Channels are the “data holders” that are used in Sigma to record and manage consumption data. Channels come in two types; Non-Periodic and Periodic.

• A Periodic Channel is a channel used to record data for cases where the measurement of consumption is performed on a routine recurring periodic basis (e.g. every half-hour)

• A Non-Periodic Channel is a channel for which consumption or reading data is entered along with the date-time for which they are applicable. A Non-Periodic Channel is required in order to be able to use Sigma to Enter Meter Readings.

The Channel Editor contains all the information that pertains to the configuration of the channel and what the data represents. Despite there being both a Non-Periodic and Periodic Channel Editor, the structure of each of them and the configuration data captured are the same.

Accessing the Channel Editor

The Channel Editor can be accessed from any location in the system that provides a list of Channels, but using the Estate Management Activity would be advantageous.

For example, search the Item Finder for either “Non-Periodic” and “Periodic” Channel Item Types. 

• Right click on the individual Channel Item
• Click Edit

or

• From Estate Management, click on the Meters & Channels Tab
• Highlight the Channel
• Click Edit Channel

Either of the above will open the appropriate Channel Editor pop up.

Understanding the fields

Field Name	Description
Date Range	The date and time range for which consumption data exists for the channels
Meter Commodity	The commodity of the meter to which the Channel is associated to
Period interval	How often the Channel expects to have data
Latest import	The date the last import happened which imported data against the channel
Last importer	The name of the last import which imported data against the channel
Name	The Name of the Channel, when it was created
Data Load ID 1	The unique identifier of the channel used by external systems to identify the channel to which the data should be loaded against
Data Load ID 2	N/A - not used
Channel Register	If the Channel represents a particular register of the Meter, e.g. “Day” or “Night”, then this can be captured here Typically this would be “All Day” to represent all time
Data Type	What the data stored against the channel represents (e.g. Energy Consumption, Volumetric Consumption etc.)
Time Zone	The time zone of the channel - i.e. the timezone of that data that is being loaded against the channel
Unit of Measurement	The unit of measurement for the data that is being captured against the channel (e.g. kWh or m3)
Conversion Factor	Whether a conversion factor should be applied to the raw data for analysis or reporting purposes
Data Measurement	If non required, this should be set to “1” Indicates the data measurement of the channel (e.g. Consumption or Averaging Values)
Channel Data Quality	This field is used for Tenant Billing purposes to provide a hierarchy order to the channels that should be used to calculate Tenant Bills (e.g. where a Meter contains more than one channel that represents the same stream of data)
Data Source	A user configurable field which allows the population of where the data for this channel is being sourced from (e.g. Meter Operator X or BMS System Y)
Closed	A check-box to indicate whether the channel is closed and should no longer be receiving data (e.g it has been de-energised or the channel against which data is being received has been replaced)
Date of Closure	Where the “Closed” checkbox is ticked, this allows a date to be entered which represents the closure date
Meter Readings	A tick-box to indicate whether the data being loaded for the channel represents meter readings (i.e. the advance), rather than the actual amount of consumption since the last reading entered
Graph	Graph of the latest data in the Channel. Drag the mouse across the screen to Zoom in