What is an automated meter reader?

Answer 1

An automated meter reader is a feature/device added to some utility (water. gas and electric) meters so the meter need not be read and the reading recorded manually.

Traditionally utility companies have had employees walk to the meters at every house monthly, look at the reading on the meters and write them down.

If the meter has an automatic meter reader the device, normally, sends the reading using RF (radio frequency) transmission. (The way radio programs, cordless phones, etc., work). An employee simply drives, or walks down the street near the houses with a receiver that receives and records the readings. It's much faster and doesn't require entering the residents yards, dealing with dogs, children, locked gates. etc.

There is another, less efficient kind where the employee walks to the meter and touches it with (or holds near it) a special wand or probe that records the reading. This eliminates the human error where the employee reads or records the numbers wrong.