Advancing Technology – Are You (and Your Platform) Ready?
With the fast growing pace of technology nowadays, more product features and enhancements are becoming available to utility companies on a regular basis to help save time and often money.
But for utilities to take advantage of these benefits, computer platforms and software support has to be ready and available for changes.
Take for example, Internet addressable meters. It’s estimated that in 10 years, there will be more than 600 million meters directly addressable via the Internet. This feature allows a utility to read a customer’s meter from its office on-demand. This means that meter reading can be done any time in a matter of minutes for all meters, generating savings from manual meter reading and vehicle costs.
ASI has already interfaced with this type of system that also allows meter cut-offs for non-pays, scheduled disconnects and re-connects.
While it may not be known what the next feature will be that could offer a utility cost savings or benefits, it is known that utilities must have their computer platforms and software support ready and available for that change.
Receipt printers, payment barcode scanning, hand-held meter readings and customer Internet access were all new features at one time that ASI has installed and built into its products. Many utilities still do not have these features because their platform and/or software support company can’t provide the interface at a reasonable cost.
ASI has always looked forward to and embraces new technology as it becomes available. This allows us to provide utilities with the flexibility and proven stability to install new features with confidence within your systems.
