputation in the industry as knowledgeable, capable, experienced, and trustworthy. We have evolved a multi-faceted program aimed at enhancing the notoriety of Cityworks, achieving successful implementations, and leveraging the benefits of related products around the world. Our Business Partner Program is designed to achieve several key goals: • successful implementations, • collaborations with companies that supply complementary solutions, and • deliver and support Cityworks to customers around the world. PAGE TWELVE

• • • •

Wade Trim Associates Westin Engineering Weston Solutions Woolpert

Associate Business Partners • • • • • • • • • • • •

Arcadis G&M Inc. Civic Engineering and Information Technologies, Inc. Collier Engineering Data Transfer Solutions, LLC EFM Group Greenhorne & O’Mara, Inc. KCI Technologies L. Robert Kimball & Associates Michael Baker Jr., Inc. PSOMAS Stantec Consulting Strand Associates, Inc.

• •

OneGIS - Carribbean Systematics Limited, Israel

Strategic Partners • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Bergmann Associates Cobra Technologies CompassCom Coulter Mapping Solutions Earth Touch Solutions ESRI Hyland Software Laurel Hill Miner & Miner Motorola MWH Soft Orion Peninsular Technologies RIVA Online Route Smart Tadpole Technologies TruePoint Solutions

International Distribution Partner • •

ESRI Canada, Canada Meldis, AB, Sweden

We depend on our partners’ capabilities and expertise as service providers, integrators, and international value added resellers while we uphold the responsibility to continue providing state-of-the-art software, training, and solid technical support services.

is current. This allows them to carry out successful implementations, including system installation, implementation, and integration throughout the United States.

The Associate Partner level provides an opportunity to build a strong working relationship between Azteca and our partners. We value this relationship and believe success is impossible without it.

Azteca Systems actively works in conjunction with companies throughout the world to deliver Cityworks to customers. These International Distribution Partners provide a complete solution, including implementation, integration, and support with a local presence. J

Our Authorized Business Partners come to training every year to ensure their in-depth knowledge of Cityworks

Azteca Systems recognizes a specific type of partnership for organizations and firms offering software that significantly enhances Cityworks and other products developed by Azteca Systems, or jointly developed products to work with Cityworks and/or ArcGIS. As a result, the Strategic Development Partner level exists to facilitate a relationship with these companies.

INPRINT / SUMMER 2006

Partner News

(cont.)

Organizations Extend and Expand Asset and Work Order Management Solutions Terre Haute, Indiana Jeff Corns, The Schneider Corporation

After a successful data conversion project and Cityworks implementation, how do organizations continue to expand their solution to deliver increased returns on their investments? The City of Terre Haute, Indiana, wanted to ensure not only a successful implementation, but also wanted to integrate Cityworks with complementary solutions such as an online constituent service request and communication tool. Working with The Schneider Corporation, the City is integrating existing legacy database systems and is developing an online portal to publish the GIS and related data, and solicit community feedback and requests. This solution can be tied to Cityworks to automatically generate service requests, greatly streamlining the

INPRINT / SUMMER 2006

process and speeding up service requests. Other complementary solutions, including v.depth and v.locate, have been implemented at another Schneider client site, Hamilton Southeastern Utilities (HSE) and SAMCO (HSE’s facilities management contactor). V.depth is an innovative solution developed by Schneider to ease in the collection and maximize the accuracies of sub-surface measurements. By incorporating a Lecia Disto Lite laser distance meter and a Smart Tool Builders Angle Finder encompassed in a state-of-the-art, fully adaptable bracket system, v.depth allows the user to obtain accurate measurements to sub-surface pipes quickly, safely, and easily.

and efficiently sort and process utility locate requests through the state’s one-call system. When a locate request is received by the system, it is automatically matched to accurate address data in the GIS in prioritized order. Once the location is found, the GIS compares the location request to the location of the infrastructure and eliminates those requests that fall outside of the user-defined buffer. Those falling inside are categorized as either a “must locate” or “may need to locate.” Requests that need to be located generate a ticket that can be sent via email with a scale-specific map centered on the location and the coordinates of nearby infrastructure. The ticket can also be set to generate a Cityworks service request. J

V.locate is a solution used to quickly

PAGE THIRTEEN

Partner News

(cont.)

