About Cards
Each Card on the Monitor page corresponds to a given meter in a utility’s portfolio. Cards display crucial meter information: consumption data, Location ID, Location Name, Class Code, Cycle, Route, Service Address and Meter ID. Expanding a card reveals more information, including location details, information about meter reads, valve status (E-Series Ultrasonic Plus meter with integrated valve only) and general endpoint health data. Cards associated with compound meters combine data from all of the endpoints connected to that meter and display that data in theMeter, Reads and Endpoint sections of the Card.
Week-on-Week water usage comparisons look back seven days from the most recent flow message. Calculations are based on the latest full day of data. For example, if “today” is Wednesday November 23 and it is early morning so endpoints have not yet communicated with the system, “this week/last week” comparisons will show last week as Wednesday November 9 – Tuesday November 15 and this week as Wednesday November 16 – Tuesday November 22. After the endpoints communicate the latest reads, the date ranges update. Last week will show as Thursday November 10 – Wednesday November 16 and this week will show as Thursday November 17 – Wednesday November 23.
1. Pagination Controls. Click a number to jump to a group of Cards or click the arrows to jump forward or back one group at a time.
2. Add to Favorites button. Click it to designate the meter as a Favorite.
3. Consumption Trend indicator. A down-facing green arrow indicates less water was used for a given timeframe. A red up-facing arrow indicates more water was consumed during a given timeframe.
The comparison is based on the daily average usage of two sets of consecutive reads. An up-facing arrow is shown when the difference in usage between the first and second period is greater than 1 gallon. A down-facing arrow is shown when the difference in usage between the first and second period is less than 1 gallon.
In the example above, no card is displayed because the average daily usage between the first and second period is less than 1 gallon.
First period: Oct 2 – Nov 3: 1,317 (gallons) ÷ 32 (days) = 41.15
Second period: Nov 3 – Dec 3: 1,236 (gallons) ÷ 30 (days) = 41.2
Difference in usage between the two periods = 0.05 gallons
4. Master Settings that affect all cards (L to R): Drop-down Sort By menu, Change Sort Direction button, Collapse All Cards button, Expand All Cards button, More Settings button.
Use the Sort By drop-down menu to prioritize the Cards display based on Account ID,
Backflow (30 day total), Endpoint Install Date, Flow (Last 7 Days), Last Read Date, Leak Rate, Leak Start Date, Location Cycle, Location ID, Location Name, Meter ID, Meter Install Date, Route Service Address and Service Agreement Start Date.
Note: Sort By Flow (Last 7 Days) mimics the AAG page Top Accounts By Usage (Weekly) function if you do not use any filters with some significant differences:
- The AAG module aggregates usage by account, whereas Monitor page cards display data for individual and compound meters.
- The AAG module displays the top 25 accounts by usage, while the Sort By Flow (7 Days) feature lets you sort and display cards for any number of meters and apply filters to pin-point meters of interest, for example, to review usage by a group of routes, meter sizes and other criteria.
Clicking the More Settings button opens the View Settings menu, which lets you select the tab that is displayed when Cards are expanded and set the number of Cards displayed on the Monitor Page.
5. Card controls (L to R): Click the Login As button to view the user’s EyeOnWater dashboard. Use the Add Note/Notes button to add or read notes. The Tags button lets you set tags for any given meter in the system. The Set Alert button lets you see Leak Alerts set by EyeOnWater users. You can also use the button to set Leak Alerts for consumers not using EyeOnWater. (The Set Alert button is disabled on cards for Manual/AMR meters.) The Valve button (E-Series Ultrasonic Plus meters with integrated valve only) opens the Valve Position Scheduler popup menu and displays the valve position when it is set to Partial or Closed. Use the More drop-down menu to hide all other meters, create and assign Data Extractions and jump directly to the Assets page Data Diagnostics tab. Click +/– to expand or collapse that particular card.
The number of Notes and Tags is displayed on each button.
On cards for AMR and Manually Read meters, the Alerts button is disabled.
On cards for E-Series Ultrasonic meters with integrated valves, the Valves button opens the Valve Position Scheduler and displays the valve position.
Use the More drop-down menu to hide other Cards, jump to the Historical Data Extractions page, jump directly to the Assets page Data Diagnostics tab and jump directly to the Assets>DE Search page with the Location ID and Service Point ID selected so you can view corresponding Data Exchange files.
