The At a Glance (AAG) page acts like a dashboard that gives you quick access to vital information through charts and graphs organized in modules. The first time you access BEACON, the At a Glance page opens in a default module layout. You can customize that layout to suit your needs, for example, positioning the modules that you use most frequently at the top of the page or removing modules that you do not use often.
BEACON automatically remembers the new layout, so that the next time you login to BEACON the AAG page appears as you customized it. Custom AAG layouts are user-specific. That is, no one but you will see your customized layout.
The AAG page scales to fit the width of your computer monitor. Narrow displays present two modules side-by-side. Wider displays let you see more modules side-by-side.
Display Width Thresholds
| Display Width in Pixels | Number of Modules Shown Side-by-Side |
| 0 to 999 | 1 |
| 1000 to 1749 | 2 |
| 1750 to 2499 | 3 |
| 2500 to 3499 | 4 |
| 3500 tp 6399 | 5 |
| 6400+ | 6 |
To reposition a module:
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- Click-drag the six-dot “handle” in the module you want to move.
- Drag and drop the module from its current position to the new one. Notice that the other modules automatically shuffle to accommodate the move.
- To remove a module, click the X in the module’s upper right corner.
- Click-drag the six-dot “handle” in the module you want to move.
To add new modules:
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- Click the + Add Module button located below the Create Dashboard button in the upper right corner.
- In the drawer, do one of the following:
- Click the + Add Module button located below the Create Dashboard button in the upper right corner.
Each module on the AAG page performs a specific task. Health modules report issues and exceptions for each device and gateway in your water system. Status modules let you see at a glance essential consumption details and trends, get billing reads, quickly get counts of endpoints by their current status and learn about new features in BEACON.
How BEACON Calculates the Numbers in AAG Modules
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- Counts on the Device Health module are based on the number of devices reporting issues.
- Counts on the Flow Health, Gateway Health and Valve Health modules are based on the total number of events.
- Monitor page counts are based on the total number of meters.
- AAG page counts update every second. As a result, Monitor page and Assets page counts could differ by one or two.
- Assets page counts are based on the number of whichever device type is selected.
- When the Flow Health module sees no recent flow on both the low- and high-sides of a compound meter, each is included in the count.
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On the Valve Status module, E-Series Ultrasonic Plus meters with integrated valves can be both pending and one of open, partially open or closed. A single valve can also have any number of exceptions. As a result, it is normal for the total number of valves and the total number of events to be different.
Leak detected totals in the Flow Health module and Export Data Service API counts will also differ. That is because Flow Health module Leak detected totals only count leaks with base rates of 1 gallon or more per hour in a 24-hour period. Export Data Service API leak exports include meters with leaks with base rates of less than 1 gallon per hour or more of flow for 24 consecutive hours.
TIP: Web browsers cache content. This can result in counts that do not update dynamically when you jump from the AAG page to the Monitor or Assets pages. To ensure that counts update dynamically, we recommend that you perform a hard refresh of your browser to ignore cached content when jumping from the AAG page to the Monitor or Assets page. Consult your particular browser documentation for instructions.
Counts in the Endpoint Status module are updated in near-real-time and are based on the most recent endpoint communications.
How BEACON Calculates “Weekly” Usage
The System Water Usage, Favorites and Top Accounts By Usage (Weekly) modules look back seven days from the last flow message received to calculate “weekly” usage. In addition, the Top Accounts By Usage (Weekly) module counts usage per account, whereas the Favorites module and Monitor page cards display usage per meter. Flow from meters with a Service_Point_Type of Sewer is excluded from counts in the System Water Usage, Favorites and Top Accounts By Usage (Weekly) modules. When DMA zones have been implemented, System Water Usage and Top Accounts By Usage only count Supply Meters. If a meter serves as a Demand meter in one zone and a Supply meter in another zone, its consumption is not included.
This health module provides a snapshot of the number and percentage of devices–endpoints, encoders and meters–reporting with and without issues.
Use the drop-down menu to examine by device type or the devices marked as Favorites.
Use the Status OK switch to toggle devices with OK Status.
The numbers across from Status OK and Reporting Issues indicate the count of devices with those statuses.
The blue numbers are links that when clicked open the Monitor page and select the meter cards of endpoints reporting the following exceptions:
Endpoint Tamper – An exception triggered by a break in communication between an endpoint and an encoder. Typically occurs when the wire between the meter and endpoint has been cut or disconnected. After connection is re-established, the tamper will clear.
Endpoint Alarms – A range of conditions are reported under this status indicator, including:
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- Endpoint Low Battery – Indicates low battery strength, replace endpoint to correct the condition.
