Managing your
global M2M estate
Vodafone Global M2M Platform
m2m.vodafone.com
Vodafone
Power to you
The challenges of M2M
M2M is like any other large technology initiative;
you need to be able to manage it effectively,
from deployment to in-life operations.
You need a way to monitor your SIMs all over
the world, order and deploy more SIMs as your
business grows, diagnose faults quickly in hard-
to-reach areas, and much more. You also need to
ensure that your data remains secure and keep
costs under control.
Making M2M simpler
The Global M2M Platform simplifies M2M
management — so you can realise the full
potential of M2M.
Whether you have thousands of M2M-enabled
assets worldwide, or just a few in one location,
the Global M2M Platform enables you to manage
your entire M2M estate centrally.
The Platform gives you visibility and control of
your M2M devices anywhere within our global
footprint. It can track the location of any M2M
SIM installed in an asset, alert you to unusual
activity, produce reports on performance and
data usage, activate new SIMs, and much more
— all in real time.
We built and wholly own the Global M2M
Platform, so we can:
• Integrate it tightly into our core network
for better performance, reliability and
manageability.
• Control the development roadmap so we can
extend the platform’s capabilities to meet your
changing needs.
• Give you a single point of contact for any
questions or issues with the platform, network
or SIMs.
A world-class management platform
At the heart of every M2M solution we offer our Global M2M Platform
— a powerful self-service delivery and management tool, underpinned
by patented technology.
M2M is transforming the
way businesses operate.
According to GSMA and
Machina Research, by
2020 there will be 24
billion connected devices.
For our M2M Adoption
Barometer 2013 report,
we interviewed hundreds
of companies around
the world about their
experiences of M2M. For
the vast majority, the
benefits were clear —
lower operational costs,
improved productivity
and increased competitive
advantage — but many
were looking for ways to
control costs, security
and complexity before
adopting M2M.
Your
environment
Vodafone
Partner End user
Network
Global M2M Service
Back office
and ERP
Support
Data
services
Voice VPN
M2M Service
Portal
CMR billing
SLA
management
Subcription
control and
authorisation
Policy control
and event
management
Communication
services
Mediation Rating
Location
services
Alerting and
reporting
Customer
terminal
Radio
services
Provisioning
Service
desk
Vodafone Global M2M Platform
Key features
You can connect to the Platform through a secure web portal, which
gives you access to all the management functions you need.
A user-friendly dashboard
The portal’s dashboard gives you a picture
of your global M2M estate at a glance. The
Platform enables you to group SIMs according to
characteristics, so you can manage them in bulk
and reduce your administrative workload. From
this screen, you’ll get an instant overview of the
different groups of SIMs you’ve set up, along with
information on the number of SIMs, data usage
and current operational state.
Easy SIM management
Using the convenient self-service management
tool, you can order SIMs in bulk, set country and
regional restrictions, and change operational
states to align with different stages of your
manufacturing lifecycle. For example, you can
set SIMs to “test” for those in factory testing to
make sure they are functioning properly before
activating them. You can set SIMs to “ready”
when they’re in manufacturing or warehousing
prior to activation, or “live” for active use, and
“suspended” for stopping data transmissions.
Real-time alerting
The Platform enables you to define upper and
lower data thresholds for SIMs in each group. If
a SIM should operate outside of the parameters
you set, the Platform will alert you immediately.
For example, if a SIM exceeds its data allowance,
the Platform will let you know and you can halt
transmissions to keep costs under control. And
if a SIM isn’t transmitting as much data as it
should, the Platform will notify you so you can
investigate potential faults.
Transparent reporting
The Platform generates a variety of standard
reports for the current and previous billing
period to help you understand how your remote
assets are operating on the network. The reports
contain graphics on high and low data usage,
usage by IMSI, current states, state changes,
alerts, and much more. Using this information,
you can optimise total data consumption and
control your costs.
Service diagnostics
The portal is your first port of call for support
for any issues with your SIMs. Using the self-
service diagnostic tools and the transaction
log, you can diagnose SIM problems, such as
misconfiguration, RADIUS proxy issues, sudden
spikes in data transmissions, and more. If you
detect a problem, you can try changing the SIM
state, but if you’re still having issues, you can
contact the Vodafone M2M service desk 24x365.
Our fast-track offering
All of these management
tools are available as part
of our fast-track offering,
which we can get up and
running for you in five
working days. The fast-
track offering supports:
• Standard SIMs or robust
plastic SIMs.
