Washington, PA - February 16, 2006 - GeoSpatial Innovations, Inc. (GSI), a leading developer of field technology solutions for energy and communications companies, and Itron Inc. (NASDAQ: ITRI) today announced that the two companies have teamed up to provide the most comprehensive field-to-office technology solution for electric line designers and engineers.
Under the agreement, Itron Distribution Staker will now come bundled with GSI's Pocket Designer field software. Utilities that purchase Distribution Staker will have access to a seamless field-to-office solution for creating overhead or underground electric line designs in the field. With this partnership, utilities now have the flexibility to complete their field design on a tablet, laptop or a handheld Pocket PC device.
GSI's Pocket Designer software runs on a Pocket PC and allows engineers and designers to quickly capture locations of structures and cables. Electrical workers can complete a paperless electric line design by adding construction units and notes while working in the field. Pocket Designer produces an average labor savings of 20 percent per job by eliminating manual methods for measuring, sketching and re-keying data obtained in the field.
Itron's Distribution Staker software runs on a desktop, laptop or tablet computer and combines computer-aided design rendering and editing capabilities with robust data sharing, reporting and estimating tools for utility companies. While a designer uses the embedded design tools to create layouts and construction drawings, Distribution Staker automatically generates a complete and consistent construction packet including material lists, customer estimates, utility cost estimates, staking sheets and more.
In addition to the robust feature set of both software applications, end users will also have the option of purchasing a Global Positioning System(GPS) module that provides an interface to a GPS receiver and GPS post-processing differential correction for increased accuracy.
"This partnership enables us to provide a soup-to-nuts solution for utility companies collecting information in the field and analyzing it back in the office, and we look forward to working with GSI to bring this solution to our utility customers," said Mike Penberthy, director of distribution design solutions at Itron.
"Itron is clearly committed to understanding the needs of its clients and to providing industry-leading solutions to help them meet those needs," said Carl Livingood, president of GSI. "This partnership is a result of increasing demand from utility companies for a seamless solution to help meet field and office line design challenges, and we're pleased to be joining forces with a company like Itron to address those needs."
About Itron
Itron is a leading technology provider and critical source of knowledge to the global energy and water industries. Nearly 3,000 utilities worldwide rely on Itron's award-winning technology to provide the knowledge they require to optimize the delivery and use of energy and water. Itron creates value for its clients by providing industry-leading solutions for electricity metering; meter data collection; energy information management; demand response; load forecasting, analysis and consulting services; distribution system design and optimization; web-based workforce automation; and enterprise and residential energy management. To know more, start here:
www.itron.com.
About GeoSpatial Innovations
Founded in 1999, GSI helps energy and communication companies implement emerging technologies to better manage fixed assets (wires and pipes) and vehicle assets (trucks and equipment). Targeted toward specific business processes such as design, inspection and outage management, GSI's solutions leverage mobile, GIS, and GPS technologies to streamline work flows, saving labor and material costs. GSI is an Authorized Partner for GE Energy Smallworld GIS, specifically a Value Added Reseller for the Gas industry inthe Southeast. Additionally, GSI is an Authorized Business Partner forESRI and has a Business Partner relationship with Trimble Navigation, Ltd. as an Authorized Developer.
For more information on GeoSpatial Innovations products and services, please visit
www.gsiworks.com or contact GeoSpatial Innovations, Inc. at
info@gsiworks.com or by phone at (866) 474-9675.
