Dealing with multiple vendors is simply good business practice. Unfortunately, the automatic meter reading (AMR) market is not yet mature enough to have standardized hardware components (meter registers, AMR devices) or software compatibility. Therefore, it is difficult for a utility to deal with multiple vendors and integrate their products into one workable AMR system. However, the advantages of AMR are well worth the extra effort a utility has to invest in order to investigate, specify and implement an AMR system using multiple vendors. This paper presents the New York City's trial program, experiences and recommendations in dealing with multiple vendors.