New software application for cable industry.

Pen Systems, a mobile software application company based in Sudbury, has developed a new custom-built application for the cable industry aimed at increasing productivity and accessibility in the field.

Launched in September, Field Cable, Pen System's newest software application, can translate information from all major CAD and database formats and integrate it into one single, easy-to-use screen of data for use on a pen-computer in the field.

With this new application, cable companies can now read each other's data and verify it in the field. The process eliminates the need for redrafting of internal field data and the need to redraw another company's base network maps, which can be a time-consuming process.

Field Cable can be adapted to all of Pen System's computer products including the Pen tablet, a hand-held computer, and the company's new wearable belt computer.

Nigel Leith, a company partner, says rolling out the Field Cable application has been a goal of Pen Systems for several years.

"We started developing the application as early as 1994."

Leith says the new application is proving most valuable as a time-saver by eliminating hours of work from the data inputting process both in the field and the office.

"We think the new application can save between 40 and 60 per cent of field time on average," Leith says, noting that the often cumbersome task of modifying and imputing data taken from field notes is effectively eliminated by the new application.

"Everything can now be done in the field," he says.

Besides its time-saving benefits, Leith says Pen System's ability to market the Field Cable software as part of its wearable hardware application gives it a distinct advantage over its competitors. The application can be run on a wearable computer which is built into a belt the user wears around their waste and includes a waterproof tablet screen.

"It's more appropriate," Leith says, of the wearable application. "(When) climbing poles or going down manholes, or putting fibre lines down drain holes, the wearable aspect is a real benefit. There's even voice input for hands-free use," he says.

Pen System's products are used by a wide variety of industries including mining, medicine, energy, transportation, government, cable companies and various utilities for filing, updating and retrieving data from field settings.

Customers using the new Field Cable application include Geotech Computer Systems and Rogers Communications Inc.