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MultiSpeak(R) Initiative Releases Version 3, Web Services Business Process Improvement with Real-Time Software Integration
13 February 2006 A major new release of the MultiSpeak(R) Specification has been announced by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) and more than 30 software providers and consultants serving electric utilities. MultiSpeak3 now offers real-time systems integration using web services, a popular transport method that can tightly integrate two applications from different software providers.
Web services offer several key advantages for improving business processes at electric distribution cooperatives, according to Gary McNaughton, MultiSpeak's project coordinator. "A web service is like writing a contract for two different programs that outlines how a service is going to be performed for you." A web service can be administered over the Internet or on an intranet using Internet technology.
"If you have checked the local temperature or booked an airline flight on the Internet, you have used a Web service," says McNaughton, "MultiSpeak has leveraged this popular technology to help solve business problems for electric utilities."
The MultiSpeak Initiative offers independent specifications that are used by software developers to simplify business process improvement and data integration at electric utilities, with particular emphasis on electric distribution cooperatives. The MultiSpeak specification defines what data is exchanged among commonly used software applications, and establishes standardized messaging formats.
MultiSpeak3 supports batch file transfers and real-time transport using Web services, which standardize the transport of instructions and data among MultiSpeak-compatible software applications. MultiSpeak3 defines more than 200 unique Web service methods to implement real-time data and process integration. Methods defined include those that request or publish data, along with procedure calls to perform specific standardized business processes, such as reading or disconnecting customer revenue meters.
Vendors are enthusiastically responding to MultiSpeak3, according to Ray Gosney, vice president of Energy Solutions at New Hampshire Electric Cooperative and chairman of the MultiSpeak advisory board. More than a dozen software providers are actively writing MultiSpeak3 interfaces, many of which are expected to be available from co-op software providers by NRECA's 2006 TechAdvantage Conference and Expo in February.
"I believe we have achieved a tipping point in improving cooperative productivity. MultiSpeak web services will enable employees to effectively access company-wide information through the IT system they use the most," said Gosney.
MultiSpeak3 supports such software applications as customer information systems, automated meter reading, outage detection, outage management systems, field design software, geographic information systems, engineering analysis, customer relationship management, load management, and SCADA.
The MultiSpeak Initiative also maintains an independent third-party testing program to assure that products submitted for test meet the requirements of the specification and can interoperate as expected with other MultiSpeak-compatible applications.
About the MultiSpeak Initiative
The MultiSpeak Initiative fosters business process improvement and simplifies data integration at electric cooperatives through a collaboration between NRECA and more than 30 software companies and consultants who serve electric utilities. MultiSpeak has released a series of specifications that enable popular utility software applications to exchange data in a predetermined manner.
MultiSpeak3, the latest release, has defined 30 interfaces that encompass nearly every commonly used software application deployed at electric distribution co-ops, including automatic meter reading, customer information system, customer relationship management, engineering analysis, load management, mapping, outage management, SCADA, and staking. To view the specification and for more information, visit http://www.multispeak.org.
Source: prnewswire
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