This February we were delighted to welcome Liam Hartley back to KOREC into the key role of Operations Technical Support. One month into the job, we had a virtual chat with Liam to see how he was enjoying the role, what it entails, and how it feels to be back at the Huntingdon facility.
Running a skeleton staff at Huntingdon throughout the various lockdowns gave UK Operations Director Kirsten Moss a chance to evaluate gaps in the team – particularly the importance of having technical help on hand to assist with queries from the Hire or Workshop teams. Knowing Liam’s technical expertise, coupled with his great relationship with the Operations team, he was the obvious choice for the job.
Liam’s role is a dual one. Firstly, he is responsible for preparing new equipment for customer orders. This process includes ensuring kit is in good working order, fully charged, installed with the latest firmware, assigning customer licences (where applicable), and ensuring everything is properly calibrated.
A real perk of Liam’s role is getting to work with cutting-edge kit such as the TSC5, SX12, and TDC600
In short, Liam ensures that once the kit reaches our customers, it is ready to go, straight out the box. For Liam, one of the perks of this job is getting his hands on brand-new kit, before anyone else in the UK;
“All the equipment comes in as a blank slate, meaning I’m the first person in the UK to get my hands on anything, I’m the first person to turn a new piece of equipment on, like the brand new SX12 and TSC5. Which is very cool!”
The second element of Liam’s role centres around providing on-hand, technical support to his Hire and Workshop colleagues. Previously, if the teams had a technical query or an issue, a call to one of the regional technical team was required, or a call through to the Liverpool-based Support team. Having someone with Liam’s knowledge and experience on site, enables them to quickly and efficiently get their problem resolved, without having to pick up the phone.
“It really highlights the importance of having someone on hand who can quickly answer a question or solve an issue – which also frees up our Support and regional teams to help out with customer queries”
For Liam, how does it feel to be back working at the Huntingdon office, and has he noticed any changes?
“It’s always great to be back in Huntingdon, the people and the environment, the community at KOREC is like nowhere else. It’s great to see the company investing in the office, with a new reception area, new hire suite, and a complete refit of the workshop – improving the workspace for my colleagues and upgrading our capabilities for an even wider range of products”
I’m looking forward to seeing more of my colleagues when the situation allows, and welcoming customers into our new look office.
It’s good to be back”
Liam Hartley is based at the KOREC Huntingdon office. He can be found on LinkedIn, here.
Versatile, cost-effective, rugged and the ideal half-way house between a phone and a tablet, the Trimble’s TDC600 rugged Android mobile device is now a perfect fit for the land surveyor as well as the mapping professional. Why? …. because it now supports Trimble Access 2020!
If you’re after something with more functionality than the TSC3, but maybe more cost-effective and a lot smaller than our top of the range TSC7, then the TDC600 is well worth a look.
Access will look and feel exactly the same on a Trimble TDC600 (right) as it does on a TSC7
There are many reasons why we feel the TDC600 is the perfect fit for all geospatial professionals land surveyors and field data collectors alike, but here are just six of them:
- Trimble Access 2020 is now available on the TDC600 – that means lower-cost entry for those wanting to use Trimble Access software and its familiar workflows
- It fits in your back pocket and it’s highly portable – for example you can use the Bluetooth link to Trimble’s R12i (and other Trimble GNSS) to create one of the lightest systems available!
- Large capacity, user replaceable, all day battery. With a light system you could be travelling further and will need that all-day battery life.
- It’s a smartphone as well, all be it an ultra-rugged one (IP67) with a 15cm HD screen display, which is great for reducing the number of devices required in the field
- You can perform robotic surveys by connecting your TDC600 to your instrument using the Trimble TDL2.4 radio.
- For field data collectors, it’s the perfect platform for KOREC’s K-Mobile data capture software and fully compatible with the Trimble Catalyst™ on demand GNSS positioning service
Our KOREC mapping expert, Richard Gauchwin has given it a thorough testing and declared it ‘…the best device I’ve seen from Trimble that does everything exactly as it says it will and makes a perfect system with Trimble Catalyst and K-Mobile.”