Gainesville Regional Utilities, Florida Implements Cityworks By Mark Nelson, P.E., GIS Director, Jones Edmunds & Associates

Gainesville Regional Utility (GRU) is the fifth largest municipal utility in Florida, providing electric, water, wastewater, natural gas, and telecommunications services to over 87,000 homes and businesses. Like many other public utilities in Florida, GRU is faced with addressing aging infrastructure, an expanding service area, and a rapidly increasing workload without increasing existing staff. To help address these issues, GRU’s Water/Wastewater (W/WW) Division looked to improve their existing workflow processes and integrate their existing GIS with a GIScentric computerized maintenance management system (CMMS). GRU selected Azteca Systems business partner, Jones Edmunds, to perform a needs/workflow assessment and implementation plan. This implementation plan served as the roadmap to select and deploy

PAGE FOURTEEN

Azteca’s Cityworks. The implementation included database design, data migration, workflow re-engineering, software implementation, and training. In addition to the existing GIS and work-order data, the GIS-centric database design had numerous considerations to be evaluated. Several independent legacy Oracle databases had to be reconciled and migrated into a common relational database. Additionally, GRU chose to leverage the facility management tools within Miner & Miner’s ArcFM Solution, requiring additional database considerations. A critical database consideration was to maintain persistent unique facility IDs to track work order history throughout ongoing data editing. A custom auto-updater was developed to accomplish this task. The resulting geodatabase is stored in Oracle,

accessed via ArcSDE, and was the first to simultaneously support both Cityworks and ArcFM. With this enterprise deployment Cont. page 15

INPRINT / SUMMER 2006

President’s Corner no doubt at Azteca Systems that designing and building for these two technologies is the correct decision. The power and flexibility of web-parts and web-services validates our decision. Cityworks Server is Azteca Systems’ next generation GIS-centric Asset Maintenance Management System. Designed and created “from the ground up” for ESRI’s ArcGIS Server technology, Cityworks Server is a stateof-the-art, browser-based system to manage assets, issue service requests and work orders, perform inspections, and manage customer needs. Highly configurable, extendable, and scalable, Cityworks Server shares a common ESRI spatial database and Cityworks database with Cityworks Desktop and Cityworks Anywhere, allowing an organization to mix and match the software to best meet their specific needs, or as we have coined it, “co-exist.”

(cont. from page 3)

Azteca Systems is pleased to reaffirm that Cityworks Server will “co-exist” with Cityworks® Desktop and Cityworks® Anywhere. Our Cityworks users understand how important it is for the Cityworks product line to share common ESRI and Cityworks databases. Among other things, a “co-exist” strategy for software development avoids costly data migration and retraining of staff. We find it interesting that many organizations that have competing systems to Cityworks expect ESRI’s product line to share a common geodatabase but do not require the same for their maintenance management system. Our clients would never let us get away with that and we are glad. The end of the beginning: Azteca Systems has been offering Cityworks for 10 years but for us, we are just getting started. The new server technology promises to change how all of us interact with computer systems. We are excited for the challenge. During World War II, the Prime Minister of Great Britain was Winston Churchill. He was an eloquent, gifted speaker and a great leader. Speaking on November 10, 1942, after the British had defeated Rommels Afrika Korps in North Africa (Egypt), Churchill said: “This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” Of course, Azteca Systems’ challenges and accomplishments are laughably insignificant when compared to the monumental challenges and accomplishments by the Allies in World War II. But, when we look at 2006, we feel Churchill’s eloquence expresses our feelings for where we have been and where we are going. We look forward with enthusiasm to the next 10 years and beyond. J

