Fulcrum, a field inspection management platform, has integrated Esri’s ArcGIS Maps software development kit (SDK) into its platform to provide customers with access to Esri’s geographic information system (GIS) capabilities. The integration will allow Fulcrum’s customers in industries such as power, water, telecom, agriculture, environmental engineering, and others to access and leverage Esri data directly within the Fulcrum platform, streamlining their workflows and saving valuable time.
“By integrating Esri’s GIS capabilities into Fulcrum, we’re able to support an underserved market of organisations hungry for location intelligence,” says Jim Grady, CEO of Fulcrum. “Fulcrum is enabling data collectors and inspectors in the field to get a simple, location-rich experience that helps them perform tasks more effectively, while automatically providing the business with more complete, higher-quality location data as part of their daily operations.”
This integration greatly benefits Fulcrum’s 3,000 customers by streamlining the creation, deployment, and maintenance of data collection apps that natively incorporate geospatial information for a unified user experience. This effort is designed to address several pain points faced by organisations, including:
Enhanced location intelligence in the field: Field inspectors and data collectors, who have typically been forced to rely on paper maps or a patchwork of digital mapping solutions, can now have all of their process management, geographic context, and data collection in one app on their mobile devices. Using Esri’s Feature Services capabilities, including the ability for Fulcrum to consume Esri-native lines and polygons, changes in the home office are immediately communicated to the field without manual intervention. Even private layers, which require authentication to Esri, can be used in Fulcrum on mobile devices. Field inspectors and data collectors see greater efficiency and productivity for every activity they engage in by having faster, easier access to all the information they need in one place.
Streamlined workflows: The process of getting relevant geospatial data to and from mobile devices is usually a cumbersome, long, and manually intensive effort. Fulcrum customers who need industrial-strength location capabilities, such as those in electrical power, water, environmental engineering, and oil & gas, can now improve two-way communication of maps and geodatabase information with minimal effort.
Improved data timeliness and quality: The integration provides real-time, bi-directional data flows between Fulcrum and ArcGIS that eliminate the time, transcription errors, and staffing difficulties that accompany traditional non-integrated solutions. By enabling Fulcrum users to use Esri’s Feature Services and layers, information silos can be broken down, and more high-quality location intelligence is communicated to and from the field.
“This integration is a game changer for organisations that need to build, deploy, and manage complex field inspection applications,” says Jared Carey, innovation specialist for TREKK Design Group, LLC. “With Fulcrum’s field inspection platform and the added benefit of Esri’s GIS capabilities, we can now provide our field teams with faster and easier access to critical inspection data within the geographic area they are operating in, both online and offline. This will increase their efficiency and productivity while enabling them to work at peak effectiveness.”
For more information about Fulcrum’s integration of Esri’s ArcGIS capabilities, please visit our blog, Chart new territory using advanced geospatial capabilities with Esri integration.
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