Data Exchange Specification

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.
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