Set up a manual read property

On a manual read property, Readers visit the property each billing period and collect reads in person, instead of the reads coming in automatically. Readers record reads in the Manual Read App, and the reads are stored in the NextCentury Cloud with up to 6 months of history. Direct reads and imports from drive-by, walk-by and scan gun equipment are supported.

This article covers setting up a manual read property in the NextCentury Web Portal.

Create the property

See Create a property listing.

Turn on Manual Reads

On the property's Details page, scroll down to Services and turn on Manual Reads.

Web portal with a property open (Windhelm in this example), on the Details page, which is selected in the left menu. In the Services section, Data Hosting is ON, Cellular Service is OFF and Manual Reads is OFF, with its switch outlined. The text next to Manual Reads reads: Access to the NextCentury Manual Read App.

Select Enable Manual Reads to confirm.

The Enable Manual Reads window: Using the NextCentury Manual Read App for this property would be $10 per month. The subscription will automatically renew but can be cancelled at any time. No, Cancel and Enable Manual Reads buttons are at the bottom right.

The start date and renewal date now show next to the service.

Manual Reads in the Services section, now ON. The text next to it says who enabled it and when, and when it will automatically renew (enabled Aug 13th, 2020 and renewing Sep 12th, 2020 in this example).

Fill in the manual read settings

Open the property's Settings page and select Manual Read Settings. Select Edit, then check Use Manual Reads.

Web portal Settings page for a property (Windhelm in this example), with Settings selected in the left menu. Meters In Use, Data Resolution and Manual Read Settings are listed. Manual Read Settings is open, with the Use Manual Reads checkbox, not checked yet, and an Edit button at the right. A red arrow points to the checkbox from the left.

Fill in the settings:

Contractor	The Contractor or Billing Company responsible for the reads.
Assignments	The Readers who collect the reads. Select + Add Reader and enter their email address. Each Reader gets an email invitation that gives them access to the property in the Manual Read App.
Reading Method	How reads are collected. For meters read by eye, select Direct Read.
Starting Read Month	When the first collection period begins.
Due Date	When each collection period is due.
Grace Period	Extra days Readers get after the due date.
Frequency	How often Readers collect reads: Monthly, Bi-monthly or Quarterly.
Contact Info	A property contact, such as the property manager.
Notes	Anything Readers should know, such as how to get into the building.

Select Save. To change the settings later, select Edit again.

Add buildings and units

On the property's Program page, select Start Programming.

Web portal Program page for a property (Windpeak Inn in this example), with Program selected in the left menu and the Meters tab open. Start Programming is the first button on the toolbar, followed by History, a column menu and a sort menu. The table is empty, with the columns Building, Unit, Utility Type, Serial Number, Meter and IMR.

Select + next to the Building icon on the toolbar.

The Program page after selecting Start Programming. The toolbar now has Save Programming and Cancel, then three groups of buttons, each an icon with + and minus: the Building icon, a unit (house) icon and the Utility icon. The column and sort menus follow. The table is still empty.

Enter the building name, a description and the number of units. Unit names start at "Unit 101" and count up automatically. To name units yourself, clear Auto Increment and type each name. Then select Save.

The New Building window. Name: 1149 in this example; Description: Southern Building; # of Units: 5, with Auto Increment checked. The units are listed below, Unit 101 to Unit 105, and Cancel and Save are at the bottom.

For more on the Program page, see Program a property on the Program page.

Add utilities and meters

Select the units, select + next to the Utility icon, then choose the utility type.

The Program page in edit mode, with five new units (Unit 101 to Unit 105 in building 1149, in this example) and their Utility Type cells selected. The + next to the Utility icon on the toolbar is selected, with the tip Add new meters to 5 selected units, and its menu is open: All Water, Cold Water, Hot Water, Commercial Water, Gas, Electric, Run Time and Thermal Usage.

The default meter type fills in for you. To change it, select the Meter icon in the cell to open the Meter Builder, fill in the meter details and select Save.

The Program page after choosing All Water for the five units. Each unit's Meter cell shows the default meter, Generic (x1 Gallons). The first Meter cell is selected, with the Meter icon at its right end.

The Meter Type Builder window. Manufacturer: NextCentury and Model: M201CH, with + Request New Model above the Model field. Multiplier: 10, Unit of Measure: Gallons and Size: 3/4. A meter drawing at the right reads 1 Pulse = 10 Gallons. Cancel and Save are at the bottom right.

To copy a meter type to other units, drag the fill handle in the corner of the cell down the column.

Animation on the Program page: the first unit's Meter cell shows M201CH (x10 Gallons) 3/4, and the pointer drags the small square at the cell's lower-right corner down the column. The same meter fills in for all five units.

Set the route order

In the Route Order column, number the units in the order Readers should read them.

The Program page with the Route Order column filled in for the five units: Unit 101 is 1, Unit 102 is 4, Unit 103 is 2, Unit 104 is 5 and Unit 105 is 3.

If you don't set a route order, one is created from the path the first Reader takes at the property.

Add optional columns

Use the column menu on the toolbar to show more columns:

Meter ID for meter serial numbers
Custom ID for your own IDs
Description for notes about each unit

The Program page in edit mode, with the column menu open from the toolbar. It lists Meter ID, IMR, Description, Accessory Device, Custom ID and Route Order; Description, Accessory Device and Custom ID have a crossed-out eye icon next to them. A Meter ID column now shows in the table, after Serial Number.

Serial Number, IMR and Accessory Device aren't used on manual read properties.

To change the order of the units in the table, use the Sort menu.

Review and save

Select Save Programming, check the changes, then select Save Changes.

The Changes window, on its Meters tab, after selecting Save Programming. The five new units are highlighted in green, each with its building, unit, utility type (All Water), Meter ID, meter (M201CH (x10 Gallons) 3/4) and route order. Close and Save Changes are at the bottom right.

A green banner confirms the programming is saved, and each unit gets its own serial number, which you can use to identify it.

The Program page after saving, out of edit mode. Each unit now has a serial number in the Serial Number column (BF004983, BF004982 and so on in this example), next to its meter and route order.

Assigned Readers can now see the property in the Manual Read App.

The Manual Read App property list for a Reader. Each assigned property shows its name and address on the left, and on the right the number of meters above the due date and a calendar icon. The due dates are colored by status: red, yellow, green or gray.

To learn how Readers collect reads, see Manual Read App.