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Exploring Cellular AMI and Badger Meter’s BEACON® AMA Flexibility

By Magazine Team On Jun 18, 2025 478 0

Contents

1 What are Cellular AMI Networks?

2 Advantages of Cellular AMI

3 What is BEACON® AMA?

4 Key Benefits of BEACON® AMA

5 The Power of BEACON® AMA and Cellular AMI

5.1 – Eliminating Ongoing System Maintenance:

5.2 – Remote Data Analytics:

5.3 – Enhancing System Resiliency:

6 Conclusion

7 References

Advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) integration has become crucial in the changing utility management landscape for improving customer engagement and operational efficiency. Badger Meter’s BEACON® AMA (Advanced Metering Analytics), a cellular AMI platform that transforms how utilities manage resources and communicate with their customers, is one of the industry’s top solutions. This article explores how the BEACON® AMA system and Cellular AMI enhance water and energy management flexibility, allowing utilities to adjust to shifting demand and streamline operations.

What are Cellular AMI Networks?

The use of cellular networks to enable communication between utility providers and smart meters is known as cellular AMI. Real-time data transmission made possible by this technology helps utilities keep an eye on usage trends, find leaks, and improve resource management. Cellular AMI is a flexible solution that appeals to utilities of all sizes because it can offer dependable connectivity without requiring a large infrastructure.

Advantages of Cellular AMI

– Real-Time Data Accessibility: Cellular AMI gives utilities instant access to data on consumption, facilitating prompt decision-making. In order to enable proactive management, this real-time capability is essential for spotting problems like leaks or odd consumption patterns.

– Scalability: Without having to make large investments in new hardware, utilities can grow their metering infrastructure thanks to the cellular network’s inherent scalability. Utilities can readily add new meters to their current systems as demand increases or technology advances.

– Cost-Effectiveness: Cellular AMI lowers installation and maintenance costs by doing away with the requirement for substantial wiring and infrastructure. Smart meters can be installed by utilities over large geographic areas without incurring the costs associated with more conventional systems.

– Enhanced Reliability: Consistent communication between meters and utility providers is ensured by cellular networks’ strong coverage and dependability. Accurate billing and service continuity depend on this dependability.

What is BEACON® AMA?

A strong analytics tool that offers improved data to assist utilities in streamlining their operations is BEACON® Software as a Service (SaaS). BEACON SaaS gives utilities access to 15-minute interval data that they can use to enhance daily operations and meet operational transparency requirements when combined with ORION® Cellular endpoints.

Key Benefits of BEACON® AMA

– Flexibility: Up to four automatic readings of the 15-minute interval meter are received each day. Utilities can monitor leaks, find problems in the system, and carry out other tasks by viewing this data from any location using a connected device.

– Scalability: Each deployment of a smart water system is tailored to the requirements of the utility. Utilities can begin with a fixed number of meters and simply expand the system in the future with BEACON SaaS. Both small and large meter quantities can be accommodated by this SaaS.

– Emergency Recovery: BEACON SaaS provides 24/7 access to utility data, enabling staff to keep an eye on operations and spot problems almost instantly. Then, particularly in an emergency, they can prioritize repairs and reduce downtime as much as possible.

– Security: One of every utility’s top priorities is preventing tampering with water systems and meter reading data. In order to support these efforts, BEACON SaaS complies with industry best practices and security controls as directed by ISO 27001 certification.

– Automatic Upgrades: BEACON SaaS offers automatic upgrades to sophisticated software features and analytics. To aid in budgeting, they are covered by the fixed subscription fee.

– Support: Utility IT teams can continue to concentrate on internal systems because BEACON SaaS is a fully supported cloud-based solution.

The Power of BEACON® AMA and Cellular AMI

BEACON® AMA and Cellular AMI together give utilities unmatched operational management flexibility. The BEACON® Software as a Service (SaaS) and Network as a Service (NaaS) cloud-based software are implemented by the cellular advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) solution to assist water utilities in providing high-quality water with greater flexibility by:

– Eliminating Ongoing System Maintenance:

Instead of leasing or deploying proprietary infrastructure for their smart water systems, utilities can use existing cellular networks with a cellular solution. Because private infrastructure is taken care of, utilities no longer need to keep an eye on, oversee, or maintain it. This allows water utility employees to concentrate on other priorities by relieving them of continuous maintenance, service, and support.

– Remote Data Analytics:

BEACON SaaS was created especially to give utilities the detailed data they require to increase system performance. Up to four times a day, meter readings are securely transmitted, encrypted, and gathered at 15-minute intervals. Utility staff can keep an eye on the general health of the system from any location with this real-time water data. Any internet-connected device can provide proactive information to help utilities improve system management and boost operational efficiency.

– Enhancing System Resiliency:

With components built for 99.9% availability, cellular networks are among the most dependable networks on the market. Cellular networks are renowned for their coverage, even during major storms or natural disasters, which enables utilities to closely monitor their systems at the most critical times. This is in contrast to traditional fixed networks. Additionally, utilities don’t need to provide any extra services or support to keep up with cellular gateways or servers.

Conclusion

Utility management flexibility is greatly increased by the combination of Badger Meter’s BEACON® AMA and Cellular AMI. Utilities can proactively handle problems like leaks and irregular consumption by utilizing real-time data transmission and advanced analytics. These systems’ scalability enables smooth expansion in response to changing demands, and the removal of substantial infrastructure lowers expenses and maintenance requirements. Furthermore, even in emergency situations, consistent communication is guaranteed by the dependability of cellular networks. Utilities put themselves in a position to better serve their customers and maximize resource management in a constantly shifting environment as they continue to implement these cutting-edge solutions.

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