Survey123 Upload Timeout

Question

We are using Survey 123 to collect data impacting energy use in residences. Part of this involves collecting photos of appliances and equipment nameplates, as well as miscellaneous other photos that might be useful related to energy use. In addition to these photos, there are a large number of other variables, around 450.

The surveys are developed in Connect v3.9.120 . Data is collected on Android tablets with cellular capabilities. Once collected, data is uploaded from the field to the ArcGIS online portal.

In very large houses, this could result in a large number of photos 60-70. In these cases, we are encountering issues uploading to the portal. In these cases, Survey123 attempts to upload and eventually times out. All of the smaller homes don't encounter this issue.

We've attempted optimizing the photo size to make the file smaller, but getting them to the minimum usable size doesn't seem to help.

Is there a way to mitigate the timeout error on these larger surveys?

Thanks!

AaronJames · Answer

Thanks for the reply, I forgot to include that in my question. We have attempted both a cellular connection and hooking up directly to various wi-fi networks. Everything so far has timed out.

We have been able to access the SQLite file that is on the device, which has all of the photos, and then add that back into the database on the backend, but that isn't ideal. We are hoping to be able to keep everything in one workflow. I will take a look at an offline inbox, I hadn't thought about that.

Thanks.

GIS_Fox · Answer

Do your survey users only have the cellular data or are they using hotspots as well? Uninterrupted high speed connection may help resolve this if you have the capability already, otherwise you have the option of retaining your survey questions and adding the photos in afterwards using the device storage and camera outside the survey. Using an offline inbox method may also help but you will be limited on local storage and number of surveys in the inbox. I have worked with similar use cases and time-out events often happen within buildings where cell data and connection not necessarily are inaccessible but where they can be weak and/or drop off. Having the devices updated and paired with a wifi puck or hotspot have been the only workarounds besides maintaining an offline capable workload. Otherwise pictures, attachments, and uploads haven't been an issue and I do not believe there is a correlation between S123 desktop and S123-Connect made surveys with connection or upload issues. Hopefully this helps some, certainly there are factors to take into account that only you will have access to or know in your situation but these have been the most common issues I have encountered and have been able to resolve. Eager to hear how this goes for you, great use case!

God bless,