A Description of the Cyclical Meter Read Process

Manual meter readers using handheld devices record most meter reading measurements in the field. These meter reads are uploaded into the system for use by Oracle Utilities Meter Data Management.

A service point's installed meter device is measured due to the following data relationships:

  • Every metered service point references a schedule route.
  • A route references a measurement cycle.
  • A measurement cycle has measurement cycle schedules that define when the service points in the cycle are measured.
  • Every measurement cycle schedule contains two dates:
    • Scheduled selection date. This is the date Meter Data Management could use to select the service points in the cycle for download to your handheld software via custom algorithms to create handheld activities when pending measurement cycle schedules are proposed (refer to Measurement Cycle and Bill Determinants for more information).
    • Expected work date. This is the date the meter is expected to be read.
Note:

Overriding a route within a specific schedule. Rather than downloading all routes within a cycle, you can set up the system so that only specific routes are downloaded on any given date. This is a very powerful feature. You can use it, for example, to estimate specific cycles every other month or indicate the customer reads the meter every third month. Refer to Designing Measurement Cycles, Routes, And Schedules for more information.

  • On the scheduled selection date, Meter Data Management could create a download file, via custom algorithms, containing information to be sent to your handheld software. This download file should contain information about every register or measuring component on every meter in the routes being downloaded.
  • Your handheld software distributes this information to the handheld devices and then your meter readers do their job. When they finish, the resultant measurements are uploaded into the system for subsequent use by other processes such as usage transactions for billing.
Warning:

It is very important to create a measurement cycle schedule for every expected read date regardless of whether the cycle's routes are downloaded. Why do you have to do this? Because Meter Data Management uses the expected work date on the measurement cycle to know when to look for a measurement during usage calculations. If it can't find a reading on or near this date, Oracle Utilities Meter Data Management may estimate consumption. Without a measurement cycle schedule, MDM wouldn't know when to look for readings. So, for example, if you estimate a given cycle's consumption EVERY OTHER MONTH, you must create a measurement cycle schedule for EVERY month. On each month's schedule, you must define if the routes should be downloaded.

Fastpath:

For more information about the how to control when a cycle is read, refer to Setting Up Measurement Cycle Schedules.