It’s safe to say that Kevin Surace has a wide range of skills. On one end, he worked on developing the first cellular data smartphone and on the other end, he is an accomplished music director, conductor, producer, and percussionist, with more than 1,000 performances. He’ll use both skills when he serves as the keynote at the Lawn & Landscape Technology Conference. We caught up with him to get a preview of his presentation and his thoughts on the future of technology. We also spoke with Josh Wise, who will be presenting on equipping lawn care crews with body cameras. The event takes place Aug. 9-11 in Las Vegas. Visit bit.ly/lawntech2023 for more information.

What can attendees expect from your presentation?

Attendees can expect to learn a lot about the current state of artificial intelligence (AI,) including ChatGPT, and how it will impact their business now and in the future — also the technology behind AI today and how it works. When you leave you will know a lot more about this “black box” and be thinking of how it will make your teams more productive. I will try and provide the basis for all this explaining AI and machine learning, talking about disruption and looking forward 5-10 years on what your business will look like in the future.

What are some emerging trends landscapers should be aware of?

Nearly all office tasks are being automated today at an astonishing rate. From sales to customer support to scheduling to accounting. Robotics is getting much better in actual field operations but will lag behind software only solutions for a long time.

Do you think artificial intelligence is developing too fast?

AI has been developing since the 50s. The first natural language chat bot “ELIZA” was developed at MIT starting in 1964. Even then, its creators were surprised at how fast people interacting with it attributed human like characteristics to it. So now, it’s developing quite slowly to those of us who have been involved for decades. But for the general public, not realizing AI has already been all around them for years, ChatGPT seems like a miracle. But it’s not. It is however a leap in the size of its data set. And it turns out it can generate quite fascinating results because of that. Not always accurate. But truly impressive nonetheless.

Can a company become too dependent on technology?

Companies have been depending on technology since the dawn of time. We embrace technology before our competitor does or we get squashed. Technology makes us more productive. AI will make us more productive just as the calculator did. We would not go back to an era without calculators and Excel. Nor will we go back to an era without AI.

Lights, camera, action

Technicians wearing cameras is a gamechanger at GrassRoots Turf.

By Kim Lux

At GrassRoots Turf the footage is fundamental for ensuring a high-quality level of service is brought to each and every job. This is done primarily through all spray technicians, at each of the company’s franchise locations, wearing body cameras while on the job.

CEO Josh Wise says it all started in 2020 when he initially had the idea to have technicians wear cameras and record their time on site. He recalls the CFO, his mother Sharon Wise, was against it initially as the upfront costs were not cheap.

“I told her, ‘I need $15,000 to buy some cameras for the guys.’ And she said no. I kept just telling her to trust me,” he says.

Now, Wise says the recordings have been a godsend for GrassRoots. He adds the cameras are the same ones worn by police officers around the country.

Recording in progress

Wise notes the technology behind the cameras is simple. When technicians step out of the service truck, they tap the camera once to start recording. They go about the treatment and just before they leave the jobsite, they tap the camera again to end the recording — which is immediately saved to the camera.

“Being that these cameras are what a lot of police departments wear, they are constantly recording but they are re-recording over themselves until you signify you want to keep this information,” Wise says. “It films every single thing they do on the property from walking the yard to clearing the debris in the yard and making sure it’s ready for an application.”

Wise adds it’s been extremely beneficial to have the footage on hand and keeps speculation from customers at bay. Something that’s been increasing ever since doorbell cameras have become more popular.

“If gates are locked, it’s evidence that we were at the home and unable to do the treatment. On the other hand, if the gate is open when we get here, we can film that fact and film the technician closing it when they leave the property,” he says.

At the end of every shift, Wise says technicians take off their chest-mounted body cameras and place them on a docking station to charge up for the next day.

“Overnight, all the footage uploads into the third-party software,” Wise says. “Once the videos are recorded on the camera you can’t delete them off. Because it was built for the police — it’s very, very protected.”

Wise notes GrassRoots pays for unlimited storage for the software site they upload the recordings to.

Real-time insurance policy

Despite recording all treatments technicians perform, Wise says the company does not immediately send the footage to customers.

