The TESS Story:

The initial meetings of the organization that would become Texas Excavation Safety System (TESS) were held at the offices of Lone Star Gas Company, in Dallas during 1982 and 1983. At the time, a “one-call” organization operated in the Houston area, but not in the rest of the state. Many pipeline and communication companies believed that a statewide damage prevention system was vital to the safety of the underground facilities and the citizens of Texas.

TESS was incorporated under the laws of the State of Texas in January 1984, and held its formal incorporation meeting in February of that year. In June 1984, TESS sent bid specifications to twenty-four prospective contractors. Six bids were received and evaluated, and the list of prospective bidders was narrowed to three: Academy Computing Corporation, One Call Systems, Inc., and Topic Associates.

The Board of Directors of TESS began to raise money from prospective member companies. Mailings were sent to all owners and operators of underground facilities and a series of large meetings was held in Dallas, Houston, and Midland. By September 1985, TESS had commitments from 25 companies and approximately $500,000 in startup funds. Through surveys conducted in other states, TESS expected the first year’s operating budget to be between $1 million and $2 million.

In December 1985, TESS signed a contract with Academy Computing of Oklahoma City to develop and operate the one call center. TESS and Academy embarked on a marketing effort to enroll members in the new statewide damage prevention and notification system.

By the end of 1986, over $1 million had been pledged or paid for the operation of the TESS call center, and the center opened for business in September 1987. The TESS System grew slowly during its first years. As membership grew, TESS was able to repay the donated startup funds to the founding member companies.

In December 1993, the TESS Board of Directors elected to put the operation of the TESS Center out for bid. In April 1994, One Call Systems was announced as the successful bidder, and a contract was signed between TESS and OCS in July 1994. Operation of the call center by OCS began in November 1994. For several years, the partnership between TESS and OCS produced excellent results for the members of TESS and Texas excavators.

In June 1997, TESS formed a new corporation, Progressive Partnering, Inc. (P2) with Tennessee One-Call System, Arkansas One-Call System and Mississippi One-Call System. P2 developed GeoCall, a one-call operating system with integrated GIS mapping. This platform is currently used in 7 states (Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas) and by GulfSafe, an offshore notification system owned and operated by TESS.

The TESS Board, wanting to improve control over the operation of the DIG TESS Center, decided to convert to a self-run center, and completed that transition in May 2000. Over time, the TESS system has become a large and progressive one-call organization, and an acknowledged leader in the industry.

DIG TESS Center Historic Message Volume

From 1995 through 2000, growth in TESS was rapid; both in membership and in call volume. In 2001, we experienced a large downturn due to weather and economic factors, but had a 7-9% growth rate in inbound calls during 2003-2005. We exceeded 2 million inbound locate requests in 2006.