Gainesville - cont. from page 14

of Cityworks, GRU has gained considerable benefits, including significant reduction of the time associated with entry, analysis, and report generation of service requests and work orders. GRU is now looking to further leverage the benefits gained by the Cityworks implementation, continuing to work with Jones Edmunds to update the initial needs assessment and implementation plan. GRU looks to improve system monitoring and planning and enable proactive maintenance, by further leveraging Cityworks, saving the utility and its customers money. J

INPRINT / SUMMER 2006

Event Calendar June 11-15: AWWA ACE in San Antonio, TX 19-21: Cityworks UC06 in Park City, UT August 7-11: ESRI International User Conference in San Diego, CA Booth #1609 September 10-12: APWA in Kansas City, MO Booth #1128 26-29: URISA in Vancouver, BC October 9-12: ESRI Electric & Gas User Group Meeting in Albuquerque, NM PAGE FIFTEEN

REGIONAL NEWS Marketing & Sales Director and Intermountain Region Tom Palizzi

303-467-2738 tpalizzi@azteca.com

As Azteca continues to grow, we continue to make adjustments to be as many places as we can. Our sales and marketing team has grown to meet the demand and are spread across the United States. We welcome John Jarnagin, our new Western Regional Manager. John joins the group from our Customer Service team and is responsible for clients and potential clients in the Western US. Meanwhile, Jen Hernandez has taken over our Business Partner Program, tending to the needs of our domestic Associate Partners, Authorized Partners, Strategic Partners, and International Distributors. In the near future we hope to fill a couple of new sales positions in the Midwest and Central regions to better distribute our presence and meet client and potential client needs. Meanwhile, look for us at an array of events this year, including the ESRI User Conference and a new seminar series with various ESRI regional offices. As well, watch for some exciting new changes in our appearance - logo, marketing literature, and web page! Intermountain Regional News The Intermountain Region is abuzz with activity from both new and existing customers. Several legacy sites are expanding while new opportunities are coming on line. I suspect at some point in the not-so-distant future, we’ll find a new, dedicated sales representative for this area. But for now, I’m happy to be there to help you all. I hope to see many of you at the Cityworks User Conference and/or at the ESRI Conference this summer. Thanks for your continued confidence and support! J PAGE SIXTEEN

Northeast Region Phil Mogavero 716-882-7186 pmogavero@azteca.com

First, I would like to thank everybody for making my transition to Azteca very enjoyable. I have met many clients and business partners, and I know I still have many, many more to go, and I look forward to those days ahead. I’d like to welcome our newest clients in the Northeast: • Lima, OH • Reading, PA • Woburn, MA It is the evident that Cityworks popularity is mounting. Not only have I seen growth with new clients in the Northeast, but also growth of Cityworks being used within an organization. Existing Cityworks clients are increasingly adding more licenses to handle their work management environment. Places such as Butler, IN and Saco, ME, are just a couple examples of such progress. These instances show its usefulness in every type of organization. It is not by accident that Azteca’s Cityworks has earned a great name for itself. The hard work and dedication of all Azteca staff has set a standard that makes it a privilege for me to be a part of this organization. I look forward to seeing everybody at our 2006 User Conference in June. J

Western Region John Jarnagin

801-523-2751 jjarnagin@azteca.com

I am happy to be moving into this position. I really enjoy getting out and visiting with our clients and learning how they use Cityworks within their own organization. I’m looking forward to my continued association with each of you. From David Horton... It was a busy quarter in the Western Region to start out 2006. I had the chance to drop in on several of you these past few months and, as always, it has been interesting to see how you are utilizing Cityworks. There has been some exciting Cityworks expansion among our existing Western Regional Clients, most notable: • Storeroom implementation – City of Ontario, CA • Wastewater Treatment Plant – City of San Mateo, CA I’d like to add a special welcome to our newest Western regional clients: • Global Water Management, AZ • City of Logan, UT I look forward to seeing many of you at the upcoming Azteca User

