HOW CAN MOBILE OCR HELP UTILITY COMPANIES?

Mobile OCR is a modern adaptation of technology that has existed for more than 100 years. OCR stands for optical charac-ter recognition. It turns written or typed text into machine-readable text. You can use this machine-readable text in all the sames ways as text you’ve typed yourself. For example, you can upload it to a data-base or edit it in a spreadsheet.

There have been many applications of mobile OCR since it was fi rst created.

Some that you may know of include li-cense plate and passport scanning.

Mobile OCR has become a popular alter-native to typing processes in many indus-tries. This is because of advantages like improved accuracy, speed and reliability. Businesses are starting to recognize this and have begun adapting Mobile OCR for a wide range of use cases.

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HOW TO OPTIMIZE YOUR UTILITY PROCESSES WITH MOBILE OCRIncrease Customer Satisfaction, Reduce Your Costs andEliminate Risk During Meter Exchange

Utility processes all over the world are being modernized. This brings more benefi ts to providers and customers alike. However, we also need to upgrade the tools that interact with these processes in order to optimize their potential benefi ts.

In this white paper, you’ll learn how you can do this while saving money and improv-ing the quality of your data. The tool that can help you achieve this is known as Mo-bile OCR. You’ll also fi nd out what it is, how it works, how you can successfully apply it to your own processes and where it’s already been implemented.

Some of you may be aware of Mobile OCR and its potential to optimize utility pro-cesses. In that case, here is a full preview of what we will cover in this white paper.

Table of Contents

01 | What is Mobile OCR?02 | How Can Mobile OCR Help Utility Companies?03 | What is Anyline? Why is Anyline the Best Choice for Utility Meter Reading? How Do I Get Anyline in My App?04 | Anyline Use Case Examples05 | How Anyline Helps Companies with Smart Meter Rollouts06 | Learn More About Anyline

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If you want to speak with someone rather than reading, you can contact Anyline at hello@anyline.com. Once we have more details about your use case, a member of our team will be happy to call you to discuss integrating mobile OCR from Anyline in your processes. We’re happy to hear from you and look forward to helping you opti-mize your utility processes.

HOW TO OPTIMIZE YOUR UTILITY PROCESSES WITH MOBILE OCR

Increase Customer Satisfaction, Reduce Your Costs andEliminate Risk During Meter Exchange

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1 Schantz, H. F. (1982) The history of OCR: optical character recognition, Recognition Technologies Users Association.

Mobile OCR is a modern adaptation of technology that has existed for more than years1. OCR stands for optical character recognition.

It turns written or typed text into ma-chine-readable text. You can use this machine-readable text in all the same ways as text you’ve typed yourself. For example, you can upload it to a database or edit it in a spreadsheet.

There have been many applications of mobile OCR since it was fi rst created. Some that you may know of include li-cense plate and passport scanning.

Mobile OCR has become a popular alter-native to typing processes in many indus-tries. This is because of advantages like improved accuracy, speed and reliability. Businesses are starting to recognize this and have begun adapting Mobile OCR for a wide range of use cases.

01 WHAT IS MOBILE OCR?

OpticalCharacterRecognition

Characters including numbers & letters.

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4 3 http://www.ibmbigdatahub.com/infographic/four-vs-big-data

2 https://www.marketingweek.com/2016/12/01/poor-data-costing-brands/

1. Mobile OCR is Accurate

The main advantage of mobile OCR when compared with manual readings or data entry is accuracy.For example, Anyline has an accuracy rate of more thanwhen tested in lab-oratory conditions. In comparison, human accuracy can vary greatly, and due to a number of factors.

Human accuracy can be aff ected by typ-ing mistakes, fatigue, stress, and more. Mobile OCR never makes any of these mistakes. As a result, Mobile OCR meter readings have a much higher accuracy than human readings. Poor data quality has been shown to cost companies up to of their annual revenue in the UK2. In 2016, it was estimated that poor data cost the US economy $3.1 trillion3. The

improved accuracy of a tool like Anyline can help you to improve data quality and off set these costs.

