FATHOM: Smart Methodologies for Resource Conservation

20 Most Promising Smart City Solution Providers - 2016

Trevor Hill, Chairman & CEO

Smart cities are defined for their seamless integration of information and communication technology to balance resources. One of the most critical aspects that contribute to the idea of a smart and sustainable city is the effective utilization and smart conservation of declining resources such as water to avert catastrophic impacts of climate-change. “Increasing hydrologic volatility means increasing risk, financial pressures, and potentially an imminent failure of our supply-based infrastructure,” explains Trevor Hill, Chairman and CEO, FATHOM. Efficient water distribution, management, and consumption through Meter Data Management (MDM) and Customer Information Services (CIS) are the best cost-effective way to preserve water. FATHOM, a Phoenix, AZ based firm develops software that monitors, predicts, and manages water consumption at small and large infrastructures to prevent its wasteful utilization. “At FATHOM, we believe these issues of water scarcity can be addressed with relevant information,” states Hill. FATHOM’s technology adapts to the sophisticated utilities to maximize efficiency in water preservation. Further, FATHOM features products in three groups that proffer proactive water network and customer management and efficient ways to adopt new technology to aid cities and residents to attain satisfactory-level of water usage without exceeding the limit.

The firm’s cloud-based SaaS system allows utilities of any size to connect to new technologies with minimal effort. “Our system can easily handle and host the huge amounts of data generated by newer metering technologies, allowing utilities to take advantage of this information to operate more efficiently,” asserts Hill. MDM is the core component of FATHOM that surfaces the value from meter data and provides a cost effective, efficient, and safe way to start the transition towards AMI (Automated Meter Infrastructure). “MDM can handle manual, AMR (Automated Meter Reader) and AMI data simultaneously,” says Hill.

CIS, another offering of FATHOM helps maximize the use of highly granular AMI data and channel shift technologies.

By improving transparency with customers, FATHOM has a proven track record of driving demand-side efficiency with utility partners

Additionally, U2YOU which is a part of this solution serves as a web-based customer care portal which provides communication tools and advanced analytics for the users to access, manage, control, and pay for their water usage. “By improving transparency with customers, FATHOM has a proven track record of driving demand-side efficiency with utility partners,” asserts Hill.

One of the beneficiaries, City of Kennedale was under a dilemma of repairing its aging infrastructure and implementing internal structural changes that were necessary to meet the stage one drought restriction policies imposed by the Texas government. The water utility rates kept souring as a result of this, Kennedale turned to FATHOM’s analytic tools which allowed them to better manage their existing water meters. The system simplified billing procedures, improved customer operations, and allowed users to engage by viewing water consumption. It helped the city to shift from AMR to AMI which reduced human errors, decreased the costs of associated labour and vehicle use, and improved data accuracy. “Kennedale has increased in net revenue by more than 8 percent,” says Hill. “Their experience demonstrates the power of FATHOM’s platform to achieve this goal in a fragmented and dynamic marketplace.”

The CEO assures that his company will place special focus on providing efficient water consumption network for utilities while continuing to assist them with a smoother process of technology adoption. In the near future, the firm will introduce—FATHOM Store—a channel to various market and business models for adoption, where disparate utilities can select technology solutions as per their respective requirements. “The FATHOM Store will be fully operational in the first half of 2016, with frequent integration updates and our firm will expand to three or four countries over the next two years to truly mitigate global water scarcity,” concludes Hill.

Management
Trevor Hill, Chairman & CEO

Description
Provides cloud-based automated networking, billing, and managing solutions in smart grid for water