Reimagining telecom and utility workflows | IQGeo

Telecom and utility organizations operate some of the most complex and geographically distributed networks in the world. The challenges they face span design, construction, and ongoing operations, with work that must flow seamlessly between office teams, field crews, contractors, and external systems.

Why telecom and utilities need smarter, connected workflow management  

The lack of a unified operational model means that telecom and utility organizations often make decisions with incomplete or outdated information, impacting operational efficiency, service reliability, and customer satisfaction. We see a clear need for a smarter, more connected approach to workflow management.   

How IQGeo defines a workflow 

A workflow is much more than a sequence of tasks or a rigid process flowchart. A workflow is the coordinated interaction of people, systems, and data, all working together toward a shared operational goal. It is dynamic and decision-oriented, driven by events and conditions that require human or machine interpretation. Progress happens through interaction with a shared digital model of the business – often called a digital twin – that reflects the current state of the network.  

In this model, workflows are powered by real-time context, evolving as the underlying business state changes. Collaboration between human operators and automated systems is central, with each actor consuming data, applying logic, and updating the system. This approach ensures that workflows remain responsive and adaptive, capable of addressing the fast-changing demands of modern network operations. 

Improving operational efficiency  

IQGeo’s Workflow Manager is the embodiment of this vision for a modern workflow. Workflow Manager is a flexible, configurable task engine that allows telecom and utility operators to orchestrate work across their network lifecycle. It provides a framework for creating, assigning, and tracking tasks and milestones, integrating seamlessly with the IQGeo network model and external business systems. Unlike generic workflow tools, Workflow Manager is purpose-built for managing network-centric operational processes. It enables teams to visualize and manage work in a spatially driven way, ensuring that tasks are tied directly to physical assets in the network. 

Users benefit from no-code configuration for ticket forms and lifecycles, enabling quick adaptation to new processes without the need for complex development. Integration is at the heart of Workflow Managers design, offering an open API suite and webhook support that connect work activities with ERP, scheduling, and asset management systems. This ensures that work assigned to the field is always aligned with broader business processes and that data synchronizes across the organization. The result is a unified, real-time view of work activity, accessible on any device, that helps teams stay coordinated, efficient, and accountable. 

Real-time visual AI

Workflow Manager also includes real-time visual AI photo analysis to quickly capture a photo of a network asset and then instantly validate its status. This gives telecom and utilities the ability to integrate discriminative AI modeling with your active work tickets. For example, telecom field teams working on cabinet installations or fiber splicing can automatically verify the quality and completeness of their work. Utility crews can auto-verify the condition of a pole during an inspection or the accuracy of a meter location during the as-built process. It’s the ideal coordination of people and systems applying logic to advance an operational goal and then update the underlying model, and to do so in the most efficient way possible. 

Demo: Cut fiber closeout time with AI-powered QA

What Workflow Manager delivers for telecom workflows 

For telecom networks, Workflow Manager delivers the capabilities required to overcome long-standing process challenges and unlock new levels of efficiency and performance, all while tightly integrating work tasks with the underlying geospatial network model. Some examples include: 

• Translate complex network designs into install-ready tasks.  Streamline planned and unplanned work through a single ticketing system. Field and operations teams benefit from accurate, real-time information that improves productivity and reduces outage durations.
• Faster fault resolution. When a NOC monitoring tool detects a fault, a dispatcher can create a ticket, pinpoint the fault location using Network Manager Telecom, and then assign the ticket to begin a repair workflow. That ticket drives every step: assigning a field tech, capturing site updates, recording the repair, and updating the network model.
• Repeatable, rules-driven splicing. Splicing is managed through a structured work order that spans multiple construction milestones.  Each milestone uses its own ticket generation rules, allowing teams to create phase-specific tickets based on the type of splice or task required. Users select features directly from the design, select the relevant rule-set for the task, and generate tickets for the required milestone. Once tickets are assigned, technicians will use Network Manager Telecom to review the design, and their ticket assignments to guide the splice work. 

Podcast: AI and the perfect operations workflow

What Workflow Manager delivers for utility workflows 

For workflows that correspond to utility grid assets, Workflow Manager also eliminates paper processes and synchronizes systems, making processes more efficient across the network lifecycle. The benefits include: 

• Accelerated outage response. When outages occur, the tight integration with ADMS and EAM systems allows utilities to respond rapidly, ensuring that crews arrive on site with the right context. Field teams report status updates from their mobile devices, allowing operations centers to track restoration progress minute by minute. By centralizing communication, documentation, and task execution in one platform, utilities gain end-to-end visibility and control over the outage restoration process to meet the critical SLAs associated with outage restoration.
• Streamlined asset inspections. Whether scheduled or reactive, we streamline inspections with a no-code ticketing system and geospatial awareness. Crews can be assigned targeted inspection tasks for poles, transformers, or other field assets based on geography, priority, or risk. From mobile devices, inspectors can log conditions, upload photos, and flag safety concerns in real time, all directly tied to the network model. This ensures that inspection records are consistent, accessible, and immediately actionable by office teams and regulators.
• Digital as-built capture. Rather than relying on paper forms or disconnected tools, crews can document as-built activities as they occur in the field. The platform supports digital data entry, media attachments, and automated updates to the network model, eliminating the delays and errors that often result from manual, paper processes.

 Demo: Change a design in the field

Transforming workflows for smarter telecom and utility networks

The complexity of modern telecom and utility networks demands an agile and adaptive approach to managing them. It starts with transforming the idea of workflows. Explore this further by checking out our Workflow Manager video library.

Ready to see the benefits that smarter workflows can bring to your organization? Book a demo today to get started.