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Panasonic delivers tablets to field workers

UK water company Northumbrian Water recently delivered 500 Panasonic Toughpad FZ-G1 tablets to its field workers. These tablets are designed to act as rugged tools to allow the company's workers to remotely manage its systems.

January 28, 2016

U.K. water company Northumbrian Water recently delivered 500 Panasonic Toughpad FZ-G1 tablets to its field workers. These tablets are designed to act as rugged tools to allow the company's workers to remotely manage its systems, according to the press release.

The tablet allowed the workers to locate sites to inspect, perform risk assessments and make reports on overall activity. Using the tablet's camera, workers could take snapshots of issues or sites and upload it to the system. The Toughpad FZ-G1 was designed with a 10-finger multitouch display, digitizer pen and configurable ports.

NWL, which trades as Northumbrian Water in north-eastern England and trades as Essex & Suffolk Water in southeastern England, had both of its groups perform field tests with eight different mobile devices. After the test was done, they found that the Panasonic Toughpad was the ideal solution, according to the press release.

"We were quite surprised at the result, when both groups chose exactly the same device," said Jim Howey, distribution maintenance manager, NWL. "The Panasonic Toughpad FZ-G1 tablet was the clear choice for both technicians and the maintenance teams."

"People were really impressed with just how rugged the device was and the fact that it could genuinely be used in an outside environment; and not just in the rain, the screen was clearly visible in bright sunlight as well," Howey said. "Users were also impressed with the touchscreen capabilities. Being able to zoom in quickly and easily on documents, GIS maps and schematics was a real advantage."