2. Mobile OCR is Fast

Anyline is able to detect, scan and upload the data from all kinds of utility meter faster than a person and off ers instant feedback on read-ings. Once scanned, customers can check their results before uploading them to their utility provider.

The ability to create instant readings makes it easier for customers and techni-cians to log readings on a regular basis. As well as that, it will reduce the duration of your processes. Utility companies no longer need to wait for readings to reach them in the post or for a technician to return from a site visit.

02 HOW CAN MOBILE OCR HELP UTILITY COMPANIES?

Mobile OCR has multiple benefi ts that utility companies can take advantage of. To start with, it’s the perfect tool for reading utility meters. You can point your phone at your meter and use an app enabled with OCR to scan it in an instant.

Then you can securely upload your meter reading to your utility provider’s backend. It’s as simple as that.

Along with this primary use case, most mobile OCR solutions are capable of reading bar codes. This means mobile OCR can identify utility meters as well. This is a powerful combination for utility companies to exploit when managing meter switchovers.

In addition, Mobile OCR has 3 main benefi ts over traditional meter reading processes.

99% 20X

6%

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This reduction in process time gives your workforce more time for primary tasks. They can use this to improve customer service or process more readings in a shorter space of time.

3. Mobile OCR is Reliable and Secure

Many mobile OCR solutions are cloud-based and need an active internet con-nection to perform scans. They’re also more at risk of security breaches. They need to send your scan data through the cloud and return results to your phone. There are a number of points in this pro-cess where your data can be accessed.

In comparison, you can use Anyline to perform scans with-out an internet connection.

It performs all scan processing on your device. Not only is this safer from an IT point of view, it means you can scan in places that don’t receive Wi-Fi or mobile signal. This should be a huge plus to any-one in the utility industry. Many utility me-ters are located in cellars and basements. These places commonly lack an internet connection or don’t receive any signal. Once you’ve completed your scan and established a secure connection, you can use Anyline to upload your scan data to your backend.This gives you the ability to perform scans at any location.

A nice bonus to consider is Anyline’s abil-ity to scan in low-light conditions. Apps that integrate Anyline automatically acti-vate your device torch in dark settings.

Offl ine and low-light scanning functions make it the most reli- able and secure mobile OCR solu-tion for reading utility meters.

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Anyline is a Mobile OCR solution that you can add to existing mobile apps. You can add it to apps on Android, iOS and some Windows devices in just a few hours.

It has predefi ned modules for scanning use cases such as utility meters and barcodes. This means you can make an immediate start at testing it for your use case.

WHAT IS ANYLINE?03

Why is Anyline the Best Choice for Utility Meter Reading?

Anyline has developed a feature set with utility meter reading in mind. You’ll fi nd that the Anyline meter-reading module is ready to let you scan meters as soon as possible. Anyline can read electricity, gas and water meters without any additional development input. Once integrated, it’s ready to be tested on your scan target.

Anyline has taken environmental and

business factors into account too. This ensures that utility meter reading with Anyline is as successful as possible. Of-fl ine scanning and torch support make sure you can work in any environment. Haptic feedback for users decreases the chances of human error during meter reading. This improves the quality of the data you collect with Anyline.

On top of that, the Anyline team has experience working with utility providers. We’ve helped multiple companies create apps that optimize processes.

Companies that work with us include:

Anyline is a Mobile OCR solution that you can add to existing mobile apps. You can add it to apps on Android, iOS and some Windows devices in just a few hours.

It has predefi ned modules for scanning use cases such as utility meters and barcodes. This means you can make an immediate start at testing it for your use case.

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How Do I Get Anyline in My App?

You can test Anyline for yourself. A free demo is available from https://anyline.com/free-demos/. Once downloaded, mo-bile developers should be up and running with mobile scanning in just a few hours.

When you’re happy with your tests, you can contact us about commercial licens-ing. Get in touch at sales@anyline.com.

Once you’ve chosen your license type and scan volume, you can roll-out your in-tegration to your workforce or customers. Anyline is simple to integrate and support is available from the Anyline develop-ment team.

