CLEVEST Meter Reading

  

Manual or automated utility meter reading

Field worker productivity is increased, and data collection quality, billing accuracy and fraud detection are improved – all while gaining access to hard-to-read meters

CLEVEST Meter Reading* is a configurable enterprise solution that manages manual or automated meter reading, meter-related service orders and collection activities. Our solution includes a proven automated route control system for managing meter reading routes, a GIS mapping option and a real-time dispatching tool for work orders.

We provide you with choices in ruggedized collection devices, all of which can read Itron ERT, Neptune R900G and L+G Airpoint endpoints. Handheld and tablet devices also support optical probing for interval data capture as well as the ability to capture GPS coordinates.

Clevest works with your existing file layouts, eliminating the need for IT groups to re-write interfaces and providing significant IT resource savings. And we support hundreds of service order types, including exchanges, installs, collections, CTVT (current transformer/voltage transformer) work, investigates and meter installs, exchanges and removes.

Learn more about CLEVEST Meter Reading

*Formerly named FieldNet

Solution components

Automate your meter reading operations

Transform manual, labor-intensive residential, commercial and industrial meter reading practices by using mobile devices to capture data automatically, and from moving vehicles, from electric, gas and water meters. Access meters remotely, dramatically shorten the time it takes to read and collect metering-based data across all routes, improve the accuracy of meter data, gain productive, higher-value time for field workers, and significantly improve the overall efficiency of meter reading operations for hundreds of service order types.

Benefits

  • Lower the cost of reading and maintaining meters
  • Reduce errors and the expense of revisiting a site
  • Complete a higher volume of meter reading work faster and more conveniently
  • Provide accurate billing information to customers

Easily perform additional meter service work

Use the meter reading solution to process over 100 different types of orders with support for integrated service work such as collections, disconnects, exchanges, upgrades, installs, removes, relocates, current transformer/voltage transformer work, investigates and more for electric, gas and water meters. Send service work wirelessly to crews and easily monitor the progress of orders with real-time status updates. Across the Clevest customer base, approximately 200,000 service orders and 20 million meter reads are currently processed each month with the meter reading solution.

Benefits

  • Leverage one mobile solution to read meters and perform enterprise-level volumes of service work
  • Improve productivity by completing an extensive range of order types faster
  • Minimize expensive repeat visits by processing service work correctly the first time
  • Enhance customer satisfaction with timely, accurate billing information

Automate and optimize your route management

Eliminate tedious and resource-intensive procedures for coordinating route splits and sizes by automating and continually optimizing the management of electric, gas and water routes, especially during lengthy AMI/AMR projects. Leverage the investment in AMI/AMR deployments and decrease the costs of field operations by reducing routes, easily rebalancing routes, automatically identifying the most costly reads in the system and maximizing the productive time of field resources. Use the optional mapping tool for an at-a-glance, geographic view of optimized routes, and automatically generate online reports for improved visibility into route performance.

Benefits

  • Consolidate existing electric, gas and water meter reading routes by approximately 10-20% with comprehensive, automatic route management
  • Maximize investments in AMI/AMR solutions by continually rerouting and balancing meter reading routes and cycles throughout the deployment lifecycle
  • Optimize the productive time of field resources and better manage the labor costs associated with evolving meter reading operations
  • Easily and quickly create efficient routes by integrating with existing meter reading, customer information, GIS and billing systems

Integrate real-time dispatching with AVL mapping

Increase the efficiency of meter reading operations by creating work assignments directly from the AVL map and dispatching them to field workers over Wi-Fi, instead of via Bluetooth or wireline connections. Use the AVL map to find and view the status and workload of field workers and assign orders as required. Provide reliable, real-time communication between the office and mobile devices, and eliminate the need for field workers to stop at a meter service area to begin their day and to upload order details at the end of the day.

Benefits

  • Streamline daily meter reading operations
  • Assign work in real time when exception conditions occur
  • Establish real time communications between the office and the field
  • Improve customer service

Schedule future meter work

Proactively plan and schedule known and future meter reading, service work and maintenance activities for completion in the field. Easily interface with the back office CIS to synchronize scheduling and future work order assignment with billing cycles. Maximize the productive time of mobile workers in the field and increase back office efficiencies.

Benefits

  • Optimize productive time of field workers
  • Coordinate service work in the field with billing cycles
  • Eliminate the need to manually exchange information between systems
  • Improve customer service and ensure up-to-date billing information

Automatically capture meter GPS coordinates

Use GPS technology to capture the physical location of meters during service work. Update back office GIS or mapping systems as work is completed in the field so system models are as current and accurate as possible. Record any hazard conditions that may exist at a specific meter location to improve field worker safety on subsequent visits.

Benefits

  • Easily capture current, accurate information on meter assets in the field
  • Automatically update asset and infrastructure systems in back office
  • Eliminate duplicate efforts across multiple systems 
  • Improve field worker safety

Access advanced usage data

Use handheld and tablet devices to collect load profile, time-of-use, load research and meter data in the field via optical probing of electric meters. Understand how much energy is used, when it is used and by who to better balance supply of and demand for resource. With timely access to usage data, evaluate and manage how to deliver resource cost-effectively, reduce revenue losses, create time-based conservation programs for consumers and improve stewardship.

Benefits

  • Manage resource effectively
  • Increase customer understanding of consumption
  • Influence usage in specific time periods
  • Encourage proactive conservation

Collect data from multiple AMR end points 

Extend automatic meter reading capabilities by using ruggedized collection devices to read Itron ERT, Neptune R900G, Vision Metering and L-G Airpoint endpoints. Remotely and automatically collect data from radio-based endpoints, deliver data from the field to the office in real time and leverage metering-based data in new ways to enhance operational efficiencies and to achieve higher standards of sustainability in how resource are delivered and consumed. 

Benefits

  • Extend investment in existing meter technology
  • Efficiently and reliably access data from multiple endpoints 
  • Lower the cost/meter ratio to read meters throughout AMR infrastructure
  • Optimize resource delivery

  

Mobile workforce management | Automatic vehicle location| Smart grid deployment & support | Asset investment planning