PortaOne Extends PortaMDM Capabilities to Meet Smart Metering Needs of Facility Managers

COQUITLAM, British Columbia, Nov. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- PortaOne, Inc., a global provider of software for the communications and utility industries, today announced a series of upgrades and improvements to its PortaMDM metering and billing software platform for electric, gas, heating, water and sewer smart meters.  Leading the improvements is an extended list of supported smart meters including models from Veris, Acuvim, Dent, Conzerv, Contrel, and Itron/Actaris; also included is an extension to PortaMDM's data monitoring capabilities enabling customers to analyze and generate reports on power quality.

Other new functionality in PortaMDM includes support for the most common smart meter industry standards: DLMS/COSEM.  DLMS (Device Language Message Specification) is a standard for modeling the functionality of a smart meter as defined by the DLMS User Association; COSEM (COmpanion Specification for Energy Metering) is the rule set governing the exchange of data with energy meters.

PortaMDM is a unified, real-time billing and SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) application that is tailored to the needs of small-to-medium smart metering networks and Automated Meter Reading (AMR) setups.  Ideal for use by contractors and facility management companies as well as utilities, PortaMDM gathers usage data from smart meters, processes the information, and then rates it according to the service provider's particular billing configuration.  The platform is designed to significantly increase consumption efficiency through real-time monitoring that drives better decision-making.

"Simply put, PortaMDM is a one-stop solution for every brand and every model of smart meter across all utility types—electricity, gas, heating, water and sewer," said Roman Khalenkov, Sales and Marketing Director for PortaOne.  "With one software platform, customers can monitor virtually every aspect of their utility use with an eye toward lowering expenses, improving service, and helping to reduce consumption of scarce resources.  Whether for office buildings, multi-tenant housing, shopping malls, factories or other facilities, PortaMDM provides powerful, comprehensive and easy-to-understand information."

According to Khalenkov, PortaOne's commitment to smart meter ubiquity extends to PortaMDM licensing.  With each license, users are entitled to development time by PortaOne engineers for any smart meter brand or model not currently supported.  The move ensures that all meters will integrate with the PortaMDM metering and billing platform.

Power Quality Analytics

PortaMDM's versatile billing engine lets service providers and users alike view cost and consumption according to any rating scheme in practice, such as time of day, reactive energy, or committed volume.  The engine can rate consumption according to whatever configuration, rules and tariffs set by the utility or, in commercial settings, the property manager.

In addition to billing data, however, PortaMDM can retrieve and monitor any other pertinent data a given meter provides.  Users can choose which measurements will be retrieved from a particular meter, specify the sampling rate, and then view graphs for those measurements both in real time and over any past time period.

PortaMDM's new power analytics capability is especially important for monitoring quality and consistency of power delivery.  With the capability, users can measure true, reactive, and apparent power in the network as well as harmonics and short-duration voltage variation (e.g., voltage sags, voltage swells and interruptions).  The software can also obtain data on voltage imbalance, frequency deviation and other power quality disturbances that may impact machinery or other sensitive equipment onsite.

Free 90-Day Trial License

Each PortaMDM commercial license includes initial configuration assistance, onsite or offsite training, customizable white-label statements, ten hours of complimentary plug-in development for any model or brand of smart meter, six months of premium PortaCare (24/7 phone, IM and email) technical support, and lifelong software updates with rollback capability.

Interested may also download a fully-functional, 90-day trial license for non-commercial use.  Download and installation requires no registration.  For complete details and product description, along with PortaMDM distributor/reseller opportunities, go to www.portamdm.com.

About PortaOne:

Based in Canada, PortaOne is a leading global provider of software for the telecommunications and utility industries.  The company's products enable service providers, producers and carriers to run a broad line of retail and wholesale services within a single software package.  PortaOne's flagship products, PortaSwitch and PortaMDM (www.portamdm.com) are a fundamental part of the business infrastructure at hundreds of service provider locations worldwide.  To learn more, visit www.portaone.com.

SOURCE PortaOne, Inc.