For the construction industry, vehicle-diagnostic monitoring and fleet-tracking software is helping to reduce the amount of fuel spent on a job. Imagine the possibilities when an entire state department uses this technology for fleet management.

The state of Arkansas is one such example. With roughly 2,400 state vehicles used in highway maintenance, transportation, administration, construction, and law enforcement, the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Dept., www.arkansashighways.com, Little Rock, Ark., was looking for a way to improve the efficiency of its fleet.

The talk of RFID (radio-frequency identification) at the construction jobsite has been circling the industry for years, but has only recently begun to take hold and be implemented more widely among large construction sites. Still, there are a number of questions regarding adoption of this type of technology, which a recent case study looks to address, taking contractors step-by-step through the decisionmaking process.

The applications of RFID at the construction jobsite can range from material tracking to workforce monitoring. The use gaining considerable momentum as of late is tech for access control at the jobsite. For example, Holder Construction www.holderconstruction.com, Dallas, Texas, WS Bellows Construction, www.wsbellows.com, Houston, Texas, Turner Construction, www.turnerconstruction.com, New York, N.Y., and Grunley Construction, www.grunley.com, Rockville, Md., are just a handful of companies using technology for workforce monitoring.

In homebuilding, the efficient management of service work orders can be the key to project success. However, this process is often carried out by disjointed technology systems, leaving builders unsure whether or not they are duplicating information or processes.

Technology providers continue to work towards integrating solutions that help alleviate such concerns. One option is to work with a fully integrated solution that encompasses the entire workflow process under one software suite. However, this integrated approach does not apply for builders that are taking a best-of-breed approach to technology.

The cloud is no longer a far-off concept. Many tech providers in the construction industry are offering up solutions in the cloud—allowing contractors to choose between an on-premise or hosted solution. With this in mind, construction companies need to determine if the cloud is a good fit for their company. Also, if it is a good fit, what are some key considerations when moving to the cloud?

For Real Goods Solar, www.realgoodssolar.com, Louisville, Colo., a solar-power installer for commercial, residential, and utility, moving to the cloud was the right choice.

Knowing where vehicles are at all times is an essential, yet not always simple task for contractors. High-value equipment, vehicles, and other critical tools can often go unaccounted for on a jobsite, leaving contractor looking for technology that can help them track such assets more effectively.

Electrical contractor Brooks-Berry-Haynie, www.bbhelectric.com, Mableton, Ga., for example, is taking a proactive measure against the loss of high-value assets. Its strategy centers on accurate data for driver behavior and location of valuable trucks through the use of connected devices.

By mounting small devices on the dashboard of the company’s roughly 150 electrical utility trucks it has dispatched across Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Florida, Brooks-Berry-Haynie is getting a realtime view of data.  Inside the tracking device is a CDMA modem for high speed wireless connectivity.

All the data associated with a construction project can be difficult to manage. However, with a good collaboration solution, construction teams can easily share information electronically with other project participants across the globe.

As a recent example, Skanska, www.skanska.com, Stockholm, Sweden, decided to implement Revu from Bluebeam Software, www.bluebeam.com, Pasadena, Calif., for PDF-based collaboration, offering the solution to its project teams throughout the world.

Tried-and-true construction solutions for project management, bidding and estimating, and accounting and job costing are getting an infusion of new and innovative features—just in time for the New Year.

Take On Center Software’s, www.oncenter.com, The Woodlands, Texas, enhanced product announcement as one example. During a Webinar yesterday, Cecilia Padilla, president, On Center Software and Angelo Castelli, vice president, operations, On Center Software, announced the latest release of its portfolio of solutions, which includes On-Screen Takeoff, Quick Bid, and Digital Production Control.

Piecing together an integrated technology solution is never an easy process. So when construction technology vendors engage in M&A (merger and acquisition) activity, the thought is that integration between the two products should be seamless. However, that is not always the case.

Still, you do have some technology vendors making concerted efforts to ensure products being acquired won’t simply fall off the digital map, so to speak. For instance, Oracle, www.oracle.com, Redwood Shores, Calif., is looking to tie together some recent acquisitions under the mission of helping improve project and portfolio management for the construction industry.

Is a subcontractor qualified for a project? Technology not only helps answer this question, but also stores data associated with subcontractor qualifications for use on a project. These days, more general contractors are using such technology to manage sub qualifications electronically.

One recent example comes from Miller Construction Co., www.millerconstruction.com, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., which is encouraging its subcontractor and supplier base to maintain a complete qualification profile inside the platform from jobsite123, www.jobsite123.com, Plantation, Fla.

According to jobsite123, open access to the platform allows for sharing of qualifications information between all project stakeholders. The data within the jobsite123 platform can also be automatically distributed to other construction software such as SmartBidNet from JB Knowledge Technologies, www.jbknowledge.com, Bryan, Texas.

Whether it's by automating monitoring processes in dangerous environments, helping first responders find us in our moment of need, or locating workers in hazardous work environments, M2M is being put to work for worker safety. And construction is one industry in particular that stands to be in direct line to benefit.

While technologies such as Wi-Fi and LBS (location-based services) are often associated with products and solutions in the consumer realm, such as mobile devices and gaming systems, these two technologies also enable the Accenture Life Safety Solution--a wireless multi-gas detection system that allows companies to remotely monitor locations such as chemical/industrial plants and construction jobsites.