Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | JANUARY 2023 | 39 Technology in association with tle disruption to their day as possible. In an "Uber-ised" world people expect real- time, relevant information on appointments sent direct to their smartphones, including details of the engineer's estimated time of arrival, how long they will take and follow- on steps a• er the appointment. Reminder noti• cations can reduce their stress and consequently the number of calls to contact centres, also preventing no-access scenarios. Smart meter replacement doesn't have to be a headache and advanced so• ware is available to help suppliers optimise the entire process, from data management, to • eld organisation, customer booking, sched- uling and despatching. In association with E X P L A I N S Smart meter rollout: intelligent solutions for legacy challenges In this report: Introduction Rollout repercussions Playing catch-up Streamlining installation Efficientuseofdata C A S E S T U D Y Enel Download the report Download the report Smart Meter Rollout: Intelligent Solutions for Legacy Challenges free at: https://utilityweek.co.uk/smart- meter-rollout-intelligent-solutions-for-legacy-challenges/ Case study – Enel With a portfolio of nearly 73 million international customers, Enel is a leader in the • eld of electricity distribution and metering. Every year, the company carries out several tests on materials in more than 700 plants with the aim of ensuring high-quality stand- ards. Most of these tests, which are o en performed in geographi- cally remote locations, require the physical presence of a supervisor on site, causing possible inef- • ciencies in terms of time, travel costs and management of a limited number of resources available. In order to enhance e€ ciency while performing and monitoring inspection activities, Enel chose to deploy the OverIT solution, as it allows remote quality checks on materials. The deployment of the technology has enabled the company to carry out several inspection activities, such as factory acceptance tests, audit of manufacturing processes and sta„ training through wearable devices and tablets. The OverIT solution leverages augmented, mixed and virtual real- ity to support • eld service teams, broadening their capabilities and helping them complete their repair and service tasks more e€ ciently and e„ ectively. Collaboration modules and functionalities enable • eld techni- cians to receive remote support from an expert when dealing with complex activities. The solution allows the sharing of advanced annotations, multimedia contents, resolution procedures and 3D models, as well as expert know- how. Field technicians are supported by powerful augmented reality guidance workflows and resolu- tion procedures. This insight can be visualised on to smartphones, tablets, and wearable devices, enhancing safety and compliance. In total, more than 5,700 of Enel's quality checks are supervised remotely. Using the OverIT solution, the company has improved the productivity of material testing by 52%, while also delivering 15% of time savings for each inspection activity. The solution has also allowed Enel to achieve signi• cant reductions in travel expenses while increasing the availability of • eld sta„ . Utility Week partnered with OverIT to cre- ate the report – Smart Meter Rollout: Intelli- gent Solutions for Legacy Challenges – which examines how utilities must tackle resistance to smart meter adoption by ensuring that installation and longer-term maintenance strategies are e‚ cient and streamlined. OverIT's Next-Gen FSM Platform is able to acquire and manage comprehensive data on customers, property, existing and new meters and represent it on visual maps. These can be used to identify clusters of meters and generate a replacement activity schedule that's exported to subcontractors responsible for each meter. Integration with a utility's customer rela- tionship management (CRM) system and contact centre can make it easier to book, rebook, or cancel appointments with cus- tomers taking into account factors such as location, technicians' availability, assign- ment area, cost, and at-risk customer needs. Furthermore, a schedule optimisation engine streamlines the assignment of work orders to minimise travel time, overtime, costs, late arrivals and no-shows, ultimately ensur- ing utilities comply with their service level agreements. The system features augmented reality visual support, so agents can see the cus- tomer's meter via their smartphone, provid- ing simpler resolutions to the majority of technical support issues. Additionally, a ded- icated app, for iOS, Android, or Windows, gives technicians the ability to, among other things, con• rm installations, take photos and capture signatures as proof, and rebook intervention or a follow-up visit. Data is o• en referred to as the new oil, and dedicated monitoring tools on the Next- Gen FSM Platform capture KPIs (key perfor- mance indicators) and metrics and represent them in reports, dashboards or on maps. This information can be used by utilities to help suppliers train new resources, improve digital work" ows to support resources in the • eld, or even help customers resolve issues themselves. As the clock ticks down to 2025, suppliers face an uphill struggle to boost smart meter take-up. But with the right tactics and tools, and with careful planning and execution, the process could prove much less daunting and disruptive than currently anticipated.

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