Water meter-reading app developed to minimise complaints

On any water or electricity company website, it is normal to find customers lamenting about receiving erroneous bills that sometimes end up being very costly.

But some customers don’t complain, especially if their complaint is negligible, or for lack of information of what steps they should take to ensure they are provided with the right bill. In Kisumu, this trend is now a thing of the past, thanks to a new app adopted by Wonder Kid Multimedia for Kisumu Water and Sewerage Company (Kiwasco).

The app, which is now in its third month of use in Kisumu, ensures Kiwasco’s meter-reading services are refined for efficiency and accuracy. Kiwasco has about 216,479 clients, according to World Atlas’ Kenya Fast Facts, 2013.

“This is a versatile programme that will help change the quality of meter reading by making it more accurate. This will in turn result in fewer complaints and improve our customer relations,” says Kiwasco MD David Agumba. Kiwasco started using the digital meter-reading app in August.

Wonder Kid IT consultant Josiah Opiyo says the project is known as the integrated mobile utility management system (Imum).

“It is under the utility partnership grant supported by GSM Association, a trade group that represents network operators that use GSM technology for their networks,” he says. The mobile technology website is used to enhance efficiency in water utility and customer service functions. “Our motive is to ensure efficiency of water utility to collect as much revenue and also to promote accountability. For the customers, we want then to be more satisfied,” he says.

Customers can use the app to channel their complaints. Upon making an inquiry or posting questions, they are given a special ticket number to follow up at the Kiwasco offices and confirm if their problems have been adequately solved. The meter-reading process through the mobile technology entails having an Android phone. Opiyo says they currently have over 50 employees using the app. Their meter-reading cycle is between 17th and 4th of every month. Each meter reader has a unique username and password. After logging in, the server provides a list of the services available. If one wants to read their meter, they tap the ‘to read’ icon then input the meter number.

“Immediately you click OK, the results go directly to the zonal server that can be accessed through the zonal supervisor. For evidence purposes, the meter reader takes a photo of the meter, reflecting the meter number and reading then sends them to the server,” he says.
The digital meter-reader has several advantages. The app works on all Internet-connected smart phone devices.
It is also easy to search for properties within the system and multiple users can access different areas at the same time.