Meter access request

How do we get access to an indoor or locked meter by asking the customer, scheduling the visit, and following up until the read or the work is done?

Treat the access request as a chase with a clock and the tariff behind it. When a meter cannot be reached (an indoor meter, a locked gate or room, a dog, an obstruction), Callvu opens the access case from the failed read or the field report, prefills the premise, the meter and the history of access attempts, asks the customer by text, email or letter for access with the options (a scheduled appointment from live capacity, a key or a code arrangement where the policy allows, a self-read with a photo through its process while access is arranged), chases the response on the tariff's schedule with the notices the tariff requires, records each attempt and response, routes a continued refusal to the field supervisor in the Decision Desk for the tariff's escalation, and writes the access arrangement, the visit and the result to the CIS and the work management system.

In scopeSimpleCallvu moves: chase and verify, write back

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Last updated November 7, 2026.

The problem today

The meter had been estimated for fourteen months, and the letter asking for access went to an address the customer had left.

Today, without Callvu

Some meters cannot be reached: inside the basement, behind a locked gate, in a room the landlord controls. The reader skips it, the bill is estimated, the estimates drift from the usage, and the true-up when access finally happens is a shock and a complaint. The access letters are sent on a cycle nobody checks, to the mailing address, without a way to schedule.

The tariff gives the utility the right of access and the customer the duty to provide it, limits how long bills may be estimated, and sets the notices and the escalation for refused access; the commission's rules limit estimated billing. The customer can schedule a visit from their phone, provide a code, or submit a read with a photo while the visit is arranged. The case should run until the meter is read, not until the letter is sent.

The access case that chases the customer with options is the one that ends in a real read.

How it runs

From the requestto the system of record.

A meter read fails for no access, a technician reports a locked meter, or the estimated-bill count reaches the tariff's limit. Callvu opens the access case on the premise.

Customer or landlord: Provides access by scheduling, a code or a key arrangement, or submits a self-read while the visit is arranged.
Meter reader or technician: Attempts and records access, and reads or works the meter on the visit.
Field supervisor: Decides escalations for refused access in the Decision Desk.
Callvu: Prefills, asks with options, chases, records, routes and writes.

Prefill and ask
The premise, the meter, the access notes, the estimated-bill count and the history of attempts are prefilled from the CIS and the meter system; the customer (and the landlord where the meter is in a common area) is asked by text and email under consent and by letter where the tariff requires, with options: schedule a visit from live capacity, arrange a code or a key under the policy, or submit a self-read with a photo through the self-read process while access is arranged.
Chase and verify
The response is chased on the tariff's schedule (reminders, then the written notices the tariff requires for continued no-access), each attempt and response is recorded against the premise, and a scheduled visit runs through the appointment process with the access details checked (a contact on the day, the gate code).
Decide escalations
Access granted closes the case on the read or the work; a continued refusal after the tariff's notices, a landlord who will not provide access, or a premise where the meter should be relocated goes to the field supervisor in the Decision Desk with the history and only the allowed outcomes (another notice, a meter relocation order at the customer's cost where the tariff allows, a referral to the disconnection process for refusal of access, or close).
Write back
The access arrangement, each attempt, the visit and the actual read or the work are written to the CIS, the system of record for the premise, and the work management system; the actual read triggers the true-up of the estimated bills under the commission's rules, and the access notes are updated so the next read does not fail.

Where it ends: The customer was asked with options and chased on the tariff's schedule, the access attempts and responses are on the premise's record, a refusal was escalated by the rule, and the meter was read or relocated with the CIS holding the result and the true-up. The Decision Trace shows the chase steps and any decision; the Audit Trace shows each request, response, attempt and the read with time.

Runtime enforcement

What is enforcedwhile the work runs.

The regulations preloaded in Callvu Studio and the bank's own policies, applied as steps that run, not lines in a binder. A step that breaks a rule does not run, so a completed run was compliant.

Regulations

State commission tariff rules: The tariff gives the utility reasonable access to its meter and facilities at reasonable times and requires the customer to provide it, allows the utility to require the meter's relocation to an accessible location at the customer's cost where access is persistently refused, sets the written notices and periods before escalation, and permits disconnection for continued refusal of access after the final notice under the commission's disconnection rules.
State commission estimated billing rules: Commissions limit how many consecutive bills may be estimated (commonly a set number of billing periods) and require an actual read at least at the interval the rule sets, with the customer's right to submit a read and the true-up rules for the difference; the estimated-bill count triggers the access case before the limit.
TCPA consent for automated calls and texts: The access requests by automated text or call require the consent on the account, with opt-outs honored; a customer without a consented channel is asked by letter.

Company policies

The access case opens from the failed read or the estimated-bill count, not from a cycle letter.
The customer is asked with options: a scheduled visit, a code or key arrangement, or a self-read while access is arranged.
Every attempt and response is recorded; escalation follows the tariff's notices and is decided by the supervisor.
The CIS holds the access record and the true-up; the access notes are corrected for the next read.

Controls

Prefill of the premise, the meter and the attempt history.
Multichannel request with options under consent.
Chases on the tariff's schedule with required notices.
Attempt and response recording.
Decision Desk for escalations.
CIS and work system writes with true-up and access note update.

Clocks and deadlines

Estimated-bill limit: The access case opens before the commission's limit on consecutive estimates.
Notices: The tariff's periods between the access notices before escalation.
Visit: Scheduled from live capacity through the appointment process.

Documents and checks

The premise, meter and attempt history
Each request and response
The appointment and the visit result, or the self-read
Any escalation decision
The CIS and work system records and the true-up

In the Decision Trace

The chase steps and the notices sent.
Any decision and the supervisor.

In the Audit Trace

Each request with channel and time.
Each attempt and response with time.
The read or the work and the write.

The handoff

Between the front doorand the back office.

The front door

Text, email or letter with a link to schedule, arrange a code or submit a self-read; the customer acts on their phone.

The back office

The meter reader and the technician see the access arrangement; the supervisor decides only escalations.

The Decision Desk

A continued refusal after the tariff's notices, a landlord who will not provide access, or a meter that should be relocated goes to the field supervisor in the Decision Desk with the history and only another notice, a relocation order, a referral to disconnection, or close.

Proof

In scope.Proof at scale, not one process at a time.

The kind of process Callvu runs in production for customers in this industry. Ask for a reference on this exact process. The results below are the industry's published proof; each claim code links to its record on agents.callvu.com.

More than 1,000 processes are live across Callvu customers.

Across Callvu customers

PSEG Long Island runs start, stop and move service on Callvu, live in 4 weeks.

Across Callvu customers

Questions

What buyers ask next,answered plainly.

What options does the customer have?

Schedule a visit from live capacity on their phone, arrange a code or a key under the policy, or submit a self-read with a photo while access is arranged.

What if the customer keeps refusing?

The tariff's notices run on their periods, and the field supervisor decides: another notice, a meter relocation at the customer's cost where the tariff allows, or a referral to the disconnection process.

What happens to the estimated bills?

The actual read triggers the true-up under the commission's rules, and the access case opens before the limit on consecutive estimates so the gap stays small.

Related processes

Customer self meter read Field appointment confirmation Missed appointment and no-access follow-up Estimated bill correction with customer read Try it in the sandbox All utilities processes

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