Original Assets Page

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From the Assets page, tabs along the left side of the screen let you view the follow devices in your inventory:

In addition, users with administrative privileges can:

The Assets page (above) with the Assets tab selected.

The Assets page as it appears to users with administrative privileges whose utility has mobile reading technology and is using the Data Exchange process to synchronize BEACON with their billing and customer information systems. (Note the Reader Codes tab.)

Tabs marked with an asterick (*) in the descriptions below are only visible to users with administrative privileges.

Tabs marked with a dagger (†) are not supported for utilities using Data Exchange files to update and synchronize BEACON with their billing and customer information systems.

System Sync Tab*

This tab is only visible to utilities using Data Exchange files to synchronize BEACON with their billing and customer information systems.

Click Show to expand the Getting Started section. Click Hide to collapse it.

Use the Getting Started section to:

Download the BEACON Starter Spreadsheet
Jump to a Quick Start Guide that explains the Setup and Synchronization process
Read the Data Exchange FAQ.
Get a step-by-step guide to manually exchanging and syncing CIS data and BEACON.

Use the Import module to provision endpoints and update account and service details by doing one of the following:

Drop a Data Exchange file or Starter Spreadsheet file onto the Drop Zone.
During the import process, BEACON displays the following in the Activity List:

Queued—The Data Exchange file is in line, and processing will begin shortly.

Progress Bar—Once import begins, its progress is displayed as a percentage of completion.

System Updating—With the upload complete, a spinner indicates that changes are being implemented. This process can take up to 24 hours to complete.

Use the Activity List to:

View a list of file imports
See the Date, Time and number of records imported or prepared for import
See the type of import that was performed
- Accounts and Assets
- Interval (Interval Meter Read)
- Billing (Historic Billing Read)
- Consumption (Consumption Targets)
See the number warnings and errors in the file
See the name and email address of the person who handled the import
See the method used to update the system:
- Via UI–the data exchange file was imported through the user interface (UI), that is, the file was dropped onto the Assets>System Sync>Import module
- Via API–the data exchange file was imported using the Data Exchange Import API
Accept an import by clicking the Approve Import button
Stop an import by clicking the Cancel Import button
Download and review the original source file by clicking its file name

Open in a new window or tab the Exceptions Report created during the import test run by clicking View Exceptions. The total number of warnings and errors is shown, letting you quickly see whether you need to open the report and correct any errors or proceed with the import.

Use the Pagination Controls on the bottom of the Activity List to jump to the first, last or a group of entries.

Endpoints Tab

This tab lists all of the endpoints in your inventory, organized in modules based on their status: Available, pre-provisioned, provisioned, archived, offline, decommissioned and unassociated.

Available endpoints are ready to be installed.
Pre-provisioned endpoints are active endpoints that have successfully communicated with BEACON but have not yet been associated with utility account data.
Archived endpoints are endpoints that are no longer in use but their data has been stored for reference.
Offline endpoints are still connected to meters in the field but are not actively communicating with the system by choice.
Decommissioned endpoints are endpoints that are no longer in use and were returned to Badger Meter.
Unassociated endpoints are fixed network endpoints that communicate with BEACON via gateways. Since being transferred to your inventory, they have not yet been heard by a gateway and are not yet associated with an account.

Search Boxes

Each of the Endpoints modules has its own Search box that lets you find endpoints of interest by typing any three consecutive digits of their serial numbers into the search field.

Use the Actions drop-down menu on the Available Endpoints, Archived Endpoints, Decommissioned Endpoints and Unassociated Endpoints sections to Export Data to a File.

Use the Actions drop-down menu on the Pre-provisioned Endpoints and Provisioned Endpoints sections to Export Reads to a File or Export Reads & Data to a File.

To change the number of entries listed within each group, select a number in the Show __ entries drop-down menu.
To rearrange the list by a field name, click one of the column headers.

