Click the link below to download and save a copy of the Data Exchange Specification. Double-click the file to open it in a spreadsheet program such as Microsoft® Excel®. NOTE: Use the file for reference purposes only.
Data Exchange Specification v9.8.4
| Last Update | What Changed | What You Need to Do |
| February 12, 2020-Version 9.8.4 | Added Fluid_Type, Gas_Pressure_Compensation and Gas_Sub_Count columns to support provisioning gas meters, plus Register_Note for capturing information about each register of a compound meter. | Use the new columns as needed. |
| October 24, 2018-Version 9.8.2 | Extended the Service_Point_ID field to support up to 32 characters. Enhanced the Location_Parcel_Number field to support alphanumeric characters. Moved the Monthly Evapotranspiration Tag fields to their own data sheet. | Use the expanded character limits as needed. |
| March 28, 2018-Version 9.8 | Revised Read_Sequence description. | Use the new Read_Sequence description as needed. |
| March 15, 2018-Version 9.7.9 | Added support for two new Service_Point_Types: Fire (F) and Reclaimed/Recycled (R). | Use only whole numbers (do not include decimal points) when specifying Read_Sequence. |
| December 14, 2017-Version 9.7.8 | Added support for imperial gallons (IMP) as a Meter_Unit_Of_Measure. Added two new fields, Supply_Zone_ID and Demand_Zone_ID to support District Metering Areas (DMA). Added support for Service_Point_Type Sewer (S). | Enter ‘IMP’ in the Meter_Unit_Of_Measure field to display flow in imperial gallons. Use the new DMA fields to designate meters as Supply or Demand meters. Enter ‘S’ in the Service_Point_Type field of any meter that measures flow to a sewer if you want to avoid counting non-revenue sewer water in flow totals. |
| October 18, 2017-Version 9.7.6 | Added support for specifying Endpoint_Type using numbers. Added a Tags section to classify fields that function as location Tags. | If desired, enter numeric values to designate endpoint type instead of upper and lower-case letters. |
| February 16, 2017-Version 9.7.4 | Expanded the list of Service_Class_Code_Normalized to include “Sewer.” | Use the new normalized class code as needed. |
| October 11, 2016-Version 9.7.3r | Corrected the designations for Pulse Barnacle (L) and Magnetic Barnacle (K) endpoints. | If you used either of the designations for Magnetic Barnacle or Pulse Barnacle endpoints, change those designations to L for Magnetic Barnacle and K for Pulse Barnacle. |
| October 7, 2016-Version 9.7.3 | Extended the maximum character limits for the following fields: Meter_ID, Service_Point_Class_Code and Read_Sequence. Added new columns named Account_Phone_Extension and Location_Parcel_Number. Added support for two new endpoint types. | Use the new values, columns and endpoint types as needed. |
| August 24, 2016-Version 9.7.2 | Extended the Billing Country and Location Country fields to support 3-character ISO 3166-1 country codes. | Use the new values as needed. |
| July 21, 2016-Version 9.7.1 | Extended the Meter Note field to support 128 characters. Revised the Utility_Use_1 and Utility_Use_2 columns, which now support up to 64 characters. | Use the new values as needed. |
| June 9, 2016-Version 9.7 | Revised the Register_Number field to reflect support for 0 and 2 as valid entries. Added Account_Portal_Status, Account_Billing_Cycle and Location_Address_Line3 columns. | Use the new values and revised fields as needed. |
| April 27, 2016-Version 9.6.1 | Revised the new Meter_Size_Unit column definition: valid entries are “inches”, “DN” and “mm”. | Removed NPS as a supported entry, instead use “inches”. |
| April 21, 2016-Version 9.6 | Added a new Meter_Size_Unit column to allow you to specify meter sizes in inches or millimeters. | If you prefer metric sizes, this field lets you use millimeters when entering meter pipe diameters in the Meter_Size column. |
| April 11, 2016-Version 9.5 | Adjusted the number of supported characters to the values in parenthesis in these fields: Meter_Model (64), Location_DHS_Code (20) and Service_Point_ID (20). | You can now use longer names to identify meter models and shorter character strings for DHS codes and Service Point IDs. |
| April 7, 2016-Version 9.4 | Increased the number of supported characters to the values in parenthesis in these fields: Account_First_Name (64), Account_Last_Name (64), Account_Full_Name (128) and Account_Email (254). | You can now use longer names and email addresses as desired. |
| Last Update | What Changed | What You Need to Do |
| March 24, 2016-Version 9.3 | Removed the Service_Agreement_ID field and three fields related to Endpoint Configurations: Billing_Unit_of_Measure, Billing_Resolution, Billing_Offset that are no longer needed due to changes in how BEACON gets data from endpoints. | Remove those fields from your BDE files. They are no longer needed. |
| March 1, 2016-Version 9.2 | Added two new fields: Account_Status and Location_County_Name. Expanded endpoint support. | Use of the new fields is optional. If your system uses GALAXY TR2, GALAXY TR3 or Itron endpoints, update your BDE files accordingly. |
| February 16, 2016-Version 9.1 | Added two new fields: Person_ID and Service_Point_Timezone. | Person_ID lets utilities that offer services through online billing portals associate multiple accounts with a single portal user. The Service-Point_Timezone lets utilities that offer services that span different timezones specify timezones where their meters are located. |
| January 12, 2016-Version 9 | Added a new Location_Address_Parity field for identifying a premise as being on the odd-numbered or even-numbered side of the street. | This function is for utilities that have instituted watering restrictions based on odd/even-numbered addresses. |
| December 4, 2015-Version 8 | Added a new Location field called Location_DHS_Code to support Department of Health Services codes. | If you are using Department of Health Services codes, use this field to enable sorting via DHS codes using a filter on the Monitor page. |
| Last Update | What Changed | What You Need to Do |
| November 24, 2015-Version 7 | Updated Endpoint_SN field to reflect support for manually read meters. | If you have manually read meters in your system, the Endpoint_SN field can be left blank for the rows corresponding with those manually read meters. |
| November 13, 2015-Version 6 | Updated Compound Meter support description. | No action required. |
| November 4, 2015-Version 5 | Added a new Service_Agreement_ID field to the specification. | Use of the new ID is optional but highly recommended for utilities that modify service agreement/contract start and end dates on a regular basis. |
| October 22, 2015-Version 4 | Corrected omission in Row 83, Endpoint_Type description to include ORION SE/ME (N) | If you have ORION ME endpoints at certain locations, list N as the Endpoint_Type in their BDE entries. |
