Vodafone New Zealand today launched Connect by xone, an intuitive end-to-end Internet of Things (IoT) management solution giving businesses visibility and control over all their owned IoT assets.

The platform is a localised version of a globally acclaimed solution belonging to the Vodafone Group, providing key in-country functionality to world-class technology, such as controlled voice calling and reduced latency, while routing the data within New Zealand.

Globally, Vodafone Group manages over 100 million IoT connections around the world and has been labelled “a leader” in Gartner’s 2019 Magic Quadrant for IoT Connectivity Services research*. As Vodafone Group’s local market partner, Vodafone New Zealand supports more than 1.6 million IoT connections including energy meters, sensors, medical equipment, tracking assets and more.

Vodafone New Zealand Head of IoT Michelle Sharp says the team are thrilled to now provide kiwi businesses with a local solution to join Vodafone’s Global Data Service Platform (GDSP).

“For those businesses with IoT assets located around the world, the GDSP is ideal, whereas Connect by xone is the best solution for the vast majority of businesses that have all of their IoT assets within Aotearoa,” she says.

“Both platforms allow businesses to keep track of their whole inventory of connected devices, tracking the home country of any SIMs installed in an asset, getting alerts on unusual activity, activating new SIMs, producing reports on performance or data usage, and more. Connect by xone then provides the local New Zealand voice calling, support and management of data without the latency that arises when routing through a global platform.”

“The great thing is that as businesses grow and start to use their IoT devices overseas, the Connect by xone platform can scale up and continue to support all assets through integration with the GDSP.”

Small businesses throughout the country are already reaping the benefits of the localisation. EFTPOS New Zealand Limited’s thousands of EFTPOS terminals on Vodafone’s GDSP used to take 45-50 minutes for a software upgrade. However, by re-routing the data through Vodafone’s new Connect by xone solution the time it takes to upgrade the terminals has been reduced to 4-5 minutes.

Securely’s medical alarms will also be powered by Connect by xone on the Vodafone IoT network. The medical alarms, used predominantly with elderly people in independent living, are monitored 24/7 and send out an alert if medical assistance is needed.

Securely General Manager Mark Smith says Securely monitors thousands of medical alarms throughout New Zealand and a key concern for the business is the privacy and security of customer information.

“We feel confident that Connect by xone will enhance the security of data and allow us to safely manage communication with our customers,” he says.

“Connect by xone allows us to manage the SIMs that we have in the thousands of devices we monitor throughout the country. If an alert is triggered we can identify that device and call that particular alarm to provide immediate assistance as needed.”

IoT is an incredibly fast-growing area of technology, says Michelle Sharp.

“The real-time data analysis and actionable insights that IoT devices provide make these tools invaluable throughout a wide range of industries, such as agriculture, healthcare, transportation, and security,” she says.

“We are seeing many incredible innovations in the IoT field, driving more efficient, safer, and more sustainable businesses and communities.

“Through Connect by xone Vodafone is enabling even more businesses to adopt this technology, providing a simple way to manage all IoT assets on an intuitive and intelligent platform, delivered across our powerful networks.”