IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - January/February 2020 - 56

Overview
An advanced distribution management system (ADMS) is
an integrated platform with one user interface for supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems,
advanced applications, and outage management systems
(OMSs). ADMS is integrated with different operational
technologies, such as the geographical information system (GIS), the field force automation (FFA), and the meter
data management system (MDMS) and is also equipped with
advanced analysis and planning applications. Simply put, the
ADMS provides monitoring, control, analysis, training, and
planning tools on a common console. It is also capable of integrating technologies including distributed energy resources
(DERs), demand response, BESSs, and other potentially
disruptive technologies.
On the back end, the ADMS also integrates with several
IT modules and applications of the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. These integration points include
1) customer relationship management (CRM)
2) banking interface management
3) project management
4) business intelligence.
See "Key Acronyms and Terms Used in This Article" for
an explanation of some of the acronyms and terms used in
this article.

End-to-End Integration
An ADMS can be integrated with a GIS by implementing
the Common Information Model (CIM) for importing the

complete electrical network (from energy exchange points
to consumer service points) and mapping of every consumer
on the network. This is done so that there will be a single
database for the complete network model for all applications in the distribution organization, which, in turn, reduces
the chance for errors. It is also capable of communicating
with sensors and relays installed at remote substations that
send the status of protective and isolating devices as well as
other analog parameters and digital signals. Both analog and
digital signals can be acquired for supervision and control.
Using breaker status data, an ADMS can define the scope of
an outage consistent with company processes. Some of the
standards followed are CIM, Simple Object Access Protocol
(SOAP), and Inter Control-Center Communication Protocol
(ICCP), which are detailed in the "Key Advanced Distribution Management System Interfacing Protocols" sidebar.
An ADMS has several integration points:
1) with CRM for importing customer account information, such as account number and address
2) consumer outage complaints when received via the
consumer care center
3) power supply status of the consumer from the ADMS
to the CRM when it receives information about a circuit breaker tripping through the SCADA system
4) delivered outage information to all other components
of the consumer portal, such as a web portal and mobile app
5) sharing of outage details with FFA for use by field
crews to manage and monitor outages.

Key Acronyms and Terms Used in This Article
* Operations technology: a technology associated
with the hardware and software dedicated to directly
monitoring or controlling physical devices
* IT: a technology associated with the hardware and
software dedicated to manipulating information

system.)
* MDMS: a system used to manage, store, and track
data output from smart meters (MDMS is also useful
in validation, estimation, and editing.)

* BESS: a combination of hardware and software compo-

* DER: generation sources that supply energy at differ-

nents that monitor or control an energy storage system

ent locations in the distribution grid (Some are re-

* SCADA: an OT system that provides the system operator with the ability to remotely monitor and control
physical devices
* OMS: a system used to manage the state of outages
in the distribution system by taking inputs from a
broad variety of devices in the field and customer
calls
* ADMS: an integrated platform with integrated SCADA, advanced apps, and OMS
* GIS: a system that stores information on all the physical
devices in the distribution system and their rendering
* FFA: a system used in a utility to manage and track
work done by field crews (It is sometimes also

56

called the mobile workforce management (MWM)

ieee power & energy magazine

newable in nature, and some are not.)
* ERP: an integrated set of software tools that allows
an organization to automate many back-office functions related to technology, services, and human
resources
* CRM: a system for managing a company's relationships and interactions with customers
* IVRS: an automated phone system that interacts with
callers, gathers information, and routes calls to recipients
* SMS: a specific text message mechanism
* Estimated time to restoration: an estimate of the time
by which a customer's power is restored

january/february 2020
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - January/February 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - January/February 2020
