When it comes to smarter, digitally transformed utilities, change is as good as a holiday for traditional systems. Billing inaccuracies – and the resources required to address and resolve issues – have untold costs for marinas and leisure parks. Digital innovations provide smart solutions that simplify utilities management in the leisure sector, allowing operators to mitigate opportunity costs and optimise revenues.
As we face burgeoning energy and water tariffs, the impact of smart processes for more accurate billing affects users and operators in equal measure. The question of where to start and how to effectively gauge return on investment stands to be drastically simplified by IoT smart technologies, according to Matthew Margetts of Smarter Technologies Group.
Start by getting smart about energy
Data about energy consumption – where it is used and how it is wasted – has the potential to empower optimised energy management. Smart pedestals for marinas, holiday and tourist parks, and residential home parks allow customers’ individual consumption to be monitored in real time.
With access to detailed utility metrics over time, a world of possibilities opens up. It removes the guesswork and resource intensiveness of traditional processes around consumption monitoring and resolution of billing issues. Data-inspired, accurate, and on-demand billing leads to optimised revenue collection for every customer.
These technologies are retrofit, easily deployable, and scalable. For new installations, there are options for single and three-phase smart pedestals. This makes them the perfect fit for operations of all sizes and compositions.
The rising cost of billing accuracy
Rising water and energy prices affect the bottom lines of all businesses. By using IoT smart utility monitoring solutions, unaccounted billing issues (and the losses that come with them) are reduced. Billing becomes as simple as accessing the data for a specified date or time period and billing for their exact usage.
The direct losses incurred by inaccurate billing are one thing. However, there are other costs to consider in relation to inaccuracies. There are myriad associated benefits attached to smart utilities and accurate billing for the sector, with innovation overcoming challenges across operations.
It streamlines management
By utilising data around utilities, management protocols and processes have the potential to be optimised. Increased automation and the reduced need for manual processes means resources are put to best use and the risk of human error is mitigated. Remote accessibility of data and two-way communication simplifies management, saves time, and allows resources to maximise productivity.
The tech allows for alerts to be programmed, which gives instant insight into undesirable changes and empowers action. The data collected can be used to drive meaningful strategic planning and forecasting off the back of data trends endows owners with tools for flexibility into the future.
Conserve precious resources
Reducing consumption means savings. Doing our part to care for the environment should be a primary driving force. However, keeping up with changing regulation and the business argument for reduced consumption bring additional advantages that cannot be ignored.
Understanding usage is the first step to identifying areas of potential change – and monitoring the success of those changes. By identifying and removing areas of unnecessary consumption, one saves wasted energy and water and plays a small role in preserving natural resources.
Other benefits of the technologies have positive environmental effects. For example, IoT plays a central role in effective automated lighting solutions, which also prevent energy wastage.
It matters to your partners and customers
Energy is a natural starting point for making sustainable changes as it presents easy gains for resource preservation and reduced emissions. Consumers are more interested in sustainability credentials than ever before.
For operations running ESG initiatives, there is no greater way to show a commitment to sustainability considerations than through innovation. Smart technologies support the design, application, and reporting on ESG initiatives through detailed data insights and analytics.
Evidenced efforts to effect positive environmental changes align with the values of many consumers these days. Smart utility monitoring also allows for a more intuitive, well-managed, and automated service. This often equates to a personalised, memorable service with scope for pre- and post-payments, and accurate billing structures.
Matthew Margetts is a Director at Smarter Technologies. His background includes working for blue-chip companies such as AppNexus, AOL/ Verizon, and Microsoft in the UK, Far East and Australia.