Documentation

Relevant, up-to-date information for everyone

There was a time when colleagues in network planning and network documentaion knew each other mainly at lunchtime. Because their work involved two seemingly different things: theory – i.e. what was planned – and practice – i.e. what was actually built.

In the age of digitalization, this approach is obviously no longer viable. Existing detailed planning already forms the basis for documentation. This means that only changes made during the construction phase need to be integrated.

These changes naturally occur out in the field, not in the office. The key is to be able to take detailed planning with you in an appropriate form.

For access to detailed planning, an online mobile solution is the obvious choice. Otherwise, field staff would only have with them a fixed status quo in digital form – as the paper network plan once was.

A restriction to a single class of device or operating system would, of course, be an obstacle. After all, one person’s Windows™-based laptop is another’s Android™-based tablet. Platform-independent, always-up-to-the-minute access to planning can only be provided by a web application.

Two processes immediately spring to mind when practitioners think of what should be able to be reported “from the outside in” on the basis of detailed planning: red correction and storing additional information.

The red correction is what it sounds like. It involves the recording and concrete drawing of deviations that have been detected – not necessarily in red color only. For example, the street cabinet is now on the left rather than the right of the driveway, because a gutter was unexpectedly discovered in the originally planned location. Necessary changes are entered directly on the plan with a finger or electronic pen and, if necessary, supplemented by a comment and communicated directly to colleagues in the office by uploading to the server.

For access to detailed planning, an online mobile solution is the obvious choice. Otherwise, field staff would only have with them a fixed status quo in digital form – as the paper network plan once was.

A restriction to a single class of device or operating system would, of course, be an obstacle. After all, one person’s Windows™-based laptop is another’s Android™-based tablet. Platform-independent, always-up-to-the-minute access to planning can only be provided by a web application.