Every electric utility has one mission: keep the lights on for the citizens in their service area. My job at Southern California Edison (SCE), which provides electrical services to 15 million citizens in southern California, is to make sure the radios are available for the linesmen crews so they can do their job maintaining and restoring the electrical grid.
Move to Managed Service Environment
A big initiative at SCE is an evolution to a managed service provider environment. It allows us to better manage operations, while offloading tasks that are not necessarily our specialty to people whose specialty it is to do that function. SCE selected Motorola Solutions Premier Managed Services to keep our fleet of radios operating at peak performance.
Prior to implementation, I was solely responsible for configuring every mobile and portable radio operating on the radio system. This was very time consuming, leaving little time to do anything else. Since implementation, I am now free to operate at a higher level because I don’t have to be in the weeds, handling the radios. I can get out and work with the users to improve the way they use the radios.
Improved Device Management Operations
It is very beneficial to know the Motorola Solutions Premier Managed Service technicians are looking after the entire fleet and contacting users to implement changes. In addition to a robust portal that allows me to view the status of any radio at any time, they provide services such as:
- Tracking radios by both serial number, radio ID, firmware version
- Provisioning subscribers with new IDs or upgrades
- Performing routine upgrades over-the-air
- Providing on-site technical support and repair
- Managing a hosted central repository
Better Manage Complexity
Our managed service contract with Motorola Solutions has allowed us to stand back from the nuts and bolts of every day and administer in a more efficient manner. It has allowed us to better manage the complexity. I believe if you can manage expectations, which we are doing with the new contract, there will be less chaos.
Our primary function, regardless of everything else, is the safe and efficient operation of the electrical distribution grid. Meeting the expectations of the users is paramount to what we do every day. I’ve had a good day when my ability to go out and better manage users’ expectations and improve their work environment helps to make sure the users and public are safe.
Southern California Edison (SCE) is an investor-owned utility that provides electrical distribution services across 50,000 square miles in California with transmission responsibilities covering 62,000 square miles, including central Arizona and Southwestern Nevada. They have a fleet of 6000 APX radios and Motorola Solutions Premier Device Management services to manage radio operations. Learn more about SCE Managed Services.
