Laptop’s rugged charm wins over Barwon Water

Victoria’s largest regional urban water corporation, Barwon Region Water Corporation, has deployed 45 rugged laptops across its maintenance vehicles.

The company used the services of Advanced Mobile I.T (AMIT) to help roll out the devices.

The laptops are mounted in the vehicles to receive job information and GIS mapping information in real time out in the field. The company also installed ADR-compliant mounting solutions on its fleet of light trucks and utility vehicles.

Barwon Water had previously equipped employees with slate tablet devices which had reached the end of their serviceable life and was looking to invest in a more reliable, rugged, mobile computing solution for its highly mobile workforce.

According to Brad Richards, Barwon Water Manager - Field Services, the company selected the Panasonic Toughbook CF-19Mk3 rugged laptop to assist employees in their highly mobile and challenging environment.

“Our maintenance employees are field based and need a reliable and feature-packed unit that can handle a few knocks and bumps that are inevitable when you’re in that environment,” says Richards.

A magnesium alloy frame and shock-absorbent damper help protect the device and its hard drive from damage while in the field. The screen rotates 180° and converts to tablet form for convenience on the go.

“As all of our work is outdoors, the antireflection touch screen is particularly useful and makes it much easier to get things done; and, of course, the ruggedness of the unit is a key consideration for us. The embedded 3G WWAN and GPS functionality also help to make working in the field much more efficient for our employees,” Richards adds.