INPRINT / SUMMER 2006

Regional News Conference. There is still time so get registered today. Let me take a minute and introduce John Jarnagin to you. Many of you in the Western Region have had the good fortune to deal with John either through technical support or through our training courses. John will be taking over my responsibilities in the Western Region as I move on to a new position with Azteca. J

Welcome New Cityworks Users!  Charlotte/Mecklenburg County, NC  Chicago Department of Aviation, IL  Gavle Energy, Sweden  Global Water Management, AZ  City of Fenton, MI  City of Logan, UT  City of Jackson, MS  Bahama Water & Sewerage, Nassau, Bahamas  City of Port St. Lucie, FL  Town of Whitby, Ontario, Canada  City of Woburn, MA

South Region Brent Wilson

214-507-0579 bwilson@azteca.com

Normally in this section, I like to introduce all of our new clients in the region and highlight growing Cityworks sites, but this last year saw an array of natural disasters in the Southern United States. I thought I would review the challenges you faced so that your Cityworks colleagues around the world could get a behind-the-scenes look at how you dealt with adversity. In December, I visited family for the Christmas holidays in Southeast Texas. While there, I witnessed firsthand the impacts of Hurricane Rita. The destruction was indescribable – television simply cannot illustrate the reality. Our Gulf Coast clients were left cleaning up and rebuilding.

(cont.)

Riemann and Ron Smith. They were among the first clients to purchase Cityworks from me nearly five years ago. Though it had been roughly eight months (September 29, 2005) since Hurricane Katrina made landfall, I was utterly astonished with the destruction left behind. Having grown up in Southeast Texas, near the Gulf, I thought I was familiar with the awesome power of a hurricane. But with Katrina being among the worst natural disaster in history, it is clear to me the reconstruction and development of the Gulf coast will be a long-term project – a very long-term project. Further inland, I went through Nashville shortly after tornados destroyed several areas near White House Utilities. Infrastructure that took years to build was gone in minutes. Here, hundreds of miles from the coast, I found similar destruction.

Since the first of the year, I have made every effort to visit with our clients and potential clients in the Southeast – those affected by last year’s storms. One of our newest clients, Port St. Lucie, Florida, is among those affected, having been ravaged by hurricane after hurricane over the past few years, leaving many houses with “blue roofs” (tarps).

Unfortunately, we have seen more destruction than we may care to remember. I would like recognize our Public Works and Utility clients as they work diligently to not only rebuild the lives of their constituents, but their personal lives as well. And though I am happy to report that Cityworks has played a key role in recording and managing their efforts, I am truly honored to be associated with these hardworking people.

Recently, I made it to Gulfport, Mississippi, to visit with Kris

Hoping for a calmer 2006 and best of luck to you all. J

AZTECA NEWS Introducing the next generation of Aztecans!

Charlie Tamashasky Born: May 30, 2006, 6:44 am 8 lb 2 oz, 20.5 inches Proud parents: Becky and Eric Tamashasky Congratulations!

INPRINT / SUMMER 2006

Ten Great Years at Azteca Systems! (Top Row) Jiajun (John) Liu Carl Horton George Mastakas (Bottom Row) Russell Shino Steve Thomas PAGE SEVENTEEN

CLIENT SERVICES UPDATE What’s going on in Customer Service by Wayne Hill, Director of Client Services

Client Support One of the main focuses within Azteca over the past several years is how to decrease the amount of calls for support but yet increase our quality of support. Thus we have introduced the Cityworks knowledge base and forum on MyCityworks. com, purchased licenses of GoToMeeting from Citrix for remote dial-in support, created Database Manager, the Cityworks Excel Templates, Macro Manager, and the MyCityworks ftp site. We have found that our calls are decreasing. In March of 2005, we recorded 206 support calls whereas in the same month in 2006 we recorded 106 calls. That’s a difference of 100 calls. We are seeing similar drops in other months.

