Downloading Meter Reads
Every metered service point references a service cycle, route, and sequence within the route.
- The service cycle controls WHEN the service point's meter is read.
- A service cycle typically contains many routes. A route is a logical group of service points whose meters can be read by a meter reader on a given day.
- A service point's sequence defines the order within a route that the service point is read.
CAUTION:
If your company supplies electric service and uses
MV90s, you will need to take advantage of "notional" routes. A
"notional" route's service points are never actually read by a
human. Rather, the service points' consumption is fed to the system
by a sophisticated device (e.g., an MV90). These service points
still need to be linked to a route because billing is dependent on
the route's cycle to determine the expected meter read date. You
would assign a "notional" route a route type that is not processed
by the service cycle. Refer to
Setting
Up Service Route Types for more information.
A Service cycle has a schedule indicating when its service point should be read. Each entry in the schedule contains two dates:
- Scheduled selection date. This is the date the system selects the service points in the cycle for download to your handheld software.
- Scheduled work date. This is the date the meter is expected to be read.
On the scheduled selection date, the system creates a download file containing information to be sent to your handheld software. This download file contains information about every register 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 meter reads are uploaded into the system for subsequent use by billing.
Note: 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
Service Cycles, Routes, And Schedules for more
information.