Remote - Fall 2012 - (Page 12)

Applications - Feature M2M: Why Remote Monitoring Matters Greg Hull, Vice President, Sales and Corporate Development Mosaik Solutions Having spent nearly 10 years working in the machine-to-machine (M2M) industry, I was fortunate to experience first-hand how companies benefit from cost-efficient communications between thousands of devices in the field. Today, more companies are offering products and services beyond their state or country borders, creating a greater demand for M2M services. CTIA projects that by 2020, there will be more than 16 billion M2M devices worldwide, compared to 62 million in 2010. In rural areas especially, M2M plays an important role in the remote monitoring of vehicles, heavy machinery and products and service usage. As M2M needs grow, mobile operators, device manufacturers and network solutions providers worldwide are working diligently to improve scale and service depth to meet M2M provider demands for coverage needed to reach rural areas. Several large US operators are actively marketing M2M business services through a number of mediums, including consumer channel marketing. With approximately 77 percent of the US and its territories covered by at least one mobile network, even extremely rural areas are capable of receiving decent wireless and GPS connections, sufficient for reliable M2M communications. Since the creation of the wholesale access and telematics industries, M2M providers have formed strong relationships with mobile network providers and relied on them to build their communications footprint. These relationships work well as network wholesalers and solutions providers support a niche that, certainly in the early years, was either too small or outside of the operators core business of developing services and support for 1) consumer mobile users 2) small and medium sized businesses 3) enterprise / government solutions. During the explosive growth in the incredibly dynamic wireless industry, creating scale wherever it can be found is paramount. As companies expand their customer service reach beyond traditional borders, remote monitoring of rural sites becomes key for keeping up-todate on maintenance schedules, vehicle diagnostics, utility usage and fixed location asset tracking. The geographic boundaries of M2M services are practically limitless; crossing rural roads, traveling through bustling cities and sailing through the sea. Monitoring vital assets reduces both operational and capital expenditures, dramatically improves security and helps provide higher quality of service. As M2M’s role in business transport becomes increasingly important, the reliability of mobile M2M solutions used to communicate among devices is crucial. It is essential for M2M providers to know where they will and will not have access to mobile networks, to Wi-Fi networks and whether roaming footprints impact service availability and cost. Particularly in rural areas, national and global businesses are finding more uses for M2M services, aside from the cost savings. Asset tracking and traditional telematics are an important part of the transport business, as trucking companies need to know where their fleets are located, the expected arrival and actual drop-off times of an asset, and when the truck is en route to its next destination. On the client-side of the transport, it is also important for the shipper to know where their assets are and what state they are in throughout the transport process. Additionally, the M2M industry is an important part of maintaining equipment in remote locations. For instance, automated farming equip12 www.RemoteMagazine.com ment, including crop monitors and sprinklers, are placed in the middle of hundreds of acres where maintenance needs may not be easily accessible nor fuel or power levels easy to monitor in-person. M2M makes it possible for researchers to keep track of and maintain the often-pricey equipment that monitors crop growth and for farmers to access how many plots of land they can water simultaneously. If M2M companies can show their customers where they can expect coverage worldwide, they can better manage their customers’ expectations, decrease customer service costs by deploying the right SIM in the devices, and by extension, reduce customer churn. Mobile Networks and M2M- A Long-Standing Friendship The largest North American mobile operators provide detailed network coverage information publicly, in most cases, via interactive mapping applications on the web. Mosaik Solutions maintains a larg mobile network coverage catalog with this information. In a the fast-paced M2M environment, where millions of dollars of equipment travels on rural highways, M2M companies need to be able to rely on mobile networks and communicate to their customers where they can expect services. Solutions sich as Mosaik’s MapElements is a cloud-based mapping platform that empowers M2M decision makers to view intelligence on different segments of the wireless and telecom ecosystem from one browser. M2M providers can view and analyze worldwide mobile network coverage, North American mobile licensing and US cable and landline footprints to assess partnerships, determine services areas for wireless, telecom and WiFi connections, and analyze competition. As M2M services consume higher bandwidth video services that demand wired, mobile broadband and Wi-Fi connections, M2M service providers need to understand network availability across the entire telecommunications network ecosystem. The platform supports flexibility and deeper analytical value through population and area metrics, allowing its M2M customers a clearer view of how network coverage decisions are affected by demographics using the latest United States Census data. Through the use of MapElements Point and Boundary Inspector, users can leverage demographics along with the rich network coverage intelligence to understand more about where the market opportunities are. Additional APIs can equip clients with key insights about telecommunications network availability. On the flip side, it is just as important to business growth that M2M providers understand and communicate where their coverage areas lie to their own customers. CellMaps enables operators to rapidly and economically deploy a hosted interactive coverage map to their websites. The interactive, cloud-based platform provides global coverage maps that display wireless footprints, including 2G, 3G and 4G, down to the street level. The platform can be updated as an operator’s network footprint grows, allowing M2M providers to add or remove coverage areas as their partnerships with mobile operators change. CellMaps enhances marketing efforts by supporting banded pricing options to improve margins, reducing churn and sharpening their competitive edge. Mobile network coverage information is a vital part of the M2M community. Similar to other communications industries, M2M is seeing convergence of telecom, mobile, cable and broadband networks. As the industries continue to change, global coverage information will continue to be an asset. Mosaik Solutions develops end-to-end solutions with robust intelligence and software platforms to assist decision makers in making better strategic business decisions supporting branding, network marketing and wholesale relationships. Visit www.mosaik.com for more information. Beyond Asset Tracking: Monitoring M2M Coverage http://www.mosaik.com http://www.RemoteMagazine.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Remote - Fall 2012

Remote - Fall 2012
Contents
Editor's Choice
New Opportunities in a Wireless World
Why Land-lines May Still be the Best Option for Your Remote Monitoring Network
SCADA Systems – The Best Choice For Water and Wastewater Remote Monitoring
M2M: Why Remote Monitoring Matters
SCADA
Networking
ZigBee Resource Guide
Security
Onsite Power
Enclosures
Environmental Monitoring
Naval Security and Energy Initiatives: Taking Control
Wireless Sensors and Cloud Platform Provides Real-Time Vineyard Environmental Monitoring
Industry News
Simulcast Expands Channel Availability and Cuts Expenses for Public Safety Communications

Remote - Fall 2012