Damage Prevention Via SmartphoneDamage Prevention Via Smartphone

Vettro has come out with an application for mobile devices that helps utility crews and excavators avoid trouble in the risky business of working around buried cables and pipelines. GPS devices can save money and lives in this sometimes dangerous occupation.Vettro specializes in mobile applications for field service, sales, and pickup and delivery. The company's new Vettro 360 for Damage Prevention is aimed at utility companies and others who get their boots dirty out in the field locating buried infrastructure. As someone who worked on gas pipelines myself, I can tell you it's dangerous work and that accidents do happen. You don't want to be anywhere near a backhoe when it hits a 12-inch pipeline.

Vettro's application uses GPS to give field workers latitude and longitude coordinates and other details related to a job site. The app provides electronic white-lining of the location and mapping and tracking of mobile workers. It was developed as proof-of-concept software for the Virginia Utility Protection Service.

Offered as a service, Vettro's applications can be deployed over the air to BlackBerrys, Windows Mobile phones, and Java-enabled cell phones. I talked to Vettro president and CEO Joe Rymsza at last week's Interop 2008 conference. You can see the interview below.