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Additional Info - Meter Volume Checks

When you enter a meter reading in e-automate, e-automate uses available information to determine if the meter reading is credible. If the meter you enter does not pass the meter volume check, e-automate issues a warning prompting you to double-check the accuracy of the meter reading.

First, e-automate uses the following three methods to identify an expected volume:

If sufficient history exists to calculate average monthly usage based on three months of usage history, e-automate uses the average monthly usage as the expected volume (for average monthly usage calculation information, see Additional Info - Average Monthly Usage Calculations for 3, 6, and 12 Month Usage Periods).

If sufficient history does not exist to calculate average monthly usage based on three months of usage history, e-automate uses the manufacturer volume specified for this equipment meter if you have entered it in the system.

If you have not entered manufacturer volume information for this equipment meter, e-automate can attempt to estimate the value for an arbitrary day by calculating an average daily usage and multiplying that average daily usage by the number of days for the period. The value produced can be considered an “estimated” meter value for that day based on the assumption of a constant usage rate. The general formula for an estimated meter is

Estimated Meter = Last Meter + ( (Monthly Average / 30.25 ) * Number of Days since Last Meter

If no history is available for estimating a meter, e-automate cannot identify an expected volume and therefore cannot issue a validation warning.

Second, if e-automate can identify an expected volume for the meter, you can specify a "buffer" range based on a percentage of the expected volume within which to consider a meter reading acceptable (for more information on using this feature, see Meter validation buffer in Setting Equipment Options). The Meter validation buffer is the percentage of the meter's known average monthly usage that the system is to add to the known average monthly usage to determine the "buffer" range of acceptable readings for the meter. For example, if a meter has a known average monthly usage of 1,500 and the Meter validation buffer is set to 50%, the system multiplies the known average monthly usage by the "buffer" percentage (1,500 * 50% = 750) and adds this number of copies (750 copies) to the known average monthly usage (1,500 copies) to arrive at the highest reading e-automate will accept as valid (1,500 + 750 = 2,250 copies) without issuing a warning message for this meter.

Note: The above factors are based on a constant usage rate; however, usage is often not constant (e.g., a company may do the bulk of their monthly usage on a single day during the month). To take into account that meter usage is not always constant, e-automate uses a different formula to validate meters when the number of days since the last known meter reading is less than 31 days. For the span before 31 days, e-automate accepts at least the monthly average input before issuing a validation warning message; as more days pass, e-automate accepts even more to accommodate for the buffered validation value.

The general validation formula is as follows:

Maximum Acceptable Meter = Last Meter + (Number of Days since Last Meter * Average Daily Usage * (1 + Meter Validation Buffer))

Example:

A user wants to enter a meter reading with a Meter Reading Date of 1/5/2016.

E-automate determines the equipment meter has:

A Previous Actual Meter Reading of 56, 217 (which is the Last Meter) on Meter Reading Date 11/19/2015

An Average Monthly Usage of 3,257 based on 3 months of usage

A Meter Validation Buffer of 50% (or .5)

E-automate performs the following calculations:

Number of Days Since Last Meter = Date difference between 11/19/2015 and 1/5/2016 = 47 Days

Average Daily Usage = 3,257 Average Monthly Usage / 30.25 Days in Average Month = 107.6694 Copies per Day

Maximum Acceptable Meter: 56,217 Last Meter + (47 Number of Days Since Last Meter * 107.6694 Average Daily Usage * (1 + .5 Meter Validation Buffer)) = 63,807.7 (rounded to nearest tenth)

Note: E-automate does not round this value up to the nearest whole number).

Based on this information, e-automate will accept as credible a meter reading of up to 63,807. If a user enters a meter reading o 63,808 or higher, e-automate will issue a warning.