• Packet-switched data
communications over
GPRS, 3G and HSDPA.
• Connectivity between
your M2M devices and
our core network on a
shared, resilient public
internet APN with
controlled access.
Vodafone Global M2M Platform web portal
3
Service integration
We can integrate M2M data directly into your existing back-end
systems — like your ERP or SCM systems — via APIs and SMPP.
Location-based services are just one example of M2M data that
can be integrated into your environment. Using cell ID and
assisted GPS, where available, the Platform can feed location data
directly into any system, for example a fleet management or asset
tracking system. To locate an asset, you can easily access the GPS
data or information on where the first communication session
happened.
With location-based services, you can also set geofences for SIMs.
If an asset strays outside of the boundary you set — for example if
it’s been stolen — the Platform can alert you immediately.
Communications types
In addition to packet-switched data over 2G, 3G and LTE networks,
we also support SMS (mobile originated and terminated), or
circuit-switched voice and data over GSM networks to connect
your SIMs to the Platform.
Our Global M2M SIMs have dedicated IMSI and mobile number
ranges that are not assigned to a geographical destination or
network. This means our global M2M SIMs can be used on any
Vodafone or Vodafone M2M roaming partner network anywhere in
the world
SIMs for every environment
The Platform supports a range of SIMs suitable for a wide range of
operating conditions:
• Standard Plastic — This is our toughest SIM, designed for
extreme environments. It’s also soldered directly to the
terminal’s PCB, making it ideal for tight spaces.
• Robust and Super Plastic — These SIMs are hardened for
tougher conditions and have a highly stressable memory area
that preserves frequently updated files.
• Standard Industrial — Our standard plastic SIM is great value
and ideal for a wide range of working conditions.
All SIMs can be delivered in large volumes if required.
Enhanced reporting
These reports supplement those in our fast track offering, giving
you extra information on the performance on your SIMs so you
can improve connectivity performance and optimise the total data
consumption of your devices. These reports include ‘invoice data’,
‘daily data usage’ and ‘daily threshold alert summary’.
You can configure each report, for example, setting a date range,
copy and move operations between profiles and applications, and
change SIM custom attributes. Reports are downloadable in CSV,
XML and PDF formats.
Configuration options
We offer a range of advanced capabilities and features that we can
tailor to suit your individual requirements.
Vodafone Global M2M Platform web portal
Users can access the Connection
Dashboard, which offers an
overview of your entire SIM
estate, with quick access menus
and a SIM/connection search.
You can define the capabilities of
a group of SIMs, such as roaming
permissions. And you can retrieve
a list of SIMs based on predefined
criteria like status, or your own
custom attributes.
Vodafone Global M2M Platform
A platform you can trust
At Vodafone, we’ve put years of experience and expertise into making
the Global M2M Platform reliable, robust and secure.
Hosting, SLAs and scalability
We host and run the Platform, so we take care of maintenance and
updates, freeing you to focus on your business.
The Platform offers carrier-grade availability and we give you
competitive SLAs for extra peace of mind. Our SLAs cover
Platform and service desk availability, incident management and
maintenance events.
And as your business grows, the Platform’s scalable architecture
enables you to expand your solution easily.
World-class support
We’re there for you throughout your M2M project, from designing,
configuring and deploying your solution to in-life operations.
We have 150 M2M specialists based at our Innovation Park Labs
in Düsseldorf, who can help you test devices and solutions before
deployment. We also provide you with a staging and production
environment with dummy SIMs for testing, training and
demonstration purposes.
Once your M2M solution is up and running, we offer round-
the-clock support — in several languages — via email and a
dedicated telephone hotline. We use a support ticketing system
to track and escalate incidents with agreed response and
resolution times for your queries.
Security
We take data security seriously. That’s why we provide an
encrypted end-to-end data connection from each endpoint to
your back-end systems. By default, your devices connect to the
Platform over a shared APN using a dynamic IP address. But, if
you wish, you can opt for a dedicated private access point name
(APN) and dynamic, fixed or mixed IP allocations over a range
of connections including IPSec tunnels and leased lines. Only
devices and assets with SIMs assigned to your organisation can
transfer data via the dedicated APN — preventing unauthorised
access.
We can also protect your terminals from making unauthorised
data transfers. We offer device-specific credentials and IMEI locks
so SIMs only work in the terminals you specify.
