Diggers Hotline has signed a development agreement to create a new online ticket input and delivery system. Quebec-based TelDig Systems will generate the product which will impact every facet of Diggers Hotline, including excavators that file locate requests, underground facility owners, contract locators and even call center operators.

TelDig is no stranger to the one-call and software development fields, already operating one-call centers in Idaho, New Mexico, Montreal, Ontario and Saskatchewan. Founded in 1994, TelDig is a premier provider of damage prevention solutions for buried infrastructure. TelDig Systems develops, markets and supports state-of-the-art damage prevention software tools to manage locating requests for one-call centers, receiving software for utilities and software for billing and feedback contract locators. The company’s level of experience in the one-call field was one of the qualities that impressed Diggers Hotline.

"Everyone at Diggers Hotline is really excited about what we have planned and the direction we are moving in," said Jeffrey Martens, Vice President of Operations. "We feel that once the excavating community, the members and their locators use the system, they’ll share in our excitement."

Diggers Hotline has always been eager to implement changes that make the one-call process more effective, and this move is an example.

"We’ve prided ourselves on being on the front end of technology," said Martens. "We wanted to be proactive when it came to improving the call center rather than wait until we were behind the curve."

Data Systems Manager Mike Meyer and Manager of Call Center Operations Ben Zweifel will work closely with TelDig to ensure a smooth transition.

Operators in the call center will be using the new system that will feature several advancements. However, the bulk of the improvements will be seen from online users. Instead of using the current Email-a-Locate program, users will have the option of filing locates online, at their convenience 24 hours a day with the added bonuses of using Diggers Hotline maps and receiving a ticket number instantly.

Another feature of the new system will be the improved maps. Maps on the TelDig system will be provided by Navigation Technologies. Internet mapping services MapQuest and Yahoo! Maps use NAVTECH data, as does OnStar, the vehicle assistance service.

Access to reports, maps, and a ticket database will all be available online, bypassing the need to contact the call center for most requests. Locators will have the added benefit of choosing to have tickets sent to them that includes a map of the work area.

Diggers Hotline members will be able to manage all of their tickets online with the new system. They will also be able to change or adjust member service boundaries online themselves without shipping maps back and forth to Diggers Hotline.

It should also be noted that users of Diggers Hotline will also have the choice of continuing to use the Diggers Hotline call center and that members can choose to receive tickets the same way as they do now.

More information will be forthcoming as the process moves forward.