Tower base INSPECTION model
Applying Modern Technology To An Old Task
To tower owners, carriers, and other tenants alike, inspections are an inconvenience at best, and at worst can result in additional capital investment or no-return maintenance expenditures. Still, inspections are often required by TIA, FAA, third-party insurers, Risk Management Department, Compliance, Legal, Construction, Operations or any combination of these. Regardless of the impetus or inspection type, the Tower Base inspection model incorporates four concepts to mitigate the pain and enhance the value:
1) Client-Defined Scope
You control the level of detail – and therefore the price – for each inspection type.
Read More
In a pre-project consultation, we’ll establish what asset types to include, what attribute values to gather for each asset type, and what photos to take of each asset type. Each asset type also has a list of inspection standards for condition assessment. In the past twenty years we’ve developed an extensive list of asset types, attributes, and standards, so the setup process is simply a matter of adding to, and dropping from, our existing lists. In addition to everything included in the client-defined scope we will, of course, report and photograph anything that either 1) creates risk for people or property around the site, or 2) jeopardizes the integrity of the RF systems installed
2) Data Collection
Our data collection mobile app, Site Auditor OnSite™, guides and checks the inspectors to assure that data collected is complete and accurate.
Read More
We collect data using smart phones and our proprietary mobile app, Site Auditor OnSite™ designed specifically for the inspection of communication towers. For each combination of client and inspection type, we set up the app to include the relevant parameters, including inspection standards, inventory attribute values, and required photography. Also included, by default, are the EIA/TIA Annex J standards.
We also built in a system of data checks to alert the inspectors to photos not yet taken, missing attribute values, and, to some extent, unreasonable values, like an azimuth of 400 degrees. We train each inspector – two to a crew, one climbing and one on the ground – to start their half of the inspection in the same place, proceed through the same steps on each structure type, and end by running data checks. This combination of tools and process are the best you can do to assure data collections is complete and accurate.
3) Browser-Based Presentation
We present inspection results in a powerful, secure, easy-to-use, shareable, browser-based application – Site Auditor OnLine™.
Read More
Communication networks, be they Wireless, Utility, Transportation or Broadcast businesses, all require teams of people, or companies, to manage. An updatable single data source is imperative to provide always-current data to users with divergent interests. With Site Auditor OnLine™ assets, property values, faults, and photos are all gathered in a single database and are accessible to anyone with permission to see it. The information we gather through inspections is used by Operations, Construction, RF Engineering, Real Estate, Accounting, and Compliance Assurance departments and individuals. Distributing single-site reports on CD/DVD would be problematic in itself, and trying to transfer 200 photo files via the internet even worse.
In Site Auditor OnLine™ the photos appear with the related information, available to anyone with access and a internet connection. Use the built-in application tools, find the data you want, and the photos are a click away.
4) Multi-Site Reporting
The entirety of your data can be filtered, sorted and grouped to create custom reports across all sites. You are not limited to site-by-site reporting as with individual spreadsheets, PDF’s, Word Docs or CD’s.
Read More
Each of our web site pages is a grid of data; one for sites, one for faults, and one for inventory. You can include in each grid one site, all sites, or any group of sites relevant. Each can be filtered, sorted, and grouped on any of the columns to create customized reports, which in turn can be exported to MS Excel for email distribution without editing the single-source dataset.