Enhancing Our Services Through Technology: SSC Drone Team

February 14, 2020

SSC Services For Education is well-versed in the challenges facing education today, and we’re always looking for ways to enhance our services through technology. One of our newest technological advances includes the addition of a drone team at SSC. Drone uses are endless and provide us with great opportunities to serve the schools we partner with in unique ways. Whether a school needs rooftop surveys, to assess storm damage or just wants a pretty picture of the new paint job on the football field, our drone team is here to help.

When James Amos, project manager at Tarleton State University in Texas, heard his regional director talking about potentially starting a drone technology program at his campus, he volunteered to be the main drone operator and pilot for Tarleton State and surrounding sites. SSC paid for Amos to complete his training to obtain his FAA drone pilot certificate.

Amos enjoys working for SSC because of the opportunities he’s been given. “To have a company put faith in you, to allow you to venture out to something that has a lot of up-front cost, and basically take a gamble on you – it’s been very rewarding and I’m really thankful to work for a company that gives me these opportunities,” he says. While Amos is very excited about the development opportunities he has through SSC, he also recognizes that this investment also benefits our clients. “Being able to access hard-to-reach areas without renting expensive equipment and taking several hours to assess a rooftop area saves our clients thousands of dollars,” Amos said.

Drone Uses: Tornado Recovery At Parker University

On Oct. 21, 2019, Parker University in Dallas, Texas, was devastated by an F-3 tornado that completely shut down the university, impacting 15 buildings. Campus electrical was destroyed, poles and transformers were pulled out of the ground, and landscaping and exterior metal fencing was also damaged. Almost nobody believed it would be possible to have the university up and running within a week.

The morning after the tornado, SSC associates were directed to the campus to support recovery efforts in any way possible. With the drone team’s help, assessments began right away. SSC used the drone to scout the campus, locate the damage and help create a plan for the initial cleanup phase.

Through the efforts of SSC personnel and university leadership, the campus was open for business the following Monday. Parker University made it through the initial cleanup phase and began designing plans for future construction efforts. This would not have happened if the drone team hadn’t been in place to see the campus from a bird’s-eye view and locate the damage caused by the tornado.

SSC’s goal is always to provide our clients with the highest standard of customer service, consistent quality and cost-effective approaches – and our drone team helps us do all three.