UDRIVE

Utility companies typically choose between three approaches: manual on-site meter reading, stationary network infrastructure such as LoRaWANor NB-IoT gateways, and mobile drive-by meter reading with a radio receiver and Wireless M-Bus meters. Manual meter reading is labor-intensive, and stationary networks require significant upfront investment in gateways and connectivity. Drive-by and walk-by meter reading offer a middle ground: a solution for municipalities and utility companies to wirelessly read water, gas, or heat meters by vehicle or on foot with a handheld device, capturing data from hundreds of meters within a defined radius without any network expansion. This makes the approach attractive for operators seeking automation without high infrastructure costs. With GWF UDRIVE you can easily collect data from all Wireless M-Bus-compatible meters installed in your area using a tablet and radio receiver in a simple drive-by tour, reading over 500 meters in 30 minutes, including real-time alarm notifications and plausibility checks.

Meters in confined or underground spaces are often physically difficult to access and may be outside the coverage area of ​​a fixed wireless network. Two common solutions are inductive readers, which read the meter via direct contact without requiring the opening of a cover, and radio modules that transmit encrypted data via Wireless M-Bus and are received by a mobile receiver at street level. Combining both approaches allows operators to plan collection routes using a map-based overview and to confirm the exact meter location before starting. GWF UDRIVE supports both inductive reading via CAB-05 and radio reading via MBWBlue, with a map view that displays the location of each meter, enabling technicians to plan efficient, targeted routes even in hard-to-reach locations.

Since many water, gas, and heat meters on the market use the open wireless standard Wireless M-Bus, a single reading system can, in principle, collect data from meters of different brands, provided it supports the corresponding protocol and has the correct decryption keys from the respective manufacturers. This applies to walk-by meter reading as well as drive-by reading and avoids manufacturer lock-in, allowing utilities to continue operating mixed meter fleets from previous rollouts or acquisitions. Key management becomes the crucial factor here, as the data from each meter is individually encrypted. GWF UDRIVE is a cross-manufacturer drive-by solution based on Wireless M-Bus, compatible with GWFmeters as well as models from manufacturers such as Itron, Sensus, Kamstrup, and Integra, with centralized key management on the INFINIO®platform.

Automated meter reading is only effective if the readings are reliably integrated into the billing process. A practical setup allows field staff to record consumption data on a tablet and transfer it directly to the ERP system for billing residents, eliminating the need for manual entry. Modern solutions typically combine a cloud platform, an export or converter module for common file formats, and end-to-end encryption in accordance with current data protection standards to prevent any security gaps between the field device and the back office. Compatibility with widely used municipal ERP systems is essential to avoid additional integration effort. GWF UDRIVE synchronizes the recorded data with the INFINIO®platform and exports it in the format required by your ERP system, such as CSV, TXT, XML, XLSX, or JSON, for a smooth and secure billing process.