Portal comparison
Sensus EyeOnWater is the resident portal that ships with Sensus AMI. Most Sensus utilities have given up trying to drive adoption. Orbit Portal sits in front of any AMI and ships with an AI Call Center that pays for the platform on call deflection alone.
For: Orbit Portal
| Category | Orbit | Sensus EyeOnWater |
|---|---|---|
| Core offering | AI Call Center + resident app + SMS-portal + anomaly outbound. | Resident-facing usage app that bundles with Sensus AMI. |
| AI Call Center | Handles ~89% of inbound resident calls automatically — voice, SMS, chat. | Not built in. |
| Resident adoption | AI actively drives signups during routine calls. Most utilities see 2x industry average. | Build-and-hope. Industry-typical adoption sits in the low double digits. |
| SMS-portal for non-app residents | Built in. Critical for older or rural populations. | Email + app only. |
| Leak alert timing | Anomaly detection triggers resident SMS within hours. | Leak alerts surface via app push. Adoption gap means many residents see the alert at next billing cycle. |
| AMI compatibility | AMI-agnostic. Continuous feed from any major vendor. | Sensus-only by design. |
| Anomaly-driven outbound | AI drafts resident messages: "your usage spiked 40%, want a tech?" | Resident must check the app to see the alert. |
| Billing system integration | Native — Tyler Munis, Banyon, Caselle, BS&A, Springbrook, Edmunds. | Limited billing integration; primarily a usage-display app. |
| Cost to utility | Standalone Portal SaaS — pays for itself in 6 months on CSR deflection. | Bundled with Sensus AMI / RNI subscription. |
| CSR call deflection | ~$25–35K/yr CSR time recovered per 10K accounts. | Marginal — most resident questions still hit the human CSR. |
| When EyeOnWater is enough | When CSR call volume isn't a pain point and adoption is "nice to have." | For utilities content with the AMI vendor portal as-is. |
15-minute walkthrough, head-to-head against Sensus EyeOnWater if you have it.