The SMS arrives
The customer receives a text from their energy provider with a link to click — no app to download, no account to create.
Reading gas & electricity meters
We helped UK utility providers enable their own customers to deliver gas and electricity meter readings from their mobile phone.
The challenge
Utility providers were chasing readings from customers who had stopped engaging — the people least likely to answer a letter, and the most likely to let a reading slip.
Three steps, from an SMS
The camera reads the meter
The utility bot launches and turns on the OCR camera function. Held next to the meter, the reading is captured.
Saved automatically
The reading is saved to the provider's database along with a captured image of the meter, so the record is verifiable.
The outcome
Results showed a massive take-up from previously disengaged consumers — people who had previously refused to supply a reading. Cost versus results meant the energy providers put the utility bot into recurring monthly use, saving both time and money.
Massive take-upIncluding consumers who previously refused to give a reading.
MonthlyProviders run the bot on a recurring monthly basis.
Time & costLess chasing, fewer manual reads, cheaper to run.
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