水务公司认为自动抄表的一些主要优点是:消除了锁定、估算、回拨、取消和重新计费、客户阅读、水务公司的额外工作以及给客户带来的不便；消除感知到的客户安全威胁；缩短阅读时间以实现法案的转变；促进和促进节约用水；减少下落不明的水、盗窃和篡改；减少坏账和欠款；并加强管理控制和对配电系统的理解。本文回顾了目前或即将提供给水务公司的一些主要自动抄表选项，描述了它们的固有特性，并建议管理人员在寻找替代计量系统时应采取的一些方法。

Some of the major advantages of automatic meter reading perceived by water utilities are: eliminates lock-outs, estimates, call-backs, cancel and rebills, customer reads, and the extra work by the utility and the inconvenience to the customer; eliminates perceived customer security threat; shortens read-to-bill turnaround; promotes and facilitates water conservation; reduces unaccounted-for water, thefts, and tampering; reduces bad debts and arrears; and enhances management control and understanding of the distribution systems. This paper reviews some of the major automatic meter reading options currently or soon to be available to water utilities, describing their inherent characteristics, and suggests some approaches managers should take in looking at alternative metering systems.