NJUNS - A Great Solution at No Cost to Tennessee Municipals

The National Joint Utilities Notification System (NJUNS) is a web-based, low-cost, software service providing utility companies with an efficient means of electronic communication. And why is the ability to communicate electronically important now? Because in simpler times utility poles were home to just electric wires and telephone cables. But that is no longer the case as those poles are now landlords to CATV wires, fiber routes and wireless communication equipment. With so many entities occupying space on the same pole, something as simple as a pole change-out can become a complex problem. 

The NJUNS Pole Transfer module (PT) provides electronic communication between pole owners and attachers, employing a step-based process by which each company gets their equipment transferred to the new pole in an organized fashion. This eliminates missed phone calls or wasted trips to the pole and provides a process for managing double-wood issues in the field. It works like this. After setting a new pole, the pole owner logs into the Pole Transfer module of the system and creates a PT ticket. The ticket is set up with steps assigned to each attacher and in the order their transfer work is needed on the new pole.  After each attacher completes their work, they change their step on the ticket from "pending" to "completed" and the next-to-go step member is automatically notified. When all steps are completed, including pulling the old pole, the pole owner is notified and the ticket is closed. The ticket remains in the NJUNS system permanently with a complete record of notification dates as well as when the work was completed. This system provides the value of accountability for both pole owners and pole attachers. 

In addition to the Pole Transfer module, NJUNS also has a Pole Attachment module (PA) for use by attachers needing to gain access to a pole or group of poles. This module replaces the paper permitting process still used today by many utilities. The PA module can be tailored to a utilities’ existing permitting process including mapping capabilities. A tailored process enables compliance with pole-attachment agreements as well as applicable FCC requirements. Report functionality is a key feature of NJUNS. Any information entered into the system can be retrieved in a variety of reporting formats. Reports and queries can be produced for any parameters for which data has been entered. Popular searches are for date ranges, municipalities, street names, company member codes and who is "next-to-go." The ability to run customized reports makes NJUNS an effective pole management tool.

Access to NJUNS is available on a state-basis. Currently, NJUNS is used by over 2,000 entities in twenty-eight states. Tennessee has been a member state since 2005, and the annual fee is provided courtesy of AT&T, TECA and TMEPA. If you are an electric utility or communications company operating in the state of Tennessee, then you are eligible to use the system.  Contact the NJUNS staff at www.njuns.com for help in getting started.

NJUNS is able to keep its costs low because it is set up as a non-profit organization by a consortium of the utilities using the system. Each member state has two seats on the NJUNS Board of Directors, so it actually is owned and operated by the utilities who use the system. This business model allows users great input about how the system is implemented, and through their two Board Directors they have a great measure of control regarding system improvements and enhancements.  NJUNS truly is utility funded, utility managed and utility driven!     

       

Tim Webers
Executive Director,  NJUNS
770-298-5860