Software Cityworks 4.3.1 is in commercial release and is shipping to all clients and partners that are current on their update and support. The biggest announcement with 4.3.1 is the completion of Cityworks Anywhere. This new ESRI ArcEngine product is designed to make field maintenance easier. With the use of DataPump, field crews can perform their specific work tasks with the easy-to-use interface of Anywhere. Since Anywhere runs with DataPump, it also removes the paper trail, thus making it easier to get information into service requests and work orders. Make sure to check out this new product at our Users Conference by attending a session on it or stopping by the “Doctor’s Office.”

The type of calls that we’re receiving are still primarily focused on service requests, work orders, and Designer. Interestingly enough, the area that we receive the most calls on deals with general questions. We have noticed that in 2006 we are receiving less calls for Microsoft Word print templates as we did in 2005. This probably has a lot to do with the Macro Manager tool that resolves macro incompatibility within the Word templates for Cityworks release versions.

Training Let me introduce our new training manager, Brandon Wright. Brandon has worked for several years at Azteca in both customer service and project management where he has gained a vast knowledge of Cityworks and the training industry. We are excited to have him working within the Client Services department again. Look for great training ideas in the near future!

James Oliphant - Client Services Representative

The Cityworks Administration course has been well received. We had overwhelming reponse to each 5day session we have offered. Please continue to check www.mycityworks.com for the latest information on upcoming Cityworks Administration courses being offered. In addition to the Cityworks Administration course, we are in the process of planning Regional Training sessions located throughout the country. These Regional Training sessions will be a 2-day course covering Cityworks functions and setup. We will travel to a locale near a group of users and offer this 2-day course in that region. This Regional Training will help reduce the costs of travel and expenditures, but still allow an intense training course for users who are not able to travel to attend training courses. If you are interested in attending a Regional Training course near you, please email Brandon at bwright@azteca. com. J

Reed Hayes - Training

INPRINT / SUMMER 2006

TRAINING Cityworks Administration Course

ANNOUNCING... A new course is available for both clients and business partners entitled Cityworks Administration. The duration of this training lasts 5 days and offers plenty of opportunity to become familiar with the core Cityworks and related software products. This course is very helpful for users configuring and administering Cityworks software. Below is a general list of the topics to be covered in the training. Please contact Brandon Wright (bwright@azteca.com) 801.523.2751 for questions regarding this training course. General topics covered in the course include: Day One Database Overview & Implementation Cityworks Software Install Overview Cityworks Designer Overview

Day Four Cityworks Add-on Products (Call Center & Storeroom) and Cityworks Anywhere Reporting within Cityworks

Day Two Designer Configuration Asset Inventory and Editor Service Request Implementation

Day Five Reporting Using the Cityworks Table Structure and Crystal Reports “How to Implement Cityworks” Overview

Day Three Work Order Implementation Inspections and Tests

Future Cityworks Training Courses (at Azteca headquarters in Sandy, UT unless otherwise specified) June 16th – 17th, 2006: Pre-Conference Training in Park City, UT September 12th – 14th, 2006: Cityworks End-User Training September 18th – 22nd, 2006: Cityworks Administration December 5th – 7th, 2006: Cityworks End-User Training December 11th – 15th, 2006: Cityworks Administration Remote Interactive Training (Over the Web) – Courses Available Cityworks Database Implementation – Oracle Cityworks Database Implementation – SQL Server Cityworks Designer Configuration Part I Cityworks Designer Configuration Part II Introduction to Cityworks ArcGIS Part I Introduction to Cityworks ArcGIS Part II Cityworks Reporting with Crystal Reports Configuring and Running Call Center Storeroom Visit MyCityworks.com for specific dates of each course.

INPRINT / SUMMER 2006

PAGE NINETEEN

PAGE TWENTY

INPRINT / SUMMER 2006