STEMC's tornado-damaged network restored in just six days

STEMC's project team quickly identified the damaged locations and applied Render's labels functionality on a per-county basis to manage and prioritize the work and filter for easy reimbursement of emergency funding.

As they waited for the electrical service to be restored, they prepared all the required tasks and work orders and assigned them to crews ready to start building.

“Our crews had work in hand on their iPads and were waiting on electric crews steadying poles and energizing lines,” said Billy Gordon, VP, Technical Operations.

Since STEMC’s broadband team knew where the active services were, it could deploy the work for the mainline cable and consider locations that could receive drops.

“We were running fiber drops before the electricity was restored, knowing that once electric service was restored, customers would call in and say they were ready for internet service,” Gordon says.

STEMC used Render's platform to inform management of progress, remaining tasks, and any tasks waiting for construction crews to be available. Knowing what resources would be available allowed STEMC to plan better and focus ahead so no crews were idle.

Labels played an instrumental role in tracking work completed, materials, and labor units to simplify Federal reporting. Date-stamped, GIS-tagged photos verified the documentation and reporting, facilitating timely and precise reimbursement for storm-related work.

“Something that would take a day with pretty intense spreadsheet work with Labels is just a click away,” Gordon says.