LineAlert Information

LineAlert is participatory storm response: utility customers photograph storm damage, and the utility sees what's down and where within seconds. After a major storm, the outage management system shows which areas are out, but not what caused them. A tree on a line, a broken pole, and a blown transformer look the same in the OMS, and each needs a different crew. Utilities send assessors to find out, and in a widespread storm that takes days. When damage keeps falling, as it does in an ice storm, the same areas have to be driven again. Customers are already outside during those days, photographing the damage and posting it online. LineAlert gives them a way to send it to the utility instead. Each image is geolocated and delivered in seconds, even over degraded networks. Multiple images of the same damage cluster on one point for fast triage. A public viewer shows customers the scope of the storm, so the people waiting on restoration can see the work ahead and take part in it. Geofenced hazard alerts warn residents away from downed lines. State and local emergency management agencies can view the same imagery, giving them a shared picture of the storm alongside the utility. LineAlert is built for mass outages: hurricanes, ice storms, and other wide-area events where roads are blocked, assessors are stretched thin, and mutual aid is days away. It runs standalone, with no integration required, so a utility can be up and running in a day.