6. Alert Bar. Displays alerts on cards for meters when Backflow, Leaks, Tampers and other exceptions are detected.
7. Change Schedule Icon. For E-Series Plus Ultrasonic meters with integrated valves, this icon displays when a valve position change is scheduled to occur. Use the View Details link to re-open the Schedule Valve Actuation popup menu and review, alter or cancel the valve movement.
8. EyeOnWater button. This button lets you see at a glance cards for meters associated with EyeOnWater accounts. Click the button to jump directly to the EyeOnWater account.
When Cards are expanded, Location, Meter, Reads Endpoint and Valve tabs provide fast access to more information.
Location Tab
Geocode Status
Geocode Status indicates how longitude and latitude values were determined.
- Service Point – Geo-location is based on the Service_Point_Longitude/Latitude values provided via Data Exchange file.
- Location – Geo-location is based on the Location address provided via Data Exchange file.
- Utility – Geo-location is based on the Utility’s coordinates.
- Indeterminable – Geo-location could not be determined based on the Location address provided via Configured Import file.
For complete details on how BEACON determines geo-coordinates, see Setting Location & Service Point Longitude and Latitude.
Meter Tab
Meter ID, Meter S/N, Model, Make, Size, Timezone, Meter Note, Register Size, Unit and Resolution are values provided by the utility via Data Exchange file. Notes can also be added directly on card. Number of Dials is derived automatically from meter data collected by the endpoint that is connected to the meter.
Add Note
Click the Add Note button to capture additional details about the meter. For example, describe its obscure location or record when it was provisioned. Click Add new note to save and close the note. Important: Notes are date and time stamped and include the user name of the person who created the note. Meter Notes cannot be revised or removed once entered. Meter Notes can also be created with Data Exchange files.
Meter Tab for a Compound Water Meter
Meter Tab for a Gas Meter
Reads Tab
Reads Tab for Networked Water Meters
Raw Read – Encoder read including leading zeros. Displayed for diagnostic purposes. Must be enabled by Badger Meter personnel. Requires:
- Number of dials on a register to be detected and passed to BEACON automatically by ORION Cellular endpoints connected to meters manufactured by Badger Meter.
- Number of dials on a register to be passed to BEACON via Data Exchange file.
- If no dial information is present, Raw Read will not be displayed.
Full Read – Raw read multiplied by the meter resolution, displayed in the meter unit of measure.
Billing Read – Full read divided by the billing resolution.
Read Method – Displayed under the Latest Read & Method, the Method describes how reads were collected and brought into BEACON.
- Network – ORION Cellular endpoint, pulse barnacle endpoint, magnetic barnacle endpoint.
- Fixed – ORION SE endpoint, GALAXY TR3 endpoint, GALAXY TR2 endpoint.
Read Date – Date and time the meter was read, along with the meter timezone and how long from “now” the read was collected.
Reads Tab for AMR and Manually Read Water Meters
Full Read – Raw read multiplied by the meter resolution, displayed in the meter unit of measure.
Billing Read – Full read divided by the billing resolution.
Read Method – Displayed under the Latest Read & Method, the Method describes how reads were collected and brought into BEACON.
- AMR – ORION SE endpoint, ORION ME endpoint, ORION CE endpoint.
- Manual – User-entered value in mobile reading applications (BEACON Field Application Suite, ORION Mobile Read).
- Utility – Data Exchange Read import file.
High Read Limit – Maximum expected meter reading value. Set via Data Exchange file.
Low Read Limit – Minimum expected meter reading value. Set via Data Exchange file.
Reader Codes – Code sent to reading collection device to notify people collecting reads of various conditions at a location.
Reader Comment – Notes passed from a handheld meter reading device to BEACON.
Trouble Codes – Predefined message send from ORION Mobile Read software to BEACON.
Alert Codes – Predefined message sent from BEACON to ORION Mobile Read software.
Read Operator – Identifies the person responsible for collecting reads.
Reads Tab for a Compound Water Meter
Reads Tab for a Manually Read Compound Water Meter
Endpoint Tab
| Register Interface | Describes the method or sensor used to electronically connect a meter register to the system. |
| Encoder | Encoder registers collect meter data digitally and send industry standard ASCII encoded output to the system via endpoints over cellular networks, network gateways, and radio signals that can be read by mobile and handheld reading devices. |
| Pulse | Indicates a device that emits pulses. |
Endpoint Tab for a Compound Water Meter
Firmware Version displays the currently installed endpoint software release.
Status affirms that the endpoint is Active.
