Meter Reading Gets Future Proofed

Future proofing your water metering solution is an important concept for utilities. Traditionally, utilities deploying a fixed-network system were responsible for maintaining a host of servers, gateways and a reliable power supply. The options for a utility to keep up with technological advancements in today’s metering world look very different.

As John Fillinger, Director of Utility Marketing for Badger Meter explains in this Water Online Radio interview, utilities no longer need to shoulder the burden of keeping up with technological advances in IT infrastructure on their own. A managed solution, such as Badger Meter’s BEACON which includes Orion Cellular Endpoint, allows utilities to focus their energies on water treatment and distribution operations and ensures that they’ll have the latest AMI functionality to help meter reading efficiency increase over time.

Fillinger uses the cellphone’s evolution over the past 20 years as a metaphor to explain how a managed solution works. As cellphone technology evolved, the bag phone was replaced by the flip phone which was subsequently replaced by the smart phone. “When a utility deploys a BEACON system, they essentially get a brand-new system over time as technology evolves,” explains Fillinger. “They keep up with technology ... and are not locked into a legacy system put in place twenty years ago.”

For more on the benefits of a managed meter reading solution, click on the player below: