City public service learns to speed read. [Computerized routing system for meter reading]
City Public Service (CPS) of San Antonio, TX is a municipally owned utility that serves a densely populated 1,566 square miles in and around San Antonio. CPS's service area is divided into 21 meter reading districts, each of which is broken down into no more than 99 regular routes. Every day, a CPS employee reads one of the districts, following one or more routes. In 1991, CPS began using handheld computers to record reads for regular routes, which are stored on the devices themselves. In contrast, rereads and final reads occur at random throughout the service area. Because they change every day, the process of creating routes that can be loaded onto a handheld device is difficult. Until recently, rereads and final reads were printed on paper orders, and route schedulers would spend close to two hours sorting the paper orders into routes. Meter readers would then hand-sequence the orders on their routes, often using a city map, before taking them into the field in stacks. When the meter readers returned, their completed orders had to be separated by type of reread, and then keyed into the mainframe computer before bill processing could begin. CPS's data processing department developed a computerized routing system of its own that saves time and labor, as well as paper. The system eliminates paper orders entirely, enabling schedulers to create reread and final read routes graphically on a PC. Information no longer needs to be keyed from hard copy, reducing the margin of error and streamlining bill processing by incorporating automated data transfer between systems.
- OSTI ID:
- 5098547
- Journal Information:
- Fortnightly; (United States), Vol. 132:3
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
POLICY AND ECONOMY
ELECTRIC UTILITIES
MANAGEMENT
ROUTING
AUTOMATION
DATA PROCESSING
POWER METERS
PROGRAMMING
ELECTRIC MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT
EQUIPMENT
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
METERS
PROCESSING
PUBLIC UTILITIES
296000* - Energy Planning & Policy- Electric Power