Enabling the second-largest energy and utilities supplier in the UK to design and develop a mobile application to support the roll-out of the SMETS2 smart metres to domestic properties across the country.
As part of a Government drive to give every home access to a smart meter by 2020, OVO had begun increasing their number of installations. They decided their commissioning process needed streamlining to keep up with this demand.
Installing a smart meter involves connecting to a web service provided by Utiligroup called the Business Orchestration Layer (BOL). This process has to be done on-site so that an engineer can fix any issues that crop up before they leave.
Ease of use – OVO engineers would originally need to create manual XML requests to send to the BOL. This required manually typing large alphanumeric strings that were prone to errors. The engineers also couldn’t access the BOL’s status without a phone call. This system needed dramatic improvement.
Portability and security – the engineers would need to be able to use the app onsite. This meant a mobile app would be the best solution. Like all power, gas, water, and multiline businesses these days, OVO needed the new system to be completely secure.
Instant error feedback – OVO were keen to ensure the new system checked for errors naturally. Automating large parts of the commissioning process would also help reduce any possibility of mistakes being made.
The app we delivered resulted in a significant time reduction in the SMETS2 installation process and was specifically designed to be far more engineer-friendly.
The software connected to OVO’s ABE booking system to automatically pull down known data (such as the MPAN and MPRN). It would also scan a barcode on the smart meter, communication hub, or In-Home Display (IHD) for the relevant IDs.
Security – a vital consideration when dealing with critical data and connecting to a government service – was achieved by keeping sensitive information off the mobile device. The signing credentials are encrypted and kept securely within AWS.
MyOxygen/ also supported API integration and handover to the internal dev team, allowing OVO to smoothly transition to using their existing resources.
MyOxygen/ supported API integration and handover to the internal dev team, allowing OVO to smoothly transition to using their existing resources.
Nicky Ralph
Project Lead - OvO
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