How important is a site visit to you?

I believe the importance of having your project manager performing a site visit before and after a project is overlooked by most customers.  The environmental and physical conditions at each central office or cell site can be misinterpreted via pictures and/or local technician conference.  And how many of you have made the statement "I've been in that office one hundred times, I know it like the back of my hand," then to realize someone else has also been in that office a couple of times and made unrecorded changes?  Ever made that statement - "What's that over there?  Who put that there?" Having an onsite evaluation of the working conditions before the project can save you thousands of dollars in time, engineering, tools and materials. The site visit following a project allows you to not only evaluate the quality of the project, but also to note the improvements made to the working conditions due to the project and record new site inventory, rack profiles, floor plans and environmental changes.  This type of documentation is invaluable to future engineers working on the same office or site.  When you think about the initial cost of a site visit and weigh it against the risk assessment of not having a site visit, which choice would you make?

 

Bil Cameron

Director of Engineering Services