“We do not send the footage to the customer unless the customer calls and asks us questions or thinks something wasn’t done right or that there was a problem,” he says. “If then, we’ll pull that camera footage, review it and then send it to the customer. We’ll let them see what happened out at the property.”

Wise says having that evidence against allegations is the biggest benefit of the cameras.

“That’s one of the things that’s really beneficial to having the cameras — it records against all those conversations. It protects the employee from any accusations that they didn’t do their job right,” he says.

It’s even helped GrassRoots part ways from some more difficult clients.

“There was one situation where a technician went out to a property and the homeowner accused us of breaking the latch on their gate. When the tech got there, on their body camera, you can see the latch was already broke, and it took the technician a couple of minutes to even get the gate open. There was a rock in front of it holding it closed,” he says. “I sent the video to the homeowner and told him I had video evidence that the gate was already broken.

“I told him I closed the account and wished him well,” Wise adds. “I’m not going to have a customer who’s accusing us of things.”

Questions about the level of service or how much progress is being made on a property can also be handled by looking back in the archives.

“I had a customer last spring and they told me they didn’t see any improvement in their lawn from the last year when we started working with them…I went to the footage from their first application and took a screenshot,” he says. “And then I went to their most recent application and made a side-by-side photo to send to the homeowner…they said, ‘Wow I hadn’t realized my yard was as bad as it was.’ I saved an account that way.”

Before the cameras, when a customer called to complain it was a lose-lose situation. Wise says because it forced them to take sides.

“If a customer called in and said the technician didn’t treat the backyard but I talk to the technician and he tells me he treated the backyard, I have two options. I either tell the customer, ‘Well they said they did it.’ So, I’m telling the customer I don’t believe them. Or I send the technician back out to the property to re-treat it, but then I’m not only admitting to the customer, you just caught us not treating your backyard but I’m also undermining the technician. There’s no way to win that,” he says.

Going to the game tape

Not only have the cameras helped combat customer complaints, Wise adds it’s been essential in getting the most out of employees, too.

“My service managers will look at the footage. It’s helpful with the newer employees so we can watch their spray patterns and make sure they’re getting the edges of the lawns really good. Instead of having to have someone out there on the property watching and critiquing, we can do it from the footage and fast-forward through five or six yards they’ve treated,” he says. “We can also sit down with them and show them that video footage. We can show some things they can do differently or things they might’ve missed. It’s about teaching, coaching, training and making them better.”

Wise recalls when GrassRoots first introduced the body cameras there was a little pushback from some of the older, veteran employees, but he immediately told them it was for their best interest and protection.

“I had a few people who spoke up and said, ‘You’re just wanting to spy on us.’ And I told them, ‘If I have to spy on you, I won’t have you working here,’” Wise says. “If they aren’t doing the job right then I’m not going to put a camera on them to catch them doing something, I’m just going to let them go.”

Wise says he’s not too worried about catching employees doing something wrong, but the cameras can help raise awareness of some issues.

“If you have a bad employee, that person is not going to be turning their camera on and off at every stop. That’s your first red flag that something isn’t right with that person,” he says.

But it’s not all bad, Wise notes there’s a lot of laughs that come out of the recordings. He’s seen technicians encounter everything from dogs to fire ants and other unique instances.

“We’ve made some really great blooper reels for our Christmas Party every year,” he says.

Technical Difficulties

While the cameras have been great, Wise acknowledges there have been some challenges along the way, which is normal.

“You’re going to have issues with anything related to technology,” he says. “Anyone in the lawn care industry who has cellphones or tablets out in the field knows there are days when things aren’t working — and the cameras are just one more piece of technology.”

The most common problem is the cameras not being docked right at the end of the day, which means they don’t charge, and the footage isn’t uploading. He adds that the usual battery life for the cameras is 12 hours, and the recordings will stay on the camera until it’s connected and uploaded.

“We keep a couple of spare cameras just in case somebody’s acting up or not doing what it’s supposed to, they can quickly go grab a new camera and get back into the field,” Wise says.

Wise says a few hiccups are worth it though, and GrassRoots plans to keep the cameras rolling.

“There’s just several things you get out of this that really make it a win,” he says. “It’s been a really good investment for us, and I would encourage other companies to do it. I just think it elevates the industry as a whole.”

The author is assistant editor with Lawn & Landscape magazine.