The Citizen (Gauteng)

Info

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The City of Tshwane has introduced a new ground-breaking meter management system aimed at ensuring that its customers get accurate and up-todate meter readings and billing. The new system, “Click Soft”, uses technology to eliminate estimation­s and uncertaint­y.

A new feature is the capture of images (pictures) of meters and/ or meter boxes.

This confirms visits to meters (including no-access), allows for visual confirmati­on of readings, ensures meter readings are allocated to the correct properties on the GPS system and also ensures that the city has updated informatio­n on the property, including street view functional­ity.

City of Tshwane spokespers­on Selby Bokaba said this change follows a review of the old system, which presented meter management and billing challenges for both internal and external stakeholde­rs.

The new automated meter management system will proactivel­y solve both the residents and the city’s challenges by verifying informatio­n through triangulat­ion, which reduces human error as a result of manual input.

Some of the advantages of Click Soft are that users will have a real-time update of readings and timely, accurate, consistent readings, which will result in correct billing.

Bokaba said it will bring about a reduction in billing and administra­tions errors and queries.

“It will improve readings even without access control, improve capturing of informatio­n resulting in more accurate and sometimes lower bills for consumers, eliminatio­n of estimation­s, reduce billing adjustment­s and improve revenue management for the city.

“Click Soft provides improved security, imaging, GPS capability, remote communicat­ion, user experience which supports the city’s field workers and supervisor­s’ daily activities,” Bokaba said.

Member of the mayoral committee for finance Mare-Lise Fourie said the process of introducin­g and embedding this new system into the city’s framework is already under way and residents may start to notice several changes.

“The city’s meter readers will be easily identifiab­le in uniform with clearly displayed name tags and reference numbers to ensure safety and comfort for the consumers.

“We urge all affected stakeholde­rs to embrace this positive change to the new system,” said Fourie.

For more informatio­n, assistance or to verify a field agent call the customer care line on 012358-999 from Monday to Sunday.

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