Supported Platforms

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How Symvaro Helps Customers Monitor Water Usage

Symvaro provides customers with mod-ern technology, apps and software, that make everyday life easier. The company has found several ways to simplify water usage processes within the home.

In order to help customers realize the benefits of Symvaro, they decided to cre-ate a mobile app. They needed a practi-cal solution for reading water meters that would let users record data, while reduc-ing typing errors and time waste.

Mobile OCR from Anyline was integrated into the app to achieve this goal. As a re-sult, the WATERLOO app was created for home customer use.

Symvaro believes in the power of cus-tomer integration, professional simplicity and going mobile. Their product WATER-LOO became a key tool for the manage-ment of water meter reading and meter exchange. It can identify meters currently in use. It identifies old meters and helps with the installation of new digital meters in their place. It can also be used by staff and customers to perform meter readings at any time. It even contributes to the sta-tistical analysis of water meter data.

Anyline has multiple use cases within the utility industry. Here are some examples

of how mobile OCR has been integrated into mobile apps within the utility industry.

ANYLINE | SYMVARO04

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By integrating Anyline, Symvaro eliminat-ed typing mistakes and data loss from their processes. Now all of their valuable data gets automatically uploaded to the WATERLOO Management Center.

WATERLOO is simple to use and has been shown to save time and resources when it comes to water meter reading and exchange. Paperwork and manual data entry have been eliminated from Symvaro’s processes. This has greatly reduced the error rate in meter readings.

The benefi ts of Anyline can also be seamlessly integrated with multiple billing systems. This lets customers make more informed decisions about their water us-age. It also gives utility companies of any size the chance to modernize their servic-es and enter the digital age.

Anyline adds value to WATERLOO. It’s reliability and interactivity boosts the effi -ciency of the entire app. As a result, cus-tomers are more comfortable with engag-ing their home water processes.

https://symvaro.com/

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ANYLINE | ENERGY APP PROVIDER04

How energy app provider Helps Customers Monitor Energy Usage with Mobile OCR

energy|app provider is part of con|energy ag, founded in 1996 in Germany. Since then con|energy ag has developed and expanded in various directions. Ener-gy|app provider represents an integral part of con|energy ag.

Depending on a customer’s location, en-ergy|app provider’s mobile app will give useful information, tips, and services con-cerning energy consumption to users. Be-sides these energy effi ciency and energy saving tips, the app also serves custom-ers with alerts regarding public transport in their local area and other local news.

Developed both for iOS and the Android platforms, the Smart Living apps can be used on smartphones, tablets, and in some cases, smart watches.

In addition to these tips and alerts, en-ergy|app provider added mobile meter reading to their app’s functionality. Inte-grating this feature makes the tips they provide even more actionable for cus-tomers.

It was simple to add mobile scanning functionality to the existing app. The end result was an app that provides energy consumption tips and the functionality to scan readings to see these tips in action. Bringing Anyline to the app also removed manual data entry from energy|app pro-vider’s processes. Customers can get all the information they need without typing.

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Benefi ts for the User

• Attractive local content for daily use

• Easy handling of all energy services - anytime on the phone

• Comfortable self-services via app

Benefi ts for Utilities

• Digital customer loyalty through whole customer journey

• Process effi ciency and cost reduction throuch connection with ERP-system

• Constantly improvements of the app community with low costs of the white-lable-app

http://www.energy-app-provider.com/

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05Intelligent Meter Reading Systems with Cost-Efficiency

The EU-wide aim of digitizing traditional analog electricity meters by 2020 has a number of people in the industry on the edge of their seats. The scheme is expect-ed to require €45 billion worth of invest-ment. This will see close to 200 million smart meters for electricity and 45 million for gas rolled out in the EU. By the end of 2020, almost 72% of European consum-ers will have a smart meter for electricity and about 40% will have one for gas. The average cost of a single meter switchover is between €200 - €250.