To view the current status for an endpoint, click the endpoint’s Serial Number.

Clicking an endpoint serial number opens its Current Status menu. The values shown are used for troubleshooting purposes by Badger Meter technical support personnel to assist customers.

Note: While the user interface says “All times are in local time” (that is, the timezone of your browser), Last Read Date is in UTC.

Field	Description	Timezone
Last Message Date	Date and time of the most recent message received from the endpoint.	The timezone of your browser.
Last Read Date	Date and time of the most recent read received from the endpoint.	UTC.
Last Encoder Read	The most recent encoder read including leading zeros.	The timezone of your browser.
Activation Date	Date and time of the first message received from the endpoint.	The timezone of your browser.

Gateways Tab

This tab lists all of the network gateways in your system.

Sort gateways based on their connection status by clicking the desired radio button.

To change the number of entries displayed, select a number in the Show __ entries drop-down menu.

To find a gateway of interest, type its serial number or location name into the search file.

With one or more gateways selected, use the Actions drop-down menu to:

Export Data to a File to see all of the settings for the gateway(s).

With a single gateway selected, use the Actions drop-down menu to:

Export Gateway Diagnostics for a single gateway to see:
- Dates in UTC of the transmissions listed
- Serial numbers of the endpoints connected to the selected gateway
- Gateway serial number
- Transmission Count — number of times that the endpoints have communicated with the gateway
- RSSI Transmission Count—Value used to derive the RSSI signal strength average.
- Minimum, Maximum and Average RSSI signal strength in dbm.

To rearrange the list by a field name, click one of the column headers.

To update a Gateway Passkey or Location details via the Update Gateway popup menu, click a gateway Serial Number.

Gateway Information Settings for Serial Number and Gateway Type are configured by Badger Meter personnel.

Use the Passkey field to enter or update the gateway encryption key.

Use the Service Status drop-down menu to set a gateway as being active or inactive. NOTE: Inactive gateways are not counted in the Disconnected total on the At a Glance page Gateway Health module.

Status for Connection State, Last Update and Firmware Version are transmitted by the gateway to BEACON.

Keep Alive Time is the length of time the network connection will idle. When this interval is exceeded a network timeout occurs. Keep Alive Time defaults to 540 seconds (9 minutes) and is not user configurable.

Use the Gateway Location fields to enter the Gateway Location Name, Address Lines 1-3, City, State/Province and Zip/Postal Code. Enter Location Latitude and Longitude coordinates and click Update Map to view the gateway location in Google maps.

When finished updating gateway information, click Save to store your changes in BEACON.

Mobile Reading Devices

See all of the mobile meter reading devices in your inventory.

To pair a mobile device with BEACON AMA, do the following:

1. Configure the Trimble Ranger 3 device by following the instructions on pages 80-85 of the ORION Field Application 4.0 for Trimble Ranger with BEACON AMA User Manual (BEA-UM_00989-EN-01).
2. Using the Trimble Ranger 3, navigate to the ORION Field Application menu.
3. Tap Settings.
4. Tap Enable BEACON AMA Functionality. An Access Code displays on the screen.
5. In BEACON, choose Assets>Mobile and click Pair Device.
6. Enter the case-sensitive code created in step 4.
7. Click Pair. When the code is confirmed in BEACON, the handheld is configured and ready to receive data.

Reader Codes Tab*

Use the Alert Codes, Reader Codes and Trouble Codes sections to create or revise the ID descriptions used by ORION Mobile Read software or Field Director application and displayed on Monitor page cards for meters. Reader and Trouble codes are predefined messages that can be sent from ORION Mobile Read software to BEACON. Alert codes are predefined messages that are sent from BEACON to ORION Mobile Read software.

Each code must be defined in BEACON before it can be used in the field. If you are using a laptop or tablet with ORION Mobile Read software, each Reader Code must also be built and maintained in the Field Director application.

