Mayrise centralised contract and works management system. A
single-database, advanced terminal server system will improve Kent
County Council's road management.
Daniel Thomas.
The problems of traffic jams, unlit streets and endless
roadworks may soon be eased for the residents of Kent after the
implementation of a centralised contract and works management
system by the county council,
The council hopes the system will improve the maintenance of
highways, street lights and roadworks by providing contractors and
agents with immediate access to real-time information across the
county.
The Mayrise system, which uses advanced terminal server
technology, is maintained centrally and accessed through "live"
terminals. It links 12 highway units, run by Kent's district
councils, with PC terminals linked to a central server in
Maidstone.
With just one database, there is complete synchronisation so
that all users know the exact status of any faults and works in
their area. Kent's street lighting contractor is already linked to
Mayrise, receiving works orders and reporting back electronically,
and the system is now being used to manage and co-ordinate
roadworks.
In the highways department, links are being established to a
works management system operated by contractor Ringway.
As well as linking the client, agents and contractors, the
system is also expected to provide significant benefits through the
interconnection of all the main highway functions.
"By using the same system for street works, street lighting and
highways maintenance, implementation is easier, data duplication is
avoided, and the co-ordination of activities becomes viable," says
Toby Howe, of Kent's Network Management Unit.
For street lighting, Mayrise provides online access to
inventory, contractor and customer records, with facilities for
maintenance, fault management, electrical testing and financial
control. The council had previously operated a distributed computer
system for street lighting based on standalone PCs at each highways
unit.
"With real-time data, everyone is in the picture all of the
time. This means we can handle enquiries immediately, armed with a
real knowledge of what is going on at street level," says Howe.
Kent is also in the process of implementing Mapnow, Mayrise's
in-built mapping tool, which will quickly locate faults.
System benefits
- More immediate response to enquiries about the state of
highways and more knowledge of problems
- Improved performance monitoring and management of
contracts
- Easier to secure data because access to centralised system can
be controlled
- Implementation and training is easier on one system
- Data duplication is avoided
- Co-ordination of activities is viable