Our SW area Regional Sales Director Rob Judge rates its tidy form factor, ‘….pocket sized and lightweight, I’d recommend the TDC600 to all those surveyors who have to cover large sites or walk long distances but still want the full functionality of Access software and a decent screen that can be viewed landscape or portrait.’
Versatile, cost-effective, rugged and the ideal half-way house between a phone and a tablet, Trimble’s TDC600 rugged, Android mobile device is now a perfect fit for the land surveyor as well as the mapping professional. Why? …. because it now supports Trimble Access 2020!
However, who better to ask than KOREC customer, Ted Harland, Managing Director of Tri-Tech Ltd?
One of the first to purchase a TDC600 for use with his Trimble fleet was Ted Harland, Managing Director of Yorkshire based Tri-Tech Ltd. With an extensive portfolio of Trimble equipment including Trimble’s most recent release, the R12i GNSS, Ted heard about the TDC600 from a fellow surveyor and was initially attracted to it as an alternative to his Windows based Trimble TSC3 and TSC7 data loggers. As a Google Drive user for storage he knew that the Android interface would offer seamless integration as well as providing a potentially useful upgrade to his TSC3’s. He has therefore been testing it rigorously over the past weeks and has kindly shared his thoughts with the KOREC team.
“I’ve been very, very impressed with the TDC600 for a number of reasons. The modern Android interface brings all the slickness, ease of use and extended functionality you’d expect including access to the apps store so that whilst I’m in the field I can now use a CAD viewer, a calculator and of course regularly check weather updates. However the main plus is that it’s a fantastic platform for Access 2020 which is far slicker to use than its Windows counterpart and brings additional features such as a split screen and quick start up.
However, the proof of any piece of kit is how it functions in the field under typical site conditions. I’ve used the TDC600 with gloves on, I’ve used it in the lashing rain and it has still delivered great performance. It’s very light, and when combined with our Trimble R12i, it will be the lightest solution we have, something that all our surveyors will appreciate. I’ve also linked it up to our Trimble Robotic Total Stations using an external radio, something that took me just a few minutes to do. Whilst it’s not a replacement for the TSC7 which is a real workhorse, it will definitely be a useful, slick and cost-effective addition to our fleet. I’m impressed.”
About Tri-Tech
Based in Yorkshire but operating nationally, Tri-Tech Ltd is an innovative UK Surveying and Site Engineering company offering a wide range of Land and Engineering Surveying Services both to the public and private sectors.
Ultra-rugged
Perfect combination with Trimble’s new TDC600 Android handheld and K-Mobile data capture software
We’re delighted to announce that Trimble’s Catalyst software-defined GNSS is now On Demand, with an hourly pricing model, making it ready to use at a moment’s notice. This flexibility eliminates the need to predict project requirements weeks or months in advance.
With On demand, low cost, high accuracy RTK quality GNSS positioning is now an affordable option for any industry recognising the need for high accuracy positions in the field. It’s also a cost-effective option for equipping whole workforces – a Trimble Catalyst receiver is priced to make it an option for every team member to have one offering a choice of accuracies from cm to metre.
Account owners purchase access to the service in the form of On Demand time bundles. By keeping the account balance topped up, Catalyst remains ready to use at a moment’s notice, for any number of nominated users in the account.
KOREC’s Mapping Business Manager Richard Gauchwin believes that this development can put high-accuracy positioning into the hands of every field worker. “The implications of this development are enormous. Focused on mapping applications and mass roll-outs, it provides exactly the sort of access to cm accuracy mapping required by utilities, rail, agriculture, highways and many more industries. There is no requirement for expensive, specialist hardware that can be left idle on a shelf when not in use, no site time is wasted waiting for a surveyor to position something as simple as a valve or pipe connection and there are no training costs – this system couldn’t be easier to use. At last we have a solution that really does make high-accuracy mapping affordable to the masses.”
Richard’s recommended system:
Trimble Cataylst On Demand + Trimble’s new TDC600 (rugged smartphone) + K-mobile data capture software
Contact Richard.gauchwin@korecgroup.com or call him on 07786 118436
