Katapult Pro Data Collection: The Pole Attachment Workflow

Most pole attachment projects fail somewhere between the field and the deliverable. The crew collected what it was asked to collect, the designer worked from what came back, and the export went out in the format the pole owner specified. Then a question comes back about pole 147, and answering it means finding the right photo in the right folder and trusting that someone matched it to the right structure six weeks ago.

Data Collection is the base offering in Katapult Pro and the foundation every other workflow builds on. It covers what a team needs to configure a project, design attachment routes, collect defensible field data, process photos, measure existing conditions, propose a new attachment, and deliver exports shaped to the pole owner's requirements.

This walks through that sequence end to end. See how Data Collection fits the rest of the platform.

Setting Up Project Details

Data Collection includes access to the Model Editor, which lets paid users update attributes and picklists, configure map tools, define custom photo deliverables, and more.

The setup decision worth making early is how much of your final deliverable can run on Default Models and how much needs user-side configuration. Working through that with your Client Manager before the first job saves rework later, because the cost of adding a required attribute goes up considerably once poles are already drawn.

A concrete example. Say your deliverable requires an attribute called "Operating Center" on every pole. You can add that attribute in the Model Editor and set it as a default for all poles drawn with the Aerial Path tool, in which case it is present from the moment the pole exists. Or you can bulk-add it after design using the Multi-Edit Attribute power tool. Both work. The first one means nobody has to remember.

Designing Attachment Routes

Whether the aerial path is already known or the point of the project is collecting measurement data to evaluate potential make ready costs, route design happens before collection.

You can import an existing design or start from scratch. Where a route can be designed in the office, it should be, because office design limits field technician exposure and the back office is both safer and faster for this kind of work. When design has to happen in the field, doing all of it before starting photo collection keeps the two activities from interleaving, which improves the safety and the efficiency of both.

For imports, there are three paths with different purposes. CSV and KMZ imports bring in node locations along with their data, so the poles exist as records once the import completes. Reference layer imports, using shapefiles, act as a visual underlay to design against using the Katapult Pro map tools rather than creating nodes directly.

Collecting Field Data

The software asks very little of the field crew, which is deliberate. From the platform side, collection comes down to four things:

• Take a Sync Photo with every camera being used on the job
• Verify or update the design against what actually exists in the field
• Mark each pole and midspan done as it is completed
• Add downguy and anchor detail where needed

That is the easy part of fielding. The rest of the job is carrying the right equipment and PPE, navigating safely to the correct location, photo documenting everything that matters quickly and safely, covering ground through brush in whatever weather the season provides, and getting home in time for dinner. The software is built around the assumption that the hard parts are physical, so the interface should not add to them.

Uploading and Processing Photos

When fielders get back to the office, home, or a hotel, photos from every camera upload to Katapult Pro and connect to the related job. Designers and clerical staff can then sign in from anywhere to begin calibrating and categorizing.

Photo input routines let staff work through calibration targets on each pole and midspan height photo and enter birthmark and pole tag information in bulk. That structure matters for reasons beyond speed. It lets less experienced or clerical staff contribute real value to the workflow while experienced designers stay on the parts of the job that need them.

Photos are associated to locations through their timestamps and time buckets at upload rather than through anything embedded in the image by the camera. Katapult Pro's automated photo QC verifies those associations, and once they are confirmed, the Scrape Photo Data office tool pulls pole top measurement, birthmark data, and pole tag information directly onto the pole's attributes.

The question that costs the most on a pole attachment project is "what did this pole actually look like?" In Katapult Pro, the answer lives on the pole record itself, with the measurable photo attached, months after the crew demobilized. Book a call with our team to run a pilot project through the platform, or see how engineering design works.

Measuring Existing Conditions

Data Collection includes Cable Tracing View, a side-by-side view of neighboring poles and the midspans they share. Working in that view, annotations can be placed and traced rapidly across a job rather than pole by pole in isolation.

Those annotations are what make measurement and export possible. Attachment and equipment data flows from them into pole profile sheets and other deliverables. They also carry forward: when a project moves into make ready engineering and pole loading, the annotation work already done is the input those functions run on rather than something that gets redone.

Proposing a New Attachment

Once the communications attachments and the necessary power elements are annotated, a keyboard shortcut inserts the proposed attachment automatically. By default it comes in at 12 inches above the top communications attachment and traces through the selected span, and from there it populates the deliverables that need it.

Some pole owners expect or require additional make ready from applicants. In many markets, this is where the process ends.

Delivering Pole Data

Every pole owner wants something different, so the export has to bend to the requirement rather than the other way around. There are three general shapes this takes.

Custom pole attachment profiles. Turning repetitive clerical work into a one-click export is one of the clearest advantages available here. Building one requires backend coding on our side, and new signups typically include a custom attachment budget so a team can get to that benefit without a separate project to fund it.

Shapefile or CSV export. Plenty of clients already have their own data automation, and a raw export is more useful to them than a formatted document. Map, attribute, and height data can all be exported this way.

Configurable photos and maps. Photo Forms and Map Prints can be built with your own branding and whichever attributes the deliverable calls for.

Data Collection is priced monthly and works alongside the Engineering Design offering for teams whose scope extends into make ready and pole loading.

Frequently Asked Questions About Data Collection in Katapult Pro

What is included in the Data Collection offering?

Project configuration through the Model Editor, route design and import, field collection tools, photo upload and processing, Cable Tracing View for measurement and annotation, proposed attachment placement, and the export options described above.

Do field crews need to download an app?

Katapult Pro runs in the browser. Collection is built around photo capture with a calibrated camera rather than data entry on a device in the field.

How do photos get matched to the right pole?

Through timestamps and time buckets at upload, verified by automated photo QC. The Sync Photo taken at the start of collection is what aligns each camera to the job.

Can I import an existing route design?

Yes. CSV and KMZ imports bring in node locations and their data. Shapefile reference layers come in as a visual underlay to design against.

What is the difference between Data Collection and Engineering Design?

Data Collection covers everything through measurement, proposed attachment, and export. Engineering Design adds the make ready and pole loading toolset that runs on the annotations Data Collection produces.

Does Katapult Pro replace the pole loading software my pole owner requires?

No. Katapult Pro feeds the mandated tools rather than replacing them, exporting cleanly into SPIDAcalc, O-Calc Pro, and PoleForeman.

Can exports be customized to a specific pole owner's format?

Yes, through custom pole attachment profiles. These are built on the backend, and new signups typically include budget toward the first one.

Running a Project Through It

The value in a workflow like this is not any single tool. It is that the photo taken in the field, the annotation placed in the office, the proposed attachment, and the export the pole owner receives are all the same record rather than four artifacts someone has to keep synchronized.

That is what makes a question about pole 147 answerable six months later without a return trip, and it is why the collection step is worth setting up carefully even when the schedule is arguing otherwise.

Book a call with our team to walk through a pilot project on your own poles. If you want to see where the workflow goes next, see how engineering design works.