This paper explores how staff ideas coalesced into a vision for higher standards
of billing accuracy and water consumption information for Toronto water customers, in
order to help them manage their use of water. Initial investigations into the benefits and
drawbacks of automated meter reading (AMR) began in the late 1990s, but it was not until
2005 that the City was able to confirm its business case and proceed with the project.
Initial efforts in this area were delayed due to preparations for Y2K, in order to ensure
that customer billing would not be interrupted or corrupted by technology malfunction.
Shortly thereafter, the cities and metropolitan services of the Region of Toronto were
amalgamated into the new City of Toronto. Harmonization of customer services
throughout the amalgamated city gave rise to a Universal Metering Project to install
water meters for approximately 80,000 accounts. Differences in metering practices
required bylaw changes to provide uniform definition of meter ownership, harmonization
of rates, and agreed direction for meter performance.
A business case for City-wide meter replacement and implementation of an AMR system
was prepared in 2001-2002. It recommended the use of a fixed radio system to read the
meters. Counterbalancing this analysis was the then-predominate use of touchpads and
drive-by radio systems for water meters across North America. At the same time, the
Province of Ontario was embarking on a new "smart" metering program for electric
service. All of these factors combined meant that City staff had to wait before embarking
on wholesale water meter replacement, persevering with its vision for better customer
service while waiting for the technology and metering situation to clarify.
More than five years after beginning the process, the City of Toronto was finally be able to
validate its business case and proceed with AMR in 2005. This paper explores
the many factors and decisions involved this long, interactive process to provide
excellent customer service in the face of political, technological, and market change. Includes tables, figure.
| Edition : | Vol. - No. |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 880 KB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 45 |
| Published : | 06/01/2007 |
