Volue Introduces Gemini Portal+
As the world changes, so do the Gemini products. With the new Gemini Portal+, water and wastewater companies have access to tools that make use of new digital options for even smarter management of water and wastewater infrastructure.
Published
May 5, 2022
Since its launch in 2013, Gemini Portal has revolutionised digital work methods for the operation and management of water infrastructure in Norway.
Gemini Portal+ raises the bar even higher enabling better solutions to the challenges of tomorrow. With an increased demand for digitalisation, IoT and an ever-increasing volume of data, Gemini Portal+ makes it easier to sort out and readily access data to support good decision-making.
Good data has great value to water and wastewater companies as data registration and quality requirements become increasingly stricter. It is also now expected that digital collaboration is possible between several different roles within an organisation and there is a need to be able to share relevant data in a secure way.
Gemini Portal+ takes a big step forward in terms of functionality and user experience compared to Gemini Portal - precisely in order to meet the requirements and expectations that our customers have for the future.
To ensure both this and the best possible information security, Gemini Portal+ is a cloud-based service hosted by Volue. The work is part of the Innovation Norway project "Digital Water", which is running from 2021 to 2024.
What's new in Gemini Portal+?
1. Gemini Portal+ provides users with common access to all their subscription cloud-based Gemini solutions. Here you will find shortcuts to solutions such as Gemini Private, Message, Notification, and Water Alert.
2. The journal for recording operational incidents has been made more readily available for advanced searches.
3. The interaction between those who work in the field and those who work in the office has become more digitised. It is now easier to book work for both emergency incidents and planned events. This ensures better documentation of work performed.
4. Easy access to information about water and wastewater infrastructure linked to private properties that can affect the operation of the public pipeline.
5. Users are provided with easy access to real-time data from operational control systems and other types of real-time data via Gemini LIVE.
Access to everything from one place
In Gemini Portal+, all your subscription services for Gemini solutions are in one place. This simplifies the interaction between data from different solutions such as Gemini Private, Gemini Message and Gemini Water Alert. This also simplifies the workflow and makes it easier to see contexts that were previously difficult to access.
"For example, if the water level in an elevated basin decreases rapidly, this may indicate a water leak but it may also be due to the local council flushing the pipelines or that an industrial company has a sudden large outlet of water. Access to all this information in one place makes it easier to make the right decisions.”
Operator
Searchable journal feature
It is now easy for each user to carry out advanced searches among journal entries, which previously had to be carried out in Gemini VA. This facilitates more understanding within your organisation about why it is important to record journal entries.
Much easier contact between those in the field and those in the office
Gemini Portal was originally designed to simplify access to water and wastewater information for those out working in the field but it has been shown that the solution was also of value to operational planners in the office. Volue has taken this into account and by emphasising more accessible data and the need for collaboration across the organisation, Gemini Portal+ introduces new tools for multiple roles, such as operations planner, team manager or operations manager.
“I’ve just been informed that an audit at a sewage pumping station is required. The message pops up as an email. It's really nice to be able to just go into the portal and there, I have access to everything that I'm going to be checking. Here, there is access to equipment, operational history, photos... everything I really need.”
“We have a lot of possibilities to set up different time intervals in the planning work in Gemini Portal+. This makes it much easier for us to get plans that will be good going forward and that will be repeatable so that they automatically appear as bookings for a job when the job has to be done.”
Access to information on private properties
Gemini Portal+ introduces a closer connection with Gemini Private so that it is possible to access delivery points and consumption locations - thus all data about who is connected to the water and wastewater network. You get answers to questions such as: Is there any special equipment installed? Is the subscriber vulnerable? Are there ongoing cases on properties?
“I can now stand outside a restaurant and get access to the status of the management of a grease separator in the restaurant, as well as the ability to more easily assess whether there is a connection between this and any re-sealing problems in the public wastewater network.”
Access to real-time data from sensors
A unique feature of Gemini Portal+ is that the different data silos are broken down. This also applies to real-time data from operational control systems and any new IoT sensors that are tested by the local council. This is data that is made available in Gemini Portal+.
More than 20 different suppliers of operational control systems or IoT providers now send data securely to Gemini LIVE so real-time data can be made available in Gemini Portal+. When real-time data is connected to the water and wastewater infrastructure, this provides access to more advanced analytics such as Water Alert which automatically identifies water leaks in the pipeline using machine learning.
"Real-time data from the operational control system is made available in the tools that we use on a daily basis. Real-time data is also used to create automatic alerts about water leaks.”