How are you using Survey123?

[CraigCarsley]

We're doing two major projects with our local (Omaha, NE) Police and Fire Departments.  Recently, our contact with Police asked us if anyone else is using Survey123 for the same, or a similar, purpose.

We are using Survey123 to collect critical information about high priority sites, like schools and major office buildings, as a way to help prepare for emergencies.

Survey123 is the backbone of our data collection because it's form capabilities far exceed anything available with Collector.  We've integrated the feature service to a custom configured website so emergency personnel can quickly and easily view critical information about a structure while at the scene of an emergency.  

We'd like to know if anyone else is doing something similar.  

Thanks!

[IsmaelChivite · Accepted solution]

Oscar Sepulveda III‌

Chris Rogers‌

Jeff Baranyi‌

Adding Oscar, Jeff and Chris to this thread.

At http://scaug.org/2016-OKSCAUG-User-Presentations  you will find a good example from Chris. Look for the presentation called Survey123 Field Data Collect Project OHP Bomb Squad Call Log. 

This short story also describes another use of Survey123 by the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety

In this video you will find an example showing Survey123 being used for Structure Risk Assessments by a Fire Department.

Of course, you can also have a look at this video gallery, but it sounds like it may be you!

[OscarSepulveda_III]

Hi Everyone!

The Fire Dept. is utilizing Survey123 and Collector in conjunction with ArcGIS Pro. Below is a crude idea of the field types being utilized for some of our forms:

Type of Form	Hydrant Survey	FEMA Disaster Assessment (Public)	Regional TICP Plan	Disaster Assessment (City)	(CERT) membership	Radio Cache	Daily Apparatus Checkout
Allows public survey to be controlled
Auto complete
Barcode
CSV populate
Form activated with proper credentials
Geopoint Calculation
Groups
Location
City Credentials to Access
Photos
Public Survey
Pulldata
Signature
Starts in Collector
Survey cannot be submitted without proper credentials

 The next step for us is to incorporate GeoEvent to allow for immediate updates to those program managers that need real-time data analysis.  Here is a brief video of using Survey123 exclusively as a query database for resources regarding communication frequencies.

[HamidYunus]

@Craig: I do not necessarily have a law enforcement or public safety example to share yet (i got plenty in other areas), I do know of one government agency that has standardized on Survey123 and Collector for issues citations for hunting violations or litter. A response submitted from either of these two is treated as an official government record.

Hope this helps.

[Joseph_Kinyon]

Craig,

In addition to everyone's comments to help you champion and streamline your proces, I would consider strolling in the weeds a little bit.

This is because everyone's location information is a high priority for them to collect, and in some cases mission critical.

Consider creatively reviewing the uses by other disciplines by analogous or discrete tasks rather that staying inside the Fire / Law Enforcement swim lane of examples.

There are also many examples (decades of Use Cases) of doing this in ArcPad Studio for you to emulate in Survey123.

Because of Survey123's age, look at other prior and current implementations of XLSforms in systems like Epicollect, ODK, Fulcrum, etc. that cast a net into the tools from which Survey123 evolved.

I am using Survey123 to create tools to document roadkill, endangered species, damage reports for park infrastructure, and leveraging legacy map libraries into a digital catalog--all of which have questions of who, what, where, when and how that your tools will also ask.

Finally, citizen engagement is a benefit overlooked by the use of these tools for emergency services, e.g. post disaster CERT/NERT evaluations or USAR X building summaries and the advantages of sending Survey123 forms containing this data via packet radio and WinLink servers over UHF/VHF systems in addition to cell towers.

Best wishes in your work!

Joe

[PeterTimmers]

We use Survey123 for Fuel Hazard Assessment and will be using it shortly for Damage Assessments (after having used ArcPad and ArcGIS Mobile on Trimbles since 2008).  Converting DA forms into ArcPad and ArcGIS Mobile has always been a difficult process (e.g. multi-choice).

Some of our international teams use Kobo, so it's nice to be able transfer forms between Survey123 and Kobo with not too much work.

[CraigCarsley]

Thank you all for responding! The responses are very helpful.

[Christopher_L_Rogers]

Hello Craig,

We have been using, twisting, and bending Survey123 to our will for a couple of years now 🙂 and we're really starting to run it through it's paces.

I am in the middle of developing four new Survey123 Apps that will;

1) Enhance our Bomb Squad Event and Response Tracker so that our EOD folks will have a quick and convenient way to capture the data for each Call-Out they respond too.

2) Building a new Survey123 App that will be used to Track the Training hours and Real World events that our Explosive K9's perform throughout the year to maintain their certifications.

3) Drug Interdiction Arrest App for our SO Units that will allow them to quickly collect and enhance data regarding drug interdiction stops. The application will structured based on the Standards current set forth by EPIC in El Paso and the FBI's NCIC data structure so that we can easily report this information to the appropriate parties and other RMS's that they use and/or have developed. It will also allow our Officers to collect field photos of the Contraband, Subject Photos, Subject Marks, Scars, and Tattoos as well as any other pertinent evidence at the scene. This is in the works started off fairly simple but is growing rapidly for example I'm working on a way to write an automated canned Officer Narrative based on the Data Facts of the case entered into the Survey123 Form. So far it is working magnificently though there are a few tips and tricks about assembling a text string from parts and pieces and in transform the Epoch Strings back into it's parts Date (formatted appropriately or as desired) and Time (also formatted appropriately or as desired).

4) We have 7 other Survey123 Apps on the horizon from Electronic Traffic Violations (Citations and Warnings), Electronic Collision Reporting (Highly Complex process/workflow that requires multi-dimensional database structures with complex relations between tables), and simple data collections such as Suspicious Activity Reports, Road Debris' and Removal, Livestock Removal (rural areas), and a couple of others.

Long story short, Survey123 is probably the most powerful and efficient of all Esri's Data Collection Apps but it is forms based where Collector is Maps based though through a combination of not only these two solutions but also Web AppBuilder and Workforce we're producing crazy capabilities we've never had before. I just finished developing a Real-Time Situational Awareness App for our Troopers and our Dispatchers which now provides us a Real-Time Common Operating View of our Resources and other supportive resources so when we have a Collision, Man-Hunt, or Search and Rescue we a True Command and Control Environment to work from which shares the data across our entire Agency and with other support Agencies.

If I can be of ay assitance to you and/or your organization please let me know. I will be at Esri User Conference again this year and if your there its a great time to share a cold drink and ideas and demonstrations of what we're up to in our small world.

Cheers,
Christopher L Rogers

Law Enforcement Programs Administrator

Oklahoma Department of Public Safety

Oklahoma Highway Patrol and Highway Safety