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NEWS ANALYSIS
21-Feb-2012

Connected Coffee Means Business

It’s probably safe to assume coffee is an important part of the day for you and/or your coworkers, and this is true whether you live in New York, Brussels, or anywhere in between. And now, thanks to M2M (machine-to-machine) technology, coffee machