How do you keep up with clients, past jobs, and physical locations of surveys?
I've been using an Access database since I set up shop in 1993. In recent years I've been supplementing that by plotting job locations in Google Earth, but it's not an automated process (yet).
I did same as Jim. You can put hyperlinks into the GE Placemarks to call up pdfs, etc.
A simple text file for the data, and a simple BASIC search program. It will find data that matches up to three positive entries, and ignore data that matches up to three negative entries. Really fast and efficient.
I've got about 50 years worth of 3" X 5" cards by street name which actually is about as efficient as any other method. Of course in the last ten years, I've been doing it on an excel spreadsheet with client name, street and cross-street, date, job number just because you're supposed to do everything on a computer nowadays.
Replying to myself
Dear self: The thing is with a computer spreadsheet, if the data enterer misspelled "Fruitridge" Road as "Frurtridge" on the index cards, you could still find it whereas on a spreadsheet, the stupid computer will think Fruitridge doesn't exist because of a misspelling error like that. I admit that computers are better at alphabetization than most survey techs, though.
Replying to myself
My previous employer had a card file for the various map files. The cards were organized by Park unit.
Someone made an Access database but it was hard to search because they put information into text strings and they weren't consistent with how they did it plus as Steve mentions misspellings or differing spellings and abbreviations made it nearly impossible to search. I started to make a new Access database with dropdowns for Park unit name and County and township and range and so on. That helped a lot and made it a lot more searchable.
Replying to myself
I have used Google earth a little mostly plotting estimated corner positions or repeater locations.
Replying to myself
You're right about that. Where I used to work, the person who entered the data into the database changed every year or two ...
So to we have about 50 different combination of:
"City of Smithville, First addition"
"Map of City of Smithville, 1st Addition"
"Smithville, Map of City of, 1st Add"
"First Addition of Map of Smithville"
Etc ...
And, unfortunately, the way the database is set up, you have to at least get the first word right when searching. And, of course, the newest person would often get one hit from the above list, which doesn't match the job we're looking for, and report the job doesn't exist...
When I went solo, I wrote a front end for a database that can search for any word in any field, prints work orders and invoices, keeps track of billing, etc ... It's a little buggy but works fine for me ...
If you are working in a stand-alone desktop environment then MS Access. The 2007 version is a significant upgrade from the 2003 version. Get the "Missing Manual" book for Access 2007 and if you have any database design experience it'll have you up and running in no time.
Many of you hit on one of the biggest issues with data management - lack of standardization for things like customer names, project locations, etc. This is where a relational database is a huge help. It almost forces you, through the use of lookup tables, to standardize your data entry.
If you are in a networked environment and need to share common data or do data inputs across employees or project teams you really need to move to a server-based RDBMS solution like SQLServer or Oracle. At this point you've moved to a whole new level of data management complexity, but you can do some amazing things with a centralized RDBMS system, like linking different data types across databases, spatial data integration across platforms (think native ArcGIS geodatabase data directly accessible inside of AutoCAD Civil3D, integrated project management, etc.
Worked at an engineering firm where the owner was real proud of the county map with push pins all over it, red pins for engineering jobs and yellow pins for surveying jobs. It was so congested that you could only find a job in the sparser outskirts. In the 2 1/2 years I was there several disgruntled employees would drag their hand across it as they quit and walked out the door, knocking a bunch of pins on the floor.... More then once I would spend hours researching at the courthouse and engineers office only to find out what I was hunting was in a cabinet a couple feet from my desk.
Another firm had everything organized by client name, since the owners daughter does the billing and had set up the filing system. If the 80 something year old owner could not remember the clients name you were sol. Tried several times to get them to let me organize by location during slow times and they wouldn't let me, it would mess up the daughters filing system.
In another firm the owner would have someone throw out all files older then 3 years every year to make room for the next years files....
In each of those firms I was hired to "fix the surveying department", and in each case the answer was to get rid of the owner before he screwed something else up.
Now I am on my own and will get started on that database "real soon now".
Index cards in index files. Don't laugh, it has never crashed.
All my jobs are filed by Tax Map number so it is easy on the computer or in the files to find an old job and all the surrounding projects I have done. Sort of a selfmade GIS
Replying to myself
Lulz.
I use Access, the data exported from an old program (My Database).
I recently took in an update of a local shopping center. The maroon that entered the project in the daytabase was to lazy to spell "Southside" in the Company field. Diddling through the referenced jobs turned up "SS" instead.
You database is only as good as the laziest person entering your data. If he doesn't have an appreciation for it's use, 3X5's are a close substitute.
Rick
We use a program called "Info Retreiver" from AGTCAD. Nice program. But like everyone stated, we have had several different people entering data and now we have differences that we have to go back and correct and standardize.
Replying to myself
You can set up an electronic card file from a database that you can browse just like the paper ones. So if it is not practical to use dropdowns for a particular field (such as client name) then at least you can sort them by client and look through the Ss.
there were stories over at Parks of a Deputy Director (short timer like most political hacks) that ordered a bunch of old maps and files thrown away. We had holes where we had the index card but not the actual map because it got thrown away.
Database Software -- What everyone can use!
A database is the correct way to go when you have so many pieces of data that should all be properly cross-referenced.
About 15 years ago, we started entering drawings and clients info into a flat database file. (I.e, no more structured or well-designed than a single spread-sheet, but at least it was search-able.)
About 7 years ago, things evolved to an (Access) relational DB, with separate but cross-referenced plans, jobs and contacts. Everyone in the office had a special-purpose (Visual-Basic-built) tool that could access the data, within the office network.
Three years ago things evolved to a MySQL relational DB, that -- combined with PHP, java script, etc, server-side software -- anyone (with authorization) could access via his web browser. The system, which we call iPJC, also tracks project estimates and produces transmittals and labels. Of course, it's still evolving.
Anyone can set up iPJC -- OK, you need some IT skills -- because it's open-source software. So, go take a look at http://ipjc.underhill.ca/