The link connecting the Global M2M Platform web services server
and your M2M back-end systems is secured, too, using HTTPS. The
implementation includes server and client certificates, protecting
your M2M infrastructure.
And to prevent unauthorised users at your company from
accessing sensitive information, your administrators can restrict
certain functionalities for users by creating tiered access levels.
Only administrators can edit your company details, and add and
delete users.
You will be able to drill down
to information on individual
connections and access a variety
of standard reports such as
usage, alerts, and newly activated
SIMs. It’s easy to see details like
connection status and location
for every SIM.
5
Part of a complete solution
The Global M2M Platform is part of a complete solution
that helps make M2M simpler.
Global M2M SIMs
We provide global M2M SIMs to suit every
operating environment. All of our SIMs feature
dedicated IMSI and mobile number ranges
not assigned to a geographical destination or
network, so you can use them on any Vodafone
or Vodafone partner network anywhere in the
world. Because you don’t need to customise SIM
settings for each country, you can reduce the
complexity and time it takes to deploy M2M.
Global networks
Vodafone has the largest mobile
telecommunications network in the world. We
provide services via 70 wireless networks on five
continents and fixed-line infrastructure in more
than 40 countries — serving more than 400
million customers. Wherever your business may
take you, we’re probably already there.
Simple pricing and
contracting
We offer a flexible range of commercial models
and a single global contract to cover your entire
global M2M estate. Our tariffs let you forecast
and manage costs without you needing to worry
about roaming charges. All you pay is a monthly
fee for data usage, a fee per SIM and a fee for
changing SIM states. We also offer pro-rated
pricing so you only pay for the period your M2M
SIMs are active.
Integrated M2M terminals
To help you reduce time to market and deploy
your M2M solution more cost-effectively, we
can provide Integrated M2M Terminals — a
range of handpicked terminal models from
leading manufacturers to suit different M2M
applications. Each terminal comes with a global
M2M SIM pre-installed — so they’re ready to use
out of the box.
To speed up implementation even further, we
can pre-configure each terminal for your specific
application environment and pre-register them
to the Global M2M Platform. Each model is
tested and approved for compatibility by the
Vodafone Innovation Park Labs — so they works
perfectly on all Vodafone and Vodafone partner
networks. By choosing our Integrated M2M
Terminals, you can benefit from one point of
contact for both connectivity and hardware, and
have access to Vodafone’s extensive expertise
and support.
Vodafone has
shown itself extremely
credible in offering a broad
set of M2M solutions.
A focus on partnership
development, R&D and
quality-of-service makes
Vodafone a leading
supplier in M2M solutions
globally.
Steve Hilton, principal
analyst, Analysys Mason
Vodafone Global M2M Platform
Why Vodafone?
We have more than 20 years’ experience in M2M and have delivered
some of the world’s most prestigious M2M projects. No other operator
can match our level of M2M expertise.
A leader in M2M
Our experience in M2M brings together unrivalled capabilities and a long track record of success.
Today, over 250 dedicated M2M experts can put their experience to work for you in planning large-
scale deployments.
And unlike other players in the M2M arena, we have direct influence and control over our network
design and functionality and have invested heavily in the development of GSM, 3G and LTE standards.
We also partner with some of the world's leading hardware and application suppliers and system
integrators. Our partnerships bring together the right project components that work seamlessly over
our global network. You need only deal with one supplier — Vodafone — for all your needs, reducing
the complexity of M2M projects.
But don’t just take our word for it; our M2M capabilities are highly rated by leading independent
analyst firms. Analysys Mason has rated Vodafone as an Industry Icon and joint first for overall
excellence.
To learn more about how we can help you to develop, deploy and maintain a
successful global M2M solution, please contact your Vodafone account manager,
email [email protected], or visit m2m.vodafone.com.
Machina Research has
also rated us highly in
the M2M industry. By
assessing pedigree,
platform, place,
partnerships, process, and
people, Machina Research
rated us the number one
service provider two years
running.
M2M CSP Benchmarking
Study 2013, Machina
Research
7
m2m.vodafone.com
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Managing your global M2M estate
For our M2M Adoption Barometer 2013 report, we interviewed hundreds of companies around the world about their experiences of M2M. For the vast majority, the benefits were clear — lower operational costs, improved productivity and increased competitive advantage — but many were looking for ways to control costs, security and complexity before adopting M2M. Click to get the report.