Patent ID: 7185131

Claim:
A host automated meter reading (AMR) device, comprising: a communication module, in communication with a plurality of client AMR devices, wherein said communication module is operable to receive meter data associated with said plurality of client AMR devices, and is operable to transmit said meter data to a utility remote from said plurality of client AMR devices; and a universal communications interface, local to the host meter, functionally coupled to a processor and configurable for communicating with a plurality of different types of communication devices, each different type of communication device operative to communicate with a client AMR device via one of a plurality of different communication mediums; a slot functionally coupled to the universal communications interface and configured to interchangeably connect one of the plurality of different types of communication devices; wherein the processor communicates with the universal communications interface to determine which one of the plurality of different types of communication devices is connected to the slot; and wherein the processor formats the meter data into a format compatible with the connected communication device and transmits the formatted meter data to the universal communications interface for transmission to the connected communications device.