Surveying is part of the service that is offered by Millrose Telecom. But what is a survey and what are they used for?
Surveys are useful for both residential and business telecom and datacabling installations (and de-installations). An incorrectly surveyed site can cause problems that result in extra costs to the client, potentially over running on time and causing health and safety issues. To ensure that a job runs smoothly, safely, on time and on budget, surveying is a vital part of sales and project management processes.
I’ve previously worked for large companies who insisted that the sales teams conducted the site surveys as part of the sales visit. This invariably caused problems when the time of installation arrived, as the sales teams did not understand the technicalities of the job required (or sometimes exaggerated or promised the impossible to get the sale). This would result in customers sometimes having unrealistic expectations, for example: sales informing a customer that no digging would be required but the engineer turning up and digging a trench along the garden to lay a cable, or that an installation would take half a day when it would actually take three days. Sometimes it’s just much easier for everyone that the engineers themselves conduct the survey.
Here’s why.
For residential customers:
A survey enables a customer to receive an accurate quote and understand what will happen on the day. Will furniture need to be moved? What colour cable would the customer prefer? How long will it take? Will any access to outside areas be required? Will the solution meet their needs?
To determine whether the customer’s idea is actually possible if they want a specific route for their cabling. I have had all sorts of bizarre requests over the years, so a site survey determines whether it is possible, and if not, to discuss alternative solutions.
Surveys are also useful for elderly and vulnerable customers who may be anxious about what will happen on the day of the work being done with regards to any perceived upheaval.
For business customers:
Likewise, surveys help to give an accurate cost to the client by identifying materials and time required as either part of a small project or larger Tender. At Millrose Telecom we also take photographs where required to discuss routes and identify areas of potential delay on the day.
Method statements and risk assessments can be collated before a business telecom or data cabling installation goes ahead to ensure that the project is scoped out properly for budgeting of time and materials. Risk assessments obviously identify any potential hazards on site that could affect health and safety and/or require extra time to mitigate. Millrose Telecom has achieved SSSTS (Site Supervisor Safety Training Scheme) and Safe Contractor accreditations, in addition to Asbestos Awareness training and certifcation, to ensure that health and safety risks are identified and minimalised prior to work commencing.
We’ve also ensured that surveys are part of decommissioning and de-installation projects. Recently we sub-contracted to national chains of retail stores replacing all their tills and back office PCs. Survey work was required on-site to identify all the PCs and tills that required de-commissioning. Serial numbers and quantities needed capturing and records kept meticulously to enable remote programming to be carried out by help desk engineers at the other end of the country for the new PCs then installed. A potentially messy project ran smoothly with slick auditing and time taken to accurately survey and trace all PCs and tills in each store.
Office and server moves also require thorough surveying prior to “The Big Move”. This includes identifying what has got to moved, in what priority order and which lead went to where before it’s all dismantled and re-assembled at the other end of its journey, often many hundreds of miles away.
So, you see, it’s more than just an opportunity for an engineer like me to walk about with a clipboard feeling important. Surveys ensure that the job is performed to the highest standard, by planning and executing the project properly.
If you need a site survey for a business or residential project then please contact us.
