AI Voice & Chat Assistant for Field Crews

Executive Summary

Every minute a crew waits for answers is a minute of sunk cost. Calls to the NOC to locate the right splice diagram, confirm torque specs, or interpret a site code slow jobs and create bottlenecks. An AI voice/chat assistant delivers the exact artifact and step-by-step guidance on demand—hands-free when needed. It pulls SOPs, manuals, and diagrams from a curated knowledge base, adds GIS layers (ducts, poles, permits), and summarizes next actions with safety reminders. Actions are logged to close tickets faster and improve first-time-right performance.

The problem today

Knowledge is scattered across PDFs, drives, and portals. Terminology differs by vendor and region. Back-office staff become a helpdesk for lookups and policy clarifications. Status updates are delayed, and repeated errors stem from outdated instructions on mobile devices.

The AI-led flow

1. Understanding the request: The assistant parses natural language (“Show splice 3B, cabinet 12, site AL-45”) and maps it to asset IDs and the correct revision.
2. Retrieval with provenance: It fetches the latest SOP, diagram, or schematic and cites the source and version; if a newer revision exists, it warns proactively.
3. Contextualization with GIS: The response includes nearby assets, permit constraints, and hazards; optional AR overlays or annotated images can be provided.
4. Guided execution: Steps are summarized with torque/clearances and PPE reminders; high-risk steps require explicit human confirmations.
5. Ticket updates: The assistant writes notes, attaches artifacts, and updates status in EAM/CMMS; unresolved issues escalate to a human specialist.
6. Observability: Dashboards show repeated queries and knowledge gaps to improve SOPs.

Privacy-by-design, compliance-aligned: Role-based access, least-privilege retrievals, region-bound processing (e.g., EU), immutable logs, and no training on proprietary data without consent. Decision support only; safety-critical actions require human approval.

Pilot scope (4–6 weeks)

• Scope: One region, 10–20 most frequent SOPs/diagrams, top 50 sites.
• Interfaces: Read-only knowledge base + GIS; write ticket updates to EAM/CMMS.
• Success criteria: Median time-to-answer, first-time-right rate, back-office contact volume, and crew CSAT.

Hypothesis metrics (illustrative, not guaranteed):

• Crew idle time −15–30% on targeted tasks.
• Back-office lookups −30–50%.
• First-time-right +5–10 pp on repetitive jobs.

Quick ROI math (scenario):
With 120 crews saving 10 minutes/day, at €100/hour blended cost, time returned ≈ €2,000/day (~€40k/month). Reduced support tickets and fewer repeat visits increase the upside.

Risks & mitigations

• Outdated documents: Versioned sources and “freshness” badges; auto-alerts on superseded SOPs.
• Ambiguity in requests: Disambiguation prompts; show top-3 candidate diagrams with metadata.
• Connectivity limits: Offline cache with sync; fall back to SMS summaries.

From pilot to scale

Expand to more SOP families and multi-language support; add photo/video diagnostics; integrate HSE checklists and digital permits. Over time, knowledge access becomes instant and standardized across all crews.

Expected impact (illustrative):

• Faster issue resolution and reduced crew idle time.
• Lower dependency on back-office support staff.
• Improved accuracy and safety from instant access to SOPs.
• ROI through higher crew efficiency and reduced support costs.