Everyone is talking about virtual inspections, flying drones to capture grid assets and using AI to support all of this. But how do you ensure a ROI from this transition? By asking the right questions from the start.  

Lets be clear not all virtual inspections are the same! We have been delivering virtual inspections assisted by AI for over 10 years and see time and time again utilities not being successful with their approach by not comparing apple to apples when comparing vendors and not asking the right questions of their teams when they want to implement these programs.   

Questions you should be asking when transitioning to virtual inspections so you are successful.

• What problems are you trying to solve? 
• What is your success criteria?  
• What is the long-term strategy of transitioning to virtual inspections? 
• Have you got the right data capture methodology? 
• What data are you collecting when in the field – every asset or just assets impacted? 
• Will the images you capture work for the software you are using and for the inspector? 
• Have you got the right virtual inspection software? 
• Have you got the right skills inhouse to make this successful? 
• How is AI applied to improve the business process?  
• How will you train the AI?  
• How do you future proof your AI? 
• How do you ensure consistency across your inspections? 
• How will you process all the images you capture? 
• Once have your inspection results what will you do? 
• What is your strategy for the image-based data you are collecting in the field?- If you are collecting it and paying for you should use it. 
• How will you future proof your investment?  

If you apply virtual inspections to just replace your routine inspection cycle that is a great start and will definitely improve your safety, give you a great inspection report to go out and fix the issues.  You can repeat and rinse this method over and over but it is still based on time and you would be missing out on the bigger return on investment. 

If you transition to virtual inspections with your wider asset management team involved and link the program to your asset management strategy and also focus on the image-based data, that is where you see the biggest return – moving away from time-based inspections to risk of assets.  

If you are investing in going out and collecting data in the field, make it count and get your return.

Contact us today to find out more.