Many utility companies reach a point where they need to evaluate whether screening locate tickets would benefit their operation. Ticket screening can be an effective way to save time, reduce field costs, and focus locate resources on the tickets that carry actual risk. But it's not the right approach for every organization. Determining whether screening fits your situation depends on a few key factors.

How Does Ticket Volume Affect the Value of Screening?

When does ticket screening make sense for a utility? The most important factor is volume. How many 811 locate tickets does your operation receive? For organizations already using automated dispatching that routes tickets based on rules or geographic boundaries, screening is the next level of efficiency. If automated dispatch has already reduced the manual effort in your workflow and you're still looking for capacity gains, ticket screening is where those gains come from.

The higher your ticket volume, the greater the cumulative impact of clearing even a modest percentage of tickets through screening rather than dispatching them to the field.

Should Utilities Screen Out Their Own Maintenance Tickets?

What happens when a utility submits 811 tickets near its own underground assets? Many organizations submit a high volume of locate requests for maintenance work performed near their own buried facilities. If your organization falls into this category, screening those self-submitted tickets can eliminate unnecessary field visits. Your locators no longer spend time and resources clearing tickets for every maintenance dig your own crews perform. That time goes back to the tickets that actually need a physical locate.

How Does One-Call Center Facility Data Accuracy Affect Ticket Screening?

Why does the one-call center's facility buffer zone matter for ticket screening? The precision of the facility data your state's one-call center has on file for your utility lines directly affects how many tickets are candidates for screening.

If the one-call center uses extensive buffer zones around your facilities, you're more likely to receive locate notifications for excavations that aren't actually near your infrastructure. Those are strong screening candidates. If the one-call center has highly specific facility data with minimal buffer zones, you'll receive fewer of those false-positive notifications, which means fewer tickets to screen out.

How does GIS data accuracy affect ticket screening viability? Your organization's own facility maps are equally important. The more accurate your GIS data, the more confidently you can screen tickets without dispatching a locator. Inaccurate or incomplete facility maps limit the effectiveness of any screening program because you can't clear a ticket with confidence if you're not sure where your assets are.

How Many Tickets Can Your Operation Clear Without a Field Visit?

What determines whether an 811 ticket can be cleared through screening? The probability of clearing a ticket without a field visit increases when utilities are buried deep enough that most excavation projects don't encroach on them, and when GIS data confirms that no facilities are present within the dig area.

The higher the percentage of your ticket volume that can be safely cleared at the office level, the greater the cost savings and efficiency gains from implementing a screening process. Organizations with a meaningful share of tickets that fall outside their facility footprint see the most immediate return from screening.

What Are the Benefits and Risks of Ticket Screening in Damage Prevention?

What are the advantages of 811 ticket screening? Screening reduces the total number of field visits, lowers fuel and labor costs, and frees locators to focus on tickets where underground facilities are actually at risk. For high-volume operations, the cumulative savings across thousands of screened tickets per year can be substantial.

What are the potential drawbacks of ticket screening? Screening introduces the cost of employing dedicated ticket screeners and carries the risk of human error if a ticket is incorrectly cleared. A ticket that should have been dispatched to the field but was screened out at the office level creates the exact scenario screening is meant to prevent.

Weighing these benefits against the risks, along with the volume, facility data accuracy, and GIS quality factors outlined above, is how organizations determine whether ticket screening is the right fit for their damage prevention program.

About KorTerra, Inc.

KorTerra is the leading provider of damage prevention software, protecting billions of dollars in underground infrastructure. For over 30 years, the leading stakeholders in gas distribution, pipeline operation, telecommunications, electric distribution, contract locating, and city, county, and state governments have trusted KorTerra as their damage prevention solution. KorTerra helps mitigate risk and ensure the safety of field personnel by providing secure software platforms for processing 811 locate tickets, tracking and reporting asset damages, meeting regulatory compliance, and more. Explore additional solutions at korterra.com and follow KorTerra on LinkedIn.

Media Contact:
Paige Nygaard – KorTerra, Inc.
952.368.1911
marketing@korterra.com