Sprint Releases Command Center for Businesses to Control M2M Devices and Services
Sprint has launched its Sprint Command Center, a centralized, secure, self-service portal that offers operators and businesses control over machine-to-machine (M2M) devices and services. The tool offers a comprehensive platform that allows businesses to control provisioning, billing, management, and solution/application development of their own M2M solution.
M2M is about connecting people, devices and systems in new and transforming ways. Devices as diverse as utility meters, signboards, cameras, remote sensors, appliances and consumer devices can be connected to one another over wired or wireless connections, and share data to support a variety of new uses and achieve increased efficiencies.
The command center enables businesses to manage services via Web portal or direct API access, while also leveraging existing enterprise applications to control devices and services. Users can manufacture customizable devices, test connectivity and deploy to the field before generating monthly recurring charges via automatic activation triggers. Business customers can then tailor M2M opportunities for their own operations or for their customers. Companies can add, remove, suspend and un-suspend devices on the fly, view detailed and summary usage records and billing information, and create custom user notifications based on usage thresholds.
Sprint has developed a tightly integrated platform by leveraging technology from leading ecosystem participants into the Sprint billing platform. The benefit to business users and developers is a simplified, easy-to-use, secure application that enables an enterprise to easily manage the growing number of M2M devices without requiring separate charges. The base level of features is included with Sprint’s M2M rate plans. Additional integration, management features and self-service capabilities are also available as needed.
Sprint, along with other companies in the M2M ecosystem, has already brought to market a wide array of solutions that feature a host of devices running on its network – ranging from those that are used widely by many businesses and consumers (such as aircards and monitoring devices) to highly specialized devices and software (such as smart meters, UBI devices and medical apps). ECOtality is already harnessing the value of the Sprint Command Center.
“Our Blink charging stations are rapidly expanding into 18 major cities and metropolitan areas. We are able to leverage the Sprint Command Center to manage the growing number of electric charging stations – including remote activation and upgrades, plus the ability to collect data wirelessly for billing, security and other services,” said Jonathan Read, ECOtality’s CEO.
With powerful features available today, the Sprint Command Center is a robust, self-service management platform for M2M devices and services, enabling businesses to control a single device - or thousands of devices - from Sprint’s secure online portal. Sprint’s Command Center includes a built-in, encrypted VPN security standard, and does not require additional services to achieve a secure connection.