PLANO, TEXAS, Sept. 12, 2014 -- Upon merging operations of Bexar Metropolitan Water District into its city-owned utility in 2012, San Antonio Water System (SAWS) recognized that efficiencies and improvements were critical to manage cost savings. As such, one key factor was the purchase of several ROADRUNNER™ Handhelds from Datamatic Inc., a specialist in utility meter reading automation, to replace units from a competitive vendor.
SAWS is a city-owned public utility that has relied on Datamatic to help read and bill water usage for over 25 years. In January 2012, SAWS began integrating the 65-year-old service area of the former BexarMet territory after its ratepayers overwhelmingly voted for the merger in November 2011. Steps for integrating the former BexarMet's approximately 80,000 meters and its meter reading operations took place immediately.
"The San Antonio Water System typically reads over 480,000 meters each month, and we add another 8,000 to 10,000 accounts per year -- and that's before the merger with BexarMet," said Alan Williams, SAWS director of Customer Service. "That means that we must aggressively optimize our people, pipes and technology to meet the rising demand in such a dry area of the country. To maximize our efficiency and minimize the transition for the larger number of former BexarMet customers, we chose to expand our Datamatic ROADRUNNER System."
The ROADRUNNER handheld is a powerful and versatile solution for utility meter reading. The unit can incorporate the latest optional technologies, including Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, a laser scanner, and a camera. When combined with Datamatic's RouteSTAR Meter Reading Software, meters can be read with handhelds, mobile radio equipment or fixed network advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) technology.
See also:
"AMR in Plano, Texas - Raising the Bar, Lowering Headcount"
"Cellnet, Datamatic form automatic meter reading alliance"
About Datamatic
Datamatic is a specialist in utility meter reading automation. The company's innovative ideas created an industry when it installed the first electronic meter reading system in 1980. For nearly over a quarter of a century, Datamatic has been at the forefront in the design, implementation and support of advanced utility meter reading and field data collection solutions for water, gas and electric utilities. Additional information about Datamatic for the media is available by calling Taylor Nelson at (214) 520-3430 or at www.datamatic.com.
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