Vacant Properties–Monitoring Flow at Inactive Services

Q: How can we continue monitoring flow at locations with inactive services?
A: When a SA_End_Date for a given account is imported via Data Exchange, its card and any consumption recorded at that location remain visible–and discoverable–on the Monitor page as long as the meter is not removed.

In addition, Monitor page Account>Vacant Properties filters let you count and display cards for meters based on their Service Agreement status.

Cards with inactive Service Agreements remain visible on the Monitor page, and the Service Agreement Start and End dates are displayed under the Account Name.

Follow these steps to close a Service Agreement and set it to Vacant Properties>Yes:

1. Create a Data Exchange file that includes a single row of data for each inactive service you want to monitor.
2. Copy the current row of data for the service configuration whose occupant is moving out. At a minimum, the row must include the current Location_ID, Service_Point_ID, Meter_ID, Endpoint_SN, Meter_Resolution and Register_Unit_Of_Measure along with the Meter_Install_Date and Endpoint_Install_Date.
3. Update the fields color-coded in blue text:
4. (Optional) Enter “Vacant” or “0” (zero) in the Account ID column.
5. Use the _CLEAR_ command to empty data from any field containing personally identifiable information (PII). Those fields might include: Account_First_Name, Account_Last_Name, Account_Email, Account_Phone, Account_Phone_Extension, Billing_Address_Line1, Billing_Address_Line2, Billing_Address_Line_3, Billing_City, Billing_State, Billing_Zip, Billing_Country, Person_ID, Account_Portal_Status, Account_Billing_Cycle, Account_Paperless, Account_AutoPay, Account_BillerAutoPay and Location_Name.
6. If you use the Account_Status field, set it to ‘I’ for Inactive.
7. Save your changes, and import the Data Exchange file.

When imported, the Data Exchange process will automatically close account and mark it as a Vacant Property. You will still be able to see its card on the Monitor page and use the Account>Vacant Properties>Yes filter to count and monitor flow at all Vacant accounts.

For billing purposes, select Vacant Properties>No when exporting billing reads from the Monitor page Actions menu.

You can also create a special Route or Cycle to mark active services as “Suspended” for so-called “Snow Bird” customers. That is, people who are away for an extended period and have asked that their water service be suspended, not terminated.