How the City of Statesville Optimized AMI Installations and Meter Reading Program in a Single Platform
The City of Statesville relied on Fieldman during the smart meter installation project and recognized that the platform, with all collected data, could serve as the foundation for an asset and work management program. The city began adding new modules and workflows at a comfortable pace to streamline operations, including vendor management, making digitalization smooth for its departments.
Project: Smart Meter Deployment, Retrofit & Monthly Meter Reading
Solution: Asset & Work Order Management
Key Feature: Vendor Management
Location: City of Statesville, NC
+35% tech's productivity
Increase vendor performance visibility
Digital catalog of assets
The problem
Four weeks before a smart meter installaton project launch, the City of Statesville utility team realized that a management system for scheduling appointments and collecting meter data had not yet been selected. Meters had already been delivered to a warehouse, fieldworkers had passed through security checks, and the City of Statesville staff were anticipating the new project phase.
Statesville's goal was to replace thousands of electric and water meters in one year, starting in the spring of 2021. Like most utilities, buildings in the City of Statesville had a collection of many different meter models and manufacturers, and all had to be read monthly by meter readers.
The project was planned in phases, each conducted by separate utility vendors; CCI handled the first phase, while Envocore managed the second. There was an urgent need for field service management software tailored for AMI projects.
Simultaneously, the City discovered that their meter reading software was no longer supported, prompting them to search for a replacement solution. This led to the question: could they find a work management solution capable of handling both completely separate business processes? Would this solution be able to adapt to the City's changing needs?
The solution
The Fieldman team set the platform up for the City of Statesville AMI project in two weeks. At first, Fieldman's team started to gather all the necessary data ready for the AMI project to launch successfully. The meter's data was evaluated to check for incomplete records, and addresses geocoded for visualizing deployment on the map. The blackout schedule was configured to ensure no installations occur during the meter reading period.
CCI's field workers received links and passwords to download and access the Fieldman field service app; City employees and CCI's project manager got access to the Fieldman portal, where they started dispatching work orders and keeping track of the project's progress.
The AMI project stayed on schedule with no delays or unplanned stoppages. A couple of times, when the utility vendor had to catch up after a slow down, Fieldman added a significant number of users to the platform in minutes with no additional cost for vendors and the ability to facilitate the higher volume on installs.
Another module that Fieldman configured for the City was for meter readings that were supposed to reaccure monthly. City employees used the Fieldman field service app to collect meter reads that were sent to the Taylor billing software.
The platform was set up with different levels of access to information. City managers had the ability to review all collected data and dashboards, while vendors had access only to AMI project information.
The result
Instead of relying on spreadsheets and multiple solutions, the city now utilizes a single work management platform to oversee field service projects, manage asset maintenance, and collect meter readings.
After completing the first phase of AMI, the city engaged a different utility vendor, Envocore, for the second phase of smart meter installation. Fieldman onboarded Envocore technicians, granted them vendor access to the platform and created logins for Fieldman's field service app. Remarkably, city workers overseeing the project didn't notice any difference in their daily operations.
With the unified platform in place, the City of Statesville seamlessly transitioned towards asset management. Recognizing the importance of comprehensive asset data for future project planning, the city sought to collect additional assets data. This included recording detailed information such as the location of galvanized pipes on the service side and gathering data about outdated meter boxes slated for replacement in the coming years.
Today, the Fieldman platform is widely utilized across multiple city departments, empowering city employees to operate efficiently and deliver the best services to its citizens.
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