View our case study

Executive Summary

SP Electricity North West (SP ENW) manages a high volume of fault activity and post-fault overhead line inspections across a large and diverse distribution network. Dispatchers previously relied on manual phone calls to establish which field teams were available and how far they were from a fault - a process that slowed response times and added unnecessary strain on control room staff. By deploying CHiME Locate directly inside its existing Network Management System, SP ENW gained real-time visibility of field worker availability and proximity, cutting dispatch delays while introducing privacy safeguards that field staff could trust. The result: faster fault response, fewer manual calls, and a workforce more confident that their location data was being used responsibly.

‍

The Operational Challenge

Before CHiME Locate, SP ENW's control room faced a familiar set of constraints common to large network operators:

• Visibility gaps - dispatchers had no reliable, real-time picture of which engineers were on stand-by versus already committed elsewhere.
• Manual coordination overhead - confirming a team's status and location meant a round of phone calls, adding delay to every dispatch decision during live fault events.
• Risk of misallocation - without accurate distance data, control engineers risked sending the wrong or a non-qualified team, extending restoration times.
• Workforce privacy concerns - field staff and their representatives were understandably wary of continuous GPS tracking, particularly outside working hours, which made a naive "always-on location" solution a non-starter.
• Legacy system constraints - any new tool had to slot into SP ENW's existing corporate Network Management System rather than requiring a parallel platform dispatchers would need to check separately.

How CHiME Solved It

CHiME Locate was engineered specifically around the tension between operational visibility and workforce privacy:

• Real-time distance, not real-time coordinates. Control room dispatchers see only how close a qualified engineer is to a given fault - never their precise GPS position - satisfying both operational and workforce-privacy requirements simultaneously.
• GPS updates every 15 minutes, or instantly on demand. Routine updates keep the picture current, while "hot call" refreshes give dispatchers an immediate read during live, fast-moving incidents.
• Self-managed availability. Field teams and contractors set their own available/unavailable status from the CHiME app, reducing interruptions from control room calls and supporting existing workforce and contractor agreements.
• Seamless integration. Open APIs feed structured availability and distance data directly into SP ENW's existing Network Management System, so dispatchers work in one screen rather than switching tools.

"CHiME Locate has transformed how we manage faults. It enables us to dispatch the right teams quickly to faults and inspections, improving response times and keeping operations efficient. Field staff manage their availability in the app, and the system respects privacy by only showing distance to fault, so dispatchers can act fast and confidently."
- Paul Rawlinson, HV Control Manager, SP ENW Hub

‍