Signal Strength icons display the health of endpoint communications for ORION Cellular (CDMA, LTE, LTE-M), Barnacles, and Hybrid endpoints. Signal Strength is based on the number of successful communications with the system during the past seven days:
| Icon | Successful comms |
Good  |
Seven of the past seven days |
OK  |
Four to six of the past seven days |
Marginal  |
Three or less of the past seven days |
NOTE: Fluctuations in signal strength are normal and expected. Action is required only if weak signal strength causes a break in communication for an extended period of time, triggering a “Marginal” result. When this occurs, hover your cursor over the i to get tips on improving signal strength and see a tool tip that describes the endpoint communication status.
Battery icons display battery health of ORION Cellular (CDMA, LTE, LTE-M), Barnacles, and Hybrid endpoints.
| Icon | Charge Remaining |
OK  |
1 year or better |
Low  |
Less than 1 year |
Replace  |
6 months or less |
NOTE: The battery life expectancy of ORION Cellular CDMA endpoints is 10 years. Certain operating conditions use more power than others, so your experience may vary. As battery life approaches six percent, an alert warns you to replace the endpoint.
Valve Tab
For services with E-Series Ultrasonic Plus meters with integrated valves, see the current valve position, the length of time between “now” and the last successful actuation, who authorized the movement, the time and date of the last maintenance cycle, the version number and battery status. Click the triangle next to Actuation History to get more details. Where appropriate, Previous and Next buttons let you step through paginated Actuation History results.
Automatic Unit Scaling
Consumption totals in the weekly comparisons portion of cards and in the Consumption Graph use automatic unit scaling. The unit of measure automatically switches when flow crosses the thresholds described in the table below:
| Unit | Threshold | Unit Displayed (conversion formula) |
| Liters | >=1,000 | Cubic Meters value/1,000 |
| Cubic Meters | <1 | Liters
value*1,000 |
| Gallons | >=10,000 | KGAL
value/10,000 |
| KGAL | <1 | Gallons
value*1,000 |
| Cubic Feet | >=10,000 | CCF
value/100 |
| 10 Cubic Feet | <1 | Cubic Feet value*10 |
| >10 | CCF value/10 |
|
| CCF | <1 | Cubic Feet value*100 |
Read Time versus Communication Time
The terms read time and communication time are often confused as being the same, when they are different things.
• Read time refers to the moment when an endpoint collects a read from a meter.
• Communication time refers to the moment when an endpoint sends data to BEACON.
Most endpoints collect reads at the top of each hour, others collect reads every 15 minutes. Endpoints communicate with BEACON, sending reads and other data once every 24 hours. The exact hour of the day that that communication occurs is set randomly for each individual endpoint. This is done to distribute network traffic and enhance system performance.
If an endpoint is unable to communicate with BEACON, it will continue to try to connect to the system until it is successful. Depending on how long the gap in communication is and the endpoint type, BEACON might calculate and display estimated reads.
After an endpoint has communicated with BEACON, it takes time for the system to process and display the reads in the Monitor page consumption graph and on cards. How much time varies based on other tasks the system is handling when the reads are received.
Where Read Time and Communication Time in appear in BEACON
The Reads tab on Monitor page cards display the Read Date (the day the latest read was collected along with the time the read was collected).
The Endpoint tab on Monitor page cards displays the Previous and Next Comm. (Communication) times.
The Last Read Age filters on the Monitor page count back from the Previous Comm. (Communication) date and time shown on the Endpoint tab.
Sensors Tab for LTE and LTE-M Endpoints
ORION Cellular LTE and LTM-E endpoints include temperature sensors.
Hover the cursor over one of the dots along the line graph to see the average temperature on a given day. Seven-day averages along with minimum and maximum temperature readings are also displayed.
Sensors Tab for 3″ and 4″ E-Series G1 Ultrasonic Meters with ORION Cellular LTE or LTE-M Endpoints 
Hover the cursor over one of the dots along one of the line graphs to see the average pressure, temperature, ambient temperature and endpoint temperature on a given day. Seven-day averages along with minimum and maximum pressure and temperature readings are also displayed. Note: Various exception conditions such as Meter Empty Pipe will prevent values from being displayed.
Sensors Tab for 3″ and 4″ E-Series Ultrasonic G2 Meters with ORION Cellular LTE or LTE-M Endpoints 
Hover the cursor over one of the dots along one of the line graphs to see the average pressure, temperature, ambient temperature, endpoint temperature or maximum flow on a given day. (Max Flow Rate requires E-Series Ultrasonic G2 Ultrasonic meters.) Seven-day averages along with minimum and maximum pressure and temperature readings are also displayed. Note: Various exception conditions such as Meter Empty Pipe will prevent values from being displayed.
