Talon began its journey three years ago, just as the birth of commercial drone flight took off. Tim Dunnigan, CSO & Co-Founder, says, “We asked ourselves what could we solve in the commercial drone space beyond simply data collection?” Essentially, how can we be different and bring value to all customers using drones to collect data regardless of who was doing the flying?” The answer came in the form of providing data capture and distribution solutions to help companies manage large datasets used in the development and maintenance of infrastructure.
Talon uses innovative data capture services, flexible data access, and real-time communication tools to enable offsite subject matter experts and onsite technicians to work better, smarter and faster when solving infrastructure issues, ultimately reducing costs, mitigating re-work, and providing invaluable oversight visually and collaboratively into the work performed.
“Our innovations focus on solving ways to capture better data more efficiently and effectively. We do this through a myriad of capture sensors, including mobile and handheld devices and drones, that integrate with our data ecosystem and software platforms. The combination effectively yields the consistent, actionable data our clients’ demand,” said Dunnigan.
Within the tower industry, Talon has earned either partnerships or vendor relationships with all major carriers and top tower companies, plus the supporting engineering agencies and major equipment OEMs. In three years, Talon has flown tens of thousands of towers, clocked almost 100,000 operational flight hours and in the process, built the nation’s premier, data capture field services business.
How did they accomplish all this since 2015? “We listened to our customers. They’re the experts in their field and we had to learn a lot in a short period of time,” said Dunnigan. “We’re humbled by everything we didn’t know when we started. That’s why we don’t limit ourselves, even now, when it comes to attending to client needs. Nothing we do is canned; Talon is committed to providing solutions that best serve industry demands.”
Talon focuses on delivering actionable data with its proprietary Talon Data Ecosystem, utilizing collaborative, real-time communication software, plus data access and distribution.
According to DJ Johnson, Chief Product Officer, “One solution we developed on our software platform is a web-based real-time collaboration tool that connects a subject matter expert with field technicians live on any mobile device from anywhere in the world. Using this enhancement, our telecom customers experience increased quality, financial savings from reducing truck rolls,
numerous efficiency gains, and the ability to review and close out site work in real-time.”
Talon is also committed to the safety of not just its employees, but also that of tower climbers. As Members of NATE and the Commercial Drone Alliance, Talon believes their vertical data collection solutions provide climbers valuable, accurate, and time-saving information. These include allowing climbers to go up the tower well informed, to reduce time on the tower and provide first-time resolution, mitigating the need for unnecessary subsequent climbs.
“We support tower climbers and the telecommunications industry as a whole. And we couldn’t do it without our amazing team including our data professionals, software engineers, and our data capture experts across the county in the Talon Alliance,” said Dunnigan. “From the top down, our people have been the cornerstone of Talon’s success, enabling us to serve the tower industry every single day.”
Talon continues to innovate as industry needs change, preparing for the onset of 5G. “The next six months for Talon are really focused around artificial intelligence and machine learning,” said Craig Cavey, Talon’s Chief Commercial Officer. “We have amazing processes, services, and software for data capture, collaboration, and delivery, and now we will have AI to bolt on to those applications. We believe this is the next level of actionable data and it will be a differentiator for us as our solutions will bring even more efficiency and savings to our industries.”
Talon is located in West Point, GA and focuses on delivering actionable data efficiently, effectively, and safely for the tower industry and beyond. For more information or to contact a representative, visit talon.io.
September 10, 2018
