Bow River Village – Metering & Billing

The vPro2 system was an ideal choice for this project due to the feature-rich in-home display that shows simple and real-time information regarding the residents’ consumption, and can help identify savings on their bills, allowing the residents to have a clearer understanding of their usage costs. The ability to set targets to try to reduce usage enhances the residents’ understanding of their consumption levels further, and helps them make informed decisions on their usage.

The system displays the remaining credit value along with an estimate of the duration remaining before a top-up is required. There are various quick and easy methods to top-up the credit, using either Payzone or PayPoint, via the internet, telephone or Direct Debit.

Each meter comes equipped with its own SIM card to create a separate network over which it can transmit secure and regular data, with readings taken automatically to avoid the necessity to enter residents’ apartments, allowing for the system to be used on any size communal heating scheme with little risk of network-wide issues. This would also allow for the system to be used seamlessly in future phases.

We supplied and installed the technology into each property, liaising with contractors and on-site workers to ensure a seamless installation from the moment the units arrived. We installed the system straight from delivery to maximise the timescale and avoid disruption to current works.

The vPro2 technology was successful in detecting issues with a third party HIU within the property, allowing the client to take necessary actions. A resident was suspecting that they were being overcharged for their energy consumption which would have usually gone undetected. Due to the monitoring capability of our technology, excess and unusual consumption was detected which allowed the housing association to raise a repair and resolve the issue.

In alliance with the client and the manufacturer, a bespoke YouTube video was created which provided information on what the vPro2 system is, the benefits of this kind of metering and billing technology, and a tutorial on how to use it. A link to this video was sent to all residents to assist in using the system, as well as being uploaded onto Southern Housing Group’s website to provide future easy access to the information.

Our Home Manager provided one-to-one tuition to Southern Housing Group’s Home Energy Advisor on utilising the system, ensuring that they were confident with the technology and would be able to provide residents with future assistance if they require it. We designed and supplied custom-made welcome packs for all residents that included help guides on using the system, contact numbers to offer telephone support, troubleshooting advice, and information on how to credit the meter. This ensured that residents were confident on the technology, and help was provided in all different means to suit their learning styles.

As Southern Housing Group were already in the midst of a 3 year metering and billing contract with Vital at other developments, we adapted this existing agreement to incorporate Bow River Village. This was to the benefit of the client as it resulted in one simple contract with one end date to keep the management as clear as possible.

We manage the metering and billing of the developments with the system wirelessly and automatically transmitting the data to us to be monitored. We are also responsible for crediting the vPro2 system once a resident has made payment, with friendly credit available when our offices are closed in the evenings, at weekends and over bank holidays when the energy supply will not be cut off if credit runs out. Our agents work hard to manage payments with a total of 1,205 transactions being made over a three month winter period via card payments, direct debits and PayZone/PayPoint, equating to £26,960. These payments are processed and monitored internally by our dedicated departments to ensure smooth operation of the system credit and management of the revenue.