- Endpoint Reading Changed – Indicates when a reading on an RTR encoder connected to an ORION ME or ORION SE endpoint has been changed or altered.
- Endpoint Forced Transmission – Indicates network transmission has been forced from a GALAXY TR3 endpoint.
- Endpoint Programmed – A notification that endpoint parameters have been changed, the notification will last 35 days.
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Meter/Encoder Alarms – A range of conditions are collected and reported under this status indicator, including:
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- Meter/Encoder Programmed – Set when meter/encoder parameters have been changed.
- Meter/Encoder End of Life – Triggered when the system detects low battery strength.
- Encoder Removal – Set when an encoder is detached from its meter.
- Meter/Encoder Temperature – A warning triggered when operating temperature approaches its limits.
- Encoder Magnet Tamper – Indicates the presence of a powerful magnet that is preventing accurate readings.
- Meter Exceeding Max Flow – Indicates flow so high that the meter cannot obtain accurate readings.
- Meter Sensor Error – Indicates a problem with the sensor that is preventing accurate readings from being obtained.
- Meter Empty Pipe – Triggered when there is no water in the pipe, a condition that prevents accurate readings from being obtained.
- Encoder Dial Changed – Indicates the encoder has detected an encoder dial change.
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See Health Module Status Indicators for more on exceptions and alarms.
Encoder Communication Errors – Triggered when BEACON receives data from an encoder but a reading cannot be obtained. This could indicate an encoder malfunction or that the dial is temporarily stuck. The condition automatically clears when a new reading is obtained.
This module provides a snapshot of endpoint communication. Use the drop-down menu to examine all endpoints, endpoints marked as Favorites, and filter by endpoint type.
Use the Communication Tolerance drop-down menu to look back a selected amount of time.
Use the Status OK switch to toggle devices with OK Status.
The numbers to the right of Status OK and Not Reporting indicate the count of endpoints exhibiting those statuses.
Click the number to the right of No Recent Endpoint Communication to jump to the Monitor page and see the meter cards of locations reporting No Recent Endpoint Communication – an alert set when a networked endpoint has not communicated successfully with BEACON within the Communication Tolerance duration. Clears when communication is re-established.
Get the current count of endpoints by status:
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- Provisioned – Endpoints that have been associated with meters and accounts.
- Preprovisioned – Endpoint that have been activated, have communicated with BEACON and are ready to be provisioned.
- Available – These endpoints are in your inventory and are ready for activation.
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The blue numbers to the right of each status are links that when clicked let you see the list of endpoints with the corresponding status on the Assets page.
This health module provides an overview of the flow anomalies in your water system. Use the drop-down menu to graph all or specific AMI and AMR meter types reporting flow anomalies or the endpoints you have marked as Favorites.
The blue numbers to the right of each exception that when clicked open the Monitor page and select the meter cards of locations reporting:
No recent flow – For AMI meters, no flow detected during the past 72 hours. For AMR meters, includes meters with No Usage for more than 30 days. The alert clears with usage.
Leak detected – For AMI meters, indicates flow of one gallon or more has been detected every hour in the 24-hours prior to the time the endpoint communicated with BEACON. Clears when a zero-flow read is received in a 24-hour period. For AMR meters, counts alerts sent by the endpoint to the mobile reading device. Once the leak is corrected, the alert clears the next time data is collected from the endpoint.
Backflow – For AMI meters, a condition in which reverse water flow has been reported in the past 30 days. Clears when no backflow is detected for 30 consecutive days. For AMR meters, a flag set when reverse flow is detected. For both AMI and AMR meters, backflow of less than 1 gallon will not trigger an alert.
NOTE: On meter cards, total backflow volume for the past 30 days is cumulative. If a compound meter is involved, the total includes backflows across all encoder registers at that location service point. Backflow is detected by the encoder as well as by BEACON.
Continuous flow – Indicates locations that the utility has tagged as places where water runs continuously on purpose. For example, manufacturing facilities and cooling towers.
NOTE: AMR meters tagged as Continuous Flow will only be included in the Continuous Flow count if the meter leak flag has been triggered, indicating that continuous flow is present.
This module reports the number and percentage of gateways reporting with and without issues.
Click a blue number to jump to the Assets page for details and a list of gateways reporting:
Attempting Connection – Counts network gateways trying to establish communications with BEACON AMA.
Never Connected – Counts network gateways in your inventory that have never been connected to the system.
Disconnected – Counts network gateways that have been disconnected from the system.
Inactive – Counts network gateways that have been marked as Inactive.
