LogicaCMG has partnered with T-Mobile to bring its Instant Energy service to the UK market. Instant Energy is a new service that revolutionizes prepayment metering for gas and electricity customers by removing the need for traditional meter cards and keys. T-Mobile will wirelessly enable the Instant Energy service using its proven and robust network and SMS messaging platform.
Instant Energy is a true machine-to-machine service that will transform prepayment metering for suppliers while improving the customer experience. The service is enabled by GSM smart meters, developed cooperatively by LogicaCMG and meter manufacturer Iskraemeco, and a mix of hardware, software and communications technology.
By using a GSM communications infrastructure, communication with the meters is real-time and on-demand, enabling a supplier to control and gather information from the meter as and when required. Instant Energy enables a supplier to read, configure and control the meter without the need for costly site visits. This approach means that prepayment metering will become a more cost-effective way of managing customer payment and debt. Instant Energy will streamline business processes for energy suppliers and reduce the cost-to-serve by up to 20%.
A successful pilot has already demonstrated the robustness of the service. The pilot, carried out over six weeks during June and July 2005 encompassed 97 UK locations and saw over 900 SMS messages sent. During the pilot over 97.5% of all read requests were successful on the first attempt and 98% of messages were successfully delivered to the meter in less than 120 seconds.
