Meter reading area

Meter reading area

A meter reading area is required for mobile meter reading. It contains meter reading points at a single location.

You can find the meter reading areas in the location properties. Any number of meter reading areas can be set up at a single location. Each meter reading area is assigned to exactly one meter reader. A meter reading point (metering point) may be included in several meter reading areas.

Create a meter reading area

  1. Navigate to the location.
  2. In the workspace, select the “Meter reading areas” page.
  3. The button can be used to add a new meter reading area.

Properties

Name/Designation/Title

A meaningful text entry. The designation is used for identification and search purposes and can be changed at any time.

Meter reader

Each meter reading area is uniquely assigned to a meter reader (user). This enables visual energy Mobile to retrieve the meter reading areas for the logged-in user and make them available for reading.

Request type

  • Controlled – Meter readings taken via mobile devices must be validated and confirmed within visual energy before they are saved as new meter readings at the metering points.
  • Controlled (Status 2) – Meter readings taken via mobile devices that do not contain any validation errors are immediately transferred to the database. All others must be validated and confirmed manually within visual energy.
  • Not controlled – Meter readings taken via mobile devices are immediately transferred to the database.

Partial meter reading

  • Enabled – The meter reading can be completed early, even if not all meter reading points have been recorded.
  • Not enabled – All meter reading points must be recorded before the meter reading process can be completed.

Status

  • Requested – A meter reading for the meter reading area has been requested for the visual energy Mobile user.
  • Active – A mobile meter reading is currently active. Web users are prevented from editing the meter reading area and the meter reading points it contains.
  • Cancelled – A mobile meter reading has been cancelled. No new meter readings will be recorded. Meter reading using the mobile device is blocked.
  • Check / Edit  – The mobile meter reading has been completed and the meter readings still need to be checked and validated, or manual editing has been initiated.
  • Completed  – The meter reading, check or editing has been completed and the meter readings have been transferred to the database.

Inspector

  • User – Authorises a user to check meter readings before they are written to the database when the request type is “Controlled” or “Controlled (Status 2)”.
  • Role – Authorises users in a role to check meter readings before they are written to the database when the request type is “Controlled” or “Controlled (Status 2)”.

Target date

A meter reading can be requested on a scheduled basis via the “Meter reading area request” workflow. The “Target date in days” parameter allows you to monitor the target date. If the target date is exceeded before the meter reading is complete, a notification is generated.

Alternatively, the target date can also be defined manually in the meter reading area.

Actions

Add a meter reading point

Allows you to add another meter reading point to the meter reading area. All metering points of the “Mobile” type at this location are available for selection. These must contain OBIS measured variables of the “Meter reading” type.

Request a mobile meter reading

This allows a user to request a meter reading at short notice. If this task is to be carried out on a regular basis, for example at the end of the month, it is advisable to use the “Meter reading area request” workflow.

Cancel meter reading

An active meter reading can be cancelled at any time, either by the meter reader themselves or by a user via the visual energy Web interface.