Orange Business Services has launched a new geolocation offering that allows businesses to track corporate-owned equipment around the world.
The France-based company’s worldwide location services for M2M SIM cards work on any cellular network.
Developed by Orange Labs, the solution does not require any software development nor GPS hardware additions and works both indoors and outdoors.
OBS claims the technology works “in less than a minute” and allows enterprises to determine which country the equipment is in, which carrier network it is connected to and display the exact latitude and longitude of its location on a map.
It can also identify specific devices using the SIM card’s IMEI number and the strength of the network signal in the area.
Amongst the potential applications that OBS gives is real-time feedback from field operations, luggage monitoring and fleet management.
Businesses can choose either a turnkey version that can be accessed from the Orange Business Services M2M web portal, or an API option that’ll be Orange says will be “further integrated in its IT environment.”
The move will help swell the number of global M2M connections. The GSMA has predicted that by the end of 2014, there will be a quarter of a billion M2M SIMs in operation, as the technology moved from trials into the mass market.
The mobile trade body said that connected vehicle was leading the charge in the M2M market, whether it was for insurance purposes, traffic management or in-car connectivity.
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