To create a Reader Code, do the following:

1. Click Create in the section that relates to the type of code you want.
2. Type a number between 1 and 99 in the ID field.
3. Define the code in the Description field. Descriptions can be up to 32 characters long.
4. Click Create.

To edit a code, do the following:

1. In any Reader Code section, click the ID you want to revise.
2. In the Edit menu, revise the description and click Save.

To delete an ID:

1. 1. Click the ID you want to remove.
  2. In the Edit menu, click Delete.

Downloads Tab*

The Downloads tab gives utilities that use ORION Mobile Read software access to Trimble Ranger 7 ORION CE Module and ORION ME Module software support packages. The tab also gives you easy access to BEACON training support manuals.

ORION Mobile Read Software Downloads
From your Trimble Ranger 7 handheld reading device, log into BEACON, navigate to the Downloads tab and click a Download button to get and install the desired software support package.

BEACON Training Support Manual Downloads
Locate the manual of interest and click Download. A PDF-format file will download to your computer. For information on browser downloads, click here.

Update Tab†

Use this tab to update details for a provisioned endpoint and un-provision endpoints by doing the following:

1. 1. Start typing an endpoint’s serial number in the Find existing endpoint field.
  2. Select the endpoint from the list. Once selected, the endpoint’s details will automatically fill in.
  3. Make any necessary changes, and then click the Update Endpoint button.

ProvisionTab†

This tab is used to manually provision a single endpoint, associating it with an Account ID, Location ID and Meter ID in BEACON. To manually provision an endpoint, follow these instructions.

Swap Tab†

Use the Swap tab to provision an endpoint to an existing meter that has already been associated with a location and account in BEACON. This is typically done when replacing an existing endpoint with a new one.

1. 1. Search for the existing meter by entering its Location Name, Location ID, Meter Serial Number or Meter ID, and select it from the list.
  2. Search for a pre-provisioned endpoint by typing its serial number into the New endpoint search on Serial Number drop-down menu, and select it from the list.
  3. Click the Swap Endpoint to Meter button.

Account Tab*

The Account tab is used to add a new Account or update information for an existing account in BEACON.

To update an existing account:

1. 1. Search for an existing account by entering the Account ID, Name or Address and then select the account from the list. Notice the existing account information automatically fills in the fields.Note: When searching for an Account ID, Name or Address that includes a forward slash, type just the numbers and letters. Do not include the slash. For example, to search for 123/a Main Street, type 123a Main Street.
  2. Edit any applicable fields.
  3. When finished, click the Update Account button.

To assign an existing endpoint to an account:

1. 1. Search for an existing account by entering its Account ID, Name or Address, and select the account from the list.
  1. On the bottom of the section, search for an existing endpoint by entering the endpoint serial number or the Location Name, and select the endpoint from the list.
  2. When finished, click the Update Account button.

Location Tab*

Use the Location tab to add a new Location or update information for an existing Location in BEACON.

To update an existing Location:

1. 1. Search for an existing Location by entering its Location ID, Name or Address, and select the Location from the list.
    Note: When searching for a Location ID, Name or Address that includes a forward slash, type just the numbers and letters. Do not include the slash. For example, to search for 123/a Main Street, type 123a Main Street.
  2. Edit the applicable fields.
  3. When finished, click the Update Location button.

To add a new Location:

1. 1. Click the New button.
  2. Fill in all applicable fields (Location Name is the only required field, but including a Location ID is recommended).
  3. When finished, click the Create Location button.

Service Tab*†

The Service tab lets users with administrative privileges easily remove inactive or invalid accounts and service records from the system. For services with active endpoints, it is recommended (but not required) that they be unprovisioned before this procedure is performed. When completed, the Monitor page card for the account will be removed permanently.

The act of deleting a service only removes the association between meter, account and location. Flow data and other information pertaining to the meter and endpoint remain in the system.

NOTE: Proceed with caution – This action is permanent and irreversible. It cannot be undone!

