Cycles & Routes (2)

The first change influenced by technology came with the ability for the reader to enter the data into a hand-held device. As one company came to dominate, these are sometimes simply referred to as Itron readings, after the manufacturer. Interfaces had to be developed to download data about what was to be read – address, meter number – to the handheld device, and periodically to upload the results. Very often the manufacturer bundled some software such as route optimisation and other management tools as a separate application, and the line became blurred as to what the meter reading management software would achieve and what the CIS needed to do. This confusion still persists.