How to Save Time & Reduce Costs with Mobile Water Meter Reading
Ebin Thomas
Account Executive at Anyline
Smart home technology continues to become more common in homes around the world. As a result, smart utility management has improved, specifically with water meter readings. Water meter reading apps help homeowners and businesses to monitor and manage their water usage better than ever before, reducing the amount of wasted water and saving money almost immediately.
With Anyline’s mobile scanning technology, your customers and workforce can read water meters by scanning meters from their mobile devices. Here is an example of how simple the process can be. When it’s time to collect a meter reading, the company contacts the customer, who scans a barcode, such as a QR code, on the side of their meter with their mobile device. This starts the collection process. The customer then simply scans their utility meter using Anyline meter reading, checks the reading is correct, and then submits it. The whole process takes under one minute.
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This is a significantly more efficient and accurate alternative to traditional processes, and provides a much better user experience for customers, allowing them to take control of their water usage. Mobile water meter scanning is also highly accurate, quick, and simple to perform, improving the overall user experience.
But don’t just take our word for it. If you want to quickly test out Anyline meter reading, download our free Energy and Water app today to read analog and digital meters.
Mobile Water Meter Reading is More Accurate than Classic Methods of Self-Reading
One of the biggest challenges with water management in the utility sector is inaccurate readings. Traditional manual data entry of meter values are responsible for the large majority of inaccurate billings and customer complaints.
Additionally, there is the issue of the extra working hours needed to process inaccurate readings that are disputed by customers. As a service provider, delivering the correct billing numbers to customers should be a primary objective.
Accurate Water Meter Scanning Leads to Accurate Processes
Mobile meter reading presents opportunities to streamline and digitize multiple processes of your business. With the digital transformation of your business in mind, how accurate are your current data collection processes?
Traditional data collection methods can cause significant financial deficits in your business. In fact, it is reported to cost the US economy $3 trillion per year. By simply adding mobile meter scanning to your water meter reading app or website, you will greatly improve the data quality collected and negate the effects of poor collection throughout your business processes.
The Challenge of False Water Meter Readings
Without smart meters in place, it can be hard to collect accurate data without sending technicians out to record the meter data manually. Time has shown that customers aren’t capable of submitting accurate readings on a consistent basis, for which there are many reasons. The most common of these reasons include distraction due to other daily tasks, and illegible handwriting, specifically when having to record the data in less-than-ideal locations and positions.
Like customers, technicians that do manual water meter readings will also inevitably make mistakes. The truth is, anytime you have manual data entry processes, errors are going to appear. This is frustrating for both the utility company and customer alike, costing valuable time and patience for both parties.
Mobile Water Meter Reading is Accurate & Fast
Mobile meter scanning for utilities is capable of water meter readings at a much higher accuracy than manual data entry. Anyline’s Water Meter Scanner has an accuracy of 99%. This industry-leading accuracy ensures that data is captured with confidence, no matter who captures the data.
Mobile scanning technology provides you with an instant scan of water meter values and uploads the data directly to your existing data management system via your app or website.
Knowing that your water meter readings will be recorded accurately, you can improve the user experience of a mobile app or website. Customers no longer need to send their self-read meter data by mail, reducing weeks of wasted time and allowing you instant access to real-time meter readings.
Perform Water Meter Readings Anywhere
Agility is one of the biggest benefits of mobile scanning technology. Unlike other mobile scanning solutions, Anyline doesn’t use third-party servers to process data.
Your phone’s internal computing power handles the task completely offline and much faster, giving you an added level of security. This has a number of advantages for your business.
Mobile Water Meter Scanning can be performed even at the remotest places. For example, your customers and your workforce can perform scans wherever they need to go, no data connection is required to process the readings. This is a great advantage to have, especially as meters are often located in basements and cellars, away from strong wifi and data signals.
With mobile scanning, your users can perform water meter readings and upload the results instantly once their devices regain any kind of data connection.
Manage Smart Meter Switchovers with Mobile Scanning
Smart meters are being introduced around the world to help people manage their water usage better. Smart meters can help you to save water and will help shape the smart homes of the future. However, most customers of water providers are yet to adopt smart water meters.
One of the biggest roadblocks to the adoption of smart meters is the smart meter switchover process. This process requires extensive and accurate documentation to be completed successfully. The location, ID, and current meter reading of the old utility meter must be documented before you can start with the installation of a new meter.
As mentioned, both customers and technicians can easily make false readings, and if they struggle to report meter readings, they’re likely to struggle when they need to provide multiple codes and details as well during a complex switchover process.
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Manage & Install Smart Water Meters with Mobile Scanning
Anyline offers a number of different modules for mobile scanning integration. This makes it the perfect tool for managing your smart meter switchovers.
Your customers and workforce can use this mobile water meter scanning solution to read meter identification barcodes and combine their scan with the GPS data of their location to find and confirm the location of each utility meter.
With meter reading data provided to your existing data management systems in an instant, this process makes it much faster and simpler to perform quick smart meter switchovers.
Add Mobile Scanning to Your Water Meter Reading Processes
Mobile scanning helps you to bridge the gap between your analog & digital data. You can optimize time-intensive work processes and remove redundant tasks from the daily routine of your workforce and improve your business in an instant.
Find out how you can save time and reduce your costs with mobile scanning technology. Our utility meter scanning solutions are ready for deployment in your mobile app and website!