This module processes read data captured by networked and manually read meters and lets you create a file that can be passed to your billing software. The Billing Reads module also shows network and manually read meters that have current billing reads available and meters that are missing current billing reads.
Click Billing Reads (n) to get a list of recent billing file downloads. The number in the parenthesis tells you the number of downloads.
Notice that the list includes the date and time that the file was downloaded along with the file name. Also displayed are the number of billing routes, the number of reads included in the file, and the number of unread meters (meters with missing billing reads).
Click the three vertical dots on the right side of the module to:
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- Rerun History – Resubmits the respective billing read file for processing.
- Download Billing File – Lets you download the billing read file.
- View Report – Lets you see a breakdown of the billing file contents (see image below).
Click Cancel to return to the Billing Reads (n) screen.
Click the Gear icon in the lower left corner of the mondule to access the Default Billing Read Settings menu.
Use the drop-down menus in the Default Billing Read Settings menu to set the default Network and Manual/AMR read tolerances. That is, the number of days the system looks back from the billing date to find a billing read. Click Save when finished to save any changes. Click Cancel to retain the previous settings.
Click Get Billing Read, and if desired use the drop-down menus to change Network and Manual Read Tolerances. Click Ok when finished to save the settings. Click Cancel to return to the previous setting.
If desired, enter a Billing Read Date, which defaults to “today.” Or click the Calendar icon to pick a date.
Use the << and >> arrows to step backward and forward one year at a time.
Use the < and > arrows to step backward and forward one day at a time.
Use the Read Time Tolerance drop-down menu if you want to change the number of days that the system will look back from the Billing Read Date to find a billing read.
Note: The Billing Upload File option (step 3) is enabled and visible when the utility export type is set to Configured. It is disabled and not shown when the utility export type is set to Default. Export type is determined by Badger Meter personnel during the initial utility onboarding process.
The Billing Upload File function locates and uploads the last uploaded Data Exchange file and appends billing reads to this file. For detailed instructions, see Exporting Billing Reads.
Click Get Billing Read to initiate the export process. When the operation completes, click Download Billing File to download the file to your computer.
This module displays the average temperature, freeze risk, and high freeze risk of meters with sensors.
Hover your cursor over one of the dots to see the average temperature on a given day.
Click a blue number next to one of the conditions to jump to the Monitor page to see the meter cards of locations reporting:
Reporting Issues – lets you see sensors that are experiencing technical issues.
Medium Freeze Risk – when the temperature reaches 37.04 degrees F or 2.8 degrees C.
High Freeze Risk – when the temperature reaches 34.88 degrees F or 1.6 degrees C.
This module displays water pressure statistics of meters with sensors.
Hover your cursor over one of the dots to see the average water pressure on a different day. Click a number to the right of High Pressure or Low Pressure to view on the Monitor page meters that are reporting:
High Pressure – when water pressure reaches or exceeds 130 PSI.
Low Pressure – when water pressure is less than 20 PSI.
See aggregated flow data displayed as a trend in this module. Compare this week’s overall consumption with the previous week’s overall consumption data.
NOTE: This metric is calculated from networked meters only.
This module displays water usage for service locations designated as favorites on their Monitor page Meter Cards.
Click a Meter ID to get more details by viewing the favorite’s meter card on the Monitor page.
Top Accounts by Usage (Weekly)
This module lists the Top 25 accounts, ranked by weekly consumption.
Click an arrow to get more details by viewing the meter card on the Monitor page.
Click the up-down triangles next to each category to reverse the order.
NOTE: Rank compares water usage from this week to usage last week. If an account was not among the Top Accounts By Usage last week, it will appear with a rank of -. If it was present last week, the rank difference between last week and this week will be shown.
Valve Status
This module provides an overview of the E-Series Ultrasonic Plus meters with integrated valves in your system.
Use the Status OK switch to toggle devices with OK Status. See the total number of valves reporting issues.
Click a blue number next to an exception to open the Monitor page and view the cards for the valves reporting issues.
See the number of valves that are:
- Open – Normal water flow.
- Partial – Reduced water flow (0.35 gpm, typical flow based on 60 psi at the meter).
- Restricted – Restricted water flow suitable for humanitarian, life-sustaining measures (0.125 gpm or less, typical flow based on 60 psi at the meter).
- Pending – A valve movement change has been scheduled.
Any valve can be both Pending movement and one of Open, Partial or Restricted.
Get support phone numbers and direct access to online chat with support personnel in this module.
Click the Connect Now button to access the Badger Meter WebEx support site, which allows technical support to connect to your computer remotely.
Once you are on the Badger Meter WebEx site, click Join and ask the support specialist for a session number so they can connect to your computer.
Complete the required fields and press Submit.
