Product News: Honeywell's next-gen cellular module

Honeywell announced the launch of its Next Generation Cellular Module (NXCM), enabling advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) that upgrades legacy gas and water meters into smart meters without requiring expenditure on additional infrastructure. This module enables meters to be wirelessly connected through existing public cellular networks, enhancing monitoring, safety, and analytics capabilities for utility providers and their customers, per Honeywell, which add that by retrofitting existing meters with the NXCM, utility-providers can leverage the benefits of smart meter technology without the need for significant custom-infrastructure investments that would require additional installation and maintenance costs.

Data collection and monitoring will support utility-providers’ decision-making and resource allocation, enhancing operational efficiency, they add. The NXCM provides 24 hourly readings per day with built-in data redundancy, along with alerts for tamper and theft prevention over a 20-year battery life in its default configuration, with customizable reading and transmission schedules to enable faster and more accurate billing, supporting customer portal apps, and reducing the likelihood of disputes over consumption data.

The NXCM further reduces operational costs by streamlining the meter-reading process and offering automatic readings through Honeywell's Connexo Meter Data Collection system, minimizing labor costs and potential errors. In addition to decreasing the capital expense for infrastructure, the NXCM provides significant operational savings when compared to a drive-by automated meter-reading system, even when only collecting monthly billable readings for a large deployment of meters. The hourly data reading and alerts will be able to support a full AMI transition and derive value from utility providers’ analytic software.

“The launch of the NXCM is a game-changer for utility providers, allowing them to easily upgrade their existing gas and water meter infrastructure to smart meters,” said Hamed Heyhat, vice president and general manager of Honeywell Smart Energy and Thermal Solutions. “This solution not only improves operational efficiency for the utility providers but also empowers customers with valuable insights into their resource consumption.”

The NXCM is a flexible and scalable solution for utility providers of all sizes, with secure data transmission using advanced authentication methods and AES-128 encryption that ensures utilities comply with metering and data management regulatory requirements, per its maker. The module is designed for easy installation and seamless integration with most major residential, commercial and industrial gas and water meter forms on the market, ensuring a smooth transition to smart-meter technology.