This change in processes has challenged the energy industry and forced providers to include digitization in their plans. As a result, companies have had to increase investment and rethink their organization-al efforts to meet the ambitious goals of

regulators.With that in mind, industry leaders need to ask how they can make the switchover to digital meters as efficient as possible. According to regulators, the introduction of smart meters to homes and businesses will play a key role in helping companies in the energy industry to achieve this goal. By digitizing meter reading, compa-nies can streamline their processes and reduce costs. Automated processes will then be able to save companies time and help them to collect more accurate meter readings by eliminating typing from their processes.

The versatile text recognition technology of Anyline offers another solution. In fact, it can play a key role in the transition from analog to digital meters as it can both identify and read meters in an instant. This eases the path to smart meters for utility companies in the energy sector.

HOW TO MAKE THE QUICK SWITCH TO SMART METERS

SMART METER

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SMART METER ROLLOUT - KONTROLLE7:11 PMiPhone

Kontrollbild

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Make the Transition to Smart Meters Complication-Free with Anyline

Before the transition to smart meters can be made, a reading must be taken of the existing meter. It’s key for companies and customers that this reading is accurately documented. This is simple to achieve with Anyline’s mobile OCR technology. A technician or homeowner can point their mobile device at their meter to ensure a perfect reading of the meter in question. This reading can then be uploaded di-rectly to the utility company’s database. In comparison to existing processes for meter switch-over, using Anyline makes digitization seem like child’s play. In ad-dition, Anyline scans barcodes so it can also document the meter and its location at the same time.

Benefit From Automation - Even in Non-Mandatory Situations

Companies that only read meters for internal purposes are not required to upgrade to smart meters. But they can still benefit greatly from mobile scanning. Anyline enables the automated evalua-tion of various power consumption points in your processes. This level of automa-tion can uncover enormous resource-sav-ing potential within your organisation. This is another case of Anyline being the convenient solution through smart tech-nology.

Anyline Turns Old Meters Into Smart Meters

Anyline’s technology lets households with old, non-digital meters take advan-tage of smart metering - without having to retrofit a new meter. Energy providers just need to integrate Anyline’s text rec-ognition software in their consumer-fac-ing app and let customers read their own meters. It’s no longer necessary for tech-nicians to visit homes to gather readings. This greatly reduces the effort required by customers to provide readings and for companies to gather them.

Anyline provides meter reading solutions that are installed as a tool on smart-phones or tablets. Meter readings and numbers are read automatically and fully integrated into Anyline’s workflow. This reduces the time required to change an analog meter to a smart meter. In addition, Anyline’s mobile text recogni-tion technology drastically reduces error rates. The documented readings can also be supplemented by digital images to automatically generate and integrate metadata such as meter location.

In short, Anyline is the most versatile and robust tool available for meter switchover right now.

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We’re always happy to hear from com-panies and entrepreneurs that want to streamline utility processes. Whether you’re interested in integrating Anyline for a customer-facing app, or need help with your meter switchover campaign, we’re happy to help!

You can test Anyline for free. Just down-load our SDK Trial from www.anyline.com.

If you’d like to talk with a member of the Anyline team about your meter switcho-ver strategy or any other use case, you can do so by contacting us at sales@anyline.com. Our sales team is happy to hear your requirements and give you feedback on how you can get the most out of Anyline.

If you have any questions about this whitepaper, you can contact the author at michael@anyline.com.

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Download the Anyline Demo App!

Impressum:

Anyline, a trade mark of Anyline GmbHAnyline GmbH, Zirkusgasse 13 / 2b, A-1020 WienVersion 02 | Published 22th May, 2018

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Andreas GreilhuberCOO & Utilities Expert

andreas@anyline.com

Andreas Greilhuber is a computer scientist by profession, consulter-at-heart andmaker of large-scale services business units.

He has overlooked the information technology era from the PC to AI, with experiencein a wide range of disruptive technologies and business models.

With over 20 years experience in Technology and Consulting Firms, he has workedwith police organisations in Europe, Middle-East and Africa.

CONTACT

ANDREAS@ANYLINE.COM

WWW.ANYLINE.COM

ZIRKUSGASSE 13/2B1020 VIENNA

AUSTRIA