Traditional ISPs can be difficult to work with when it comes to reliable jobsite connectivity. When your productivity, communication, and ultimate success hinges on having the right amount of bandwidth at the right time, the last thing you want is to be stuck on hold with an ISP.
Hard-to-reach locations require a little extra care from your provider, often involving custom-designed solutions that will make sure you stay connected at every nook and cranny of your jobsite. Not just at the trailer, not just at one part of your jobsite, the entire jobsite. And it needs to be scalable so that as your job expands, your connection grows with it.
With digital tools regularly expanding their implementation across a jobsite, the only way to get the most from that investment is to ensure all devices can communicate in real-time.
Connectivity is the key to technological execution.
Why Does Field Connectivity Matter?
Real-time Project Data
Being able to track progress as it happens or address changes when they occur is crucial to staying on-task. Project managers are most effective when they can provide their team with accurate, up-to-date information. This prevents costly mistakes, shortens the project lifecycle, and boosts productivity.
Being able to track a fleet, manage the location and distribution of materials and resources, and communicate changes that affect the scope of the project immediately are incredibly valuable tasks that rely on real-time data. Without a reliable connection, true real-time data can’t exist.
Anywhere access to docs and apps
Your technology isn’t useful if you can’t access the documents you need or leverage the applications you pay for in the field. And we’re not just limiting access to a few areas on the jobsite; we’re talking about the entirety of your jobsite. Your team needs to be able to access information from anywhere, no matter how far from the trailer they may be or how remote the service area.
Streamlined Communication
The previous two points flow right into this bullet. Having the knowledge at your fingertips when it’s happening provides clearer communication between teams on the jobsite and more transparency to stakeholders outside of the field. This reduces the possibility for miscommunication, prevents avoidable errors due to a lag of informational exchange, and coordinates everyone across a project without any extra work from your team.
Tech Adoption Isn’t Slowing Down on the Jobsite
Tech adoption is only going to continue to speed up as technology advances. Though the construction industry was originally slow to catch on, more firms have begun to embrace the digitization of the jobsite.
Technology is supposed to help close the labor gap, reduce the time it takes to complete a project, improve jobsite safety, create better communication and clarity throughout the project lifecycle, clarify accountability, provide analytical insights and more.
Your teams need to be prepared to implement all this technology, the communication needs to be clear throughout, and expectations should be set and clear. One crucial component to that is understanding just how much buy-in your organization needs around connectivity. Technological implementation will crumble without it.
Buy-In to Connectivity
Connectivity isn’t sexy. It’s not a new gadget or application that does cool things or makes your job feel more exciting. Connectivity is a lot like city infrastructure. You don’t think about it until there are major delays due to construction, accidents, weather, etc.
Connectivity may not be something you think about, and honestly, you shouldn’t have to if it’s doing its job. Connectivity is supposed to be the thing that keeps everything running smoothly — the grease in the gears. As a result, it’s not talked about, and it’s often not thought of or addressed until it interferes with your ability to execute on-site.
Get your entire company to buy-in. Make sure there’s a budget for connectivity. Know where you need it. Know how much bandwidth you need. Prevent pain before it starts. It doesn’t have to be appealing; it just has to work.