1. Choose Assets>Service tab.
2. Click the drop-down menu, and enter three or more characters of one of the following.
  • Location ID
  • Account Name
  • Account Location

TIP: If you cut and paste a Location ID, name or address from a spreadsheet, be sure to remove any extra spaces that come before or after the actual characters of interest before pressing enter.

Drop-down list

Select the location you want to remove from the system.
If the location has more than one service point, select the Service Point ID from the drop-down menu.
Click Lookup Service.
Verify that the account is really the one you want to delete by doing one of the following:
• Cross reference the Location ID and Meter ID displayed in the card with other records.

Click the Location tab on the card to compare the Location ID.
Click the Meter tab on the card to compare the Meter ID.

If the location includes multiple service points, verify that you have selected the correct Service Point ID.

If you are certain you selected the correct service record, click the red Delete Service button.
If you selected the wrong service record, click the blue Lookup Another Service button and repeat Step 1.A popup menu asks you to confirm that you want to proceed.
Click the red Delete Service button to delete the service record. A confirmation of the service deletion is displayed.
To remove another service record, click the drop-down menu and repeat Step 2.

Data Diagnostics Tab*

This tab is only visible to utilities using Data Exchange files to synchronize BEACON with their billing and customer information systems.

The Data Diagnostics section lets users with administrative privileges review and troubleshoot the results of file imports and quickly see:

Service Configurations
Service Agreements
Endpoint History
Meter History

for service points at a given location. In addition, advanced users can get visibility into BEACON database entries.

To use the Data Exchange Diagnostics section:

1. Enter at least three characters in the Service Location pull-down menu.Tip: Type *** to see a list of all the location service points in your utility.
2. Select the service point of interest at a given location.
3. Review the service configurations, service agreements, endpoint history and meter history at the selected location service point.

In the Endpoint section, a Status of Valid has two meaning:

• If no removal date has been given, Valid indicates a normally function endpoint. Messages can be received and reads stored.

• If a removal date has been given, Valid indicates that until the removal date (if one is given), the endpoint was operating. In addition, the the latest endpoint configuration has a status of Valid and a removal date, any new messages received by BEACON are ignored and the endpoint has been decommissioned.

If desired, use the advanced section to review Service Configuration Database data, Search Index data and Cache data as it appears in “under the hood” in BEACON. Click Show to expand each portion of the advanced section.

Deep Links Tab

The Deep Links tab lets Admin users create and edit links to specific records in systems external to BEACON.

Before you begin, see Deep Links Data Exchange for instructions on how to create Deep Link filters and import unique identifiers such as external system account IDs.

Click Show to expand the Getting Started section. Click Hide to collapse it.

To create a Deep Link:

Click Add Link to open the Add Link section.

Enter the URL for the external site in the URL Template field. If desired, append URLs with additional information that will link directly to records in the external system.
TIP: Be sure to include https:// at the start of each URL.For example, adding {account_id} to a URL lets you use Deep Links to jump from an account card in BEACON to the corresponding record in an external system as long as you have imported each of the related external system account IDs (or any other unique identifier) into BEACON via a Data Exchange file. (See Deep Links Data Exchange.)

Type @ to open a drop-down menu, and select one of:

account_id
account_full_name
zipcode
meter_id
meter_sn
location_id
The URL Preview lets you verify any variables added to the URL.

Give the Link a name by entering it in the Link Label box.If the external site uses a Favicon, it will automatically be selected.
If the system finds no Favicon, if desired, use the Link Icon drop-down menu to select one.
Use the Link Visibility drop-down menu to select one of:
• All Accounts – When selected, a Links menu will appear on the Monitor page cards for all accounts in the utility.

• Any Deep Links filter – When selected, any cards associated with the Link can be accessed using the selected Monitor>Tags>Deep Links filter.

To create Deep Link filters, see Deep Links Data Exchange.
When finished, click Save.