Patent ID: 7446672

Claim:
A system for transmitting consumption measurement data from a utility meter to a remote monitoring location, the utility meter having an electronic meter register operable to accumulate data related to the flow of a commodity through the utility meter, the accumulated data being represented by an output data signal, the system comprising: a data transfer wire conductively connected at a first end to the electronic meter register for receiving the output data signal, a second end of the data transfer wire including a first inductive coil enclosed within a connector module; and a communication device inductively coupled to the data transfer wire for receiving the output data signal and transmitting the accumulated data to the remote monitoring location, wherein the communication device includes a receptacle port sized to receive the connector module, the receptacle port being generally aligned with a second inductive coil contained within the communication device, wherein the first inductive coil of the connector module is electrically spaced from the second inductive coil when the connector module is received in the receptacle port.