Configuring Cross Installed Meter Processing

Cross installed meters is the term for situations in which meters are deployed at an incorrect customer service point. Consider the following example: Meter  A is supposed to be installed at Service Point A and Meter B is supposed to be installed at Service Point B, but Meter B was mistakenly installed at Service Point A, and Meter A was mistakenly installed at Service Point B. This means that both customers will be billed incorrectly (customer at Service Point A will be billed for usage at Service Point B and vice versa) until the system can updated to reflect the correct meter installations.

This process can also be used to issue financial adjustments and/or cancel/rebill any bill segments that are impacted by the change in meters, and create customer contacts related to the changes. See Adjustments and Cancel / Rebill Incorrect Bill Segments for more information about adjustments and rebilling.

The Cross Installed Meters process provides a tool to re-configure the meters through a correction process. When a user initiates the Cross Installed Meters process, the system will update device installation event details (like status, date and time of installation), device configurations, and measuring components with the correct information.

Cross installed meter processing requires the following administrative data:

  • Customer Contact Class and Type (optional)

  • Request Type

  • Action Method

Each of these is described in detail below.

See Correcting Cross Installed Meters in the Business User Guide for more information about running cross installed meter processing.

Create a Customer Contact Class and Customer Contact Type - Optional

If you want customer contacts created as a result of cross-installed meter processing, you will need to reference a Contact Class and Contact Type. If you want to use a specific contact class and/or contact type, you will need to create these.

See Setting Up Customer Contact Options for more information about creating contact classes and contact types. 

Create a Request Type

Each process flow instance has an associated request record, which is based on a specific request type. You must create a request type based on the "Cross Installed Meter Request Type" business object that will be used for cross installed meter processing.

Use the following procedure to create a request type used with cross installed meter processing

  1. Select Admin, General, Request Type, Add.

  2. Select "Cross Installed Meter Request Type" from the Request Type Business Object drop-down list on the Select Business Object screen and click OK.

  3. Enter the following on the Cross Installed Meter Request Type screen:
    • Main:

      • Request Type: A code for your request type

      • Description: A description of your request type

    • Crossed Installed Meter Parameters:

      • Swap Meters Service Script: Cross Installed Meter - Swap Meters (this is the script that performs the change to Install Events)

      • Insight Type: Cross Installed Meters - Inline (default)

        • Field Task Type: D1-ServiceInvestigation (this defines the Field Task Type for field activities created by clicking the Investigate button on the Swap Meters panel)

      • Create Customer Contact: Indicates if customer contacts should be created as part of the cross installed meter process

      • Contact Class: The contact class used for customer contacts created from cross installed meter process flows. Applicable only if Create Customer Contact is set to “Yes”.

      • Contact Type:  The contact type used for customer contacts created from cross installed meter process flows. Applicable only if Create Customer Contact is set to “Yes”.

    • Bill Correction Parameters:

      • Allow Adjustment: Indicates whether or not to allow adjustments when correcting bill segments

      • Adjustment Type: Indicates the type of adjustment used when correcting bill segments

      • Allow Rebill: Indicates whether or not to cancel/rebill when correcting bill segments

      • Allow Estimates: Indicates whether or not to allow the use of estimated usage when using cancel/rebill to correct bill segments

      • Billing Option: Indicates the billing option (Use Cut off Date or Use Schedule) used when using cancel/rebill to correct bill segments

      • Cancel Reason: Cross Installed Meter (this is the Cancel reason used when using cancel/rebill to correct bill segments)

  4. Click Save.

See Setting Up Request Types for more information about creating request types.

Create an Action Method

You must also configure an Action Method to associate the base package Cross-Installed Meter Process Flow Type (X1-CROSSEDMETER) with your custom Request Type.

Use the following procedure to create an action method used with cross installed meter processing

  1. Select Admin, System, Action Method, Add.

  2. Select "Cross Installed Meter Action Method" from the Request Type Business Object drop-down list on the Select Business Object screen and click OK.

  3. Enter the following on the Cross Installed Meter Action Method screen:  
    • Main:

      • Action Method: A code for your action method

      • Action Method Role:  Cross Installed Meter

      • Description: A description of your request type

    • Default Details:

      • Process Flow Type: Cross Installed Meter (this is provided with the base package)

      • Request Type: Cross Installed Meter (the Request Type created above)

      • To Do Type: Cross Installed Meter (this is provided with the base package) This defines To Do Type for To Do Entries created by the Create Meter Process Completion Event.

      • To Do Role: A To Do Role for To Do Entries created by the Create Meter Process Completion Event.

  4. Click Save,

See Defining Action Methods for more information about creating Action Method records.