Communication technologies
There are a number of communication technologies available for remote reading including well-known M-bus based protocols and new IoT technologies. Different technologies work well for different purposes, and your choice of communication technology should match your needs. Common to all communication technologies on the shelf today – next-generation, traditional or a combination – is that they each represent a means to an end rather than a goal in themselves.
Therefore, before choosing one, you should define the business needs it must support.
Consider your requirements for battery lifetime, data frequency, network range and whether you only need data for billing or also for analytics and optimising your operations. And how do you want to spend your resources: do you want full control over your network? Or would you prefer leaving the infrastructure responsibilities to an industry expert and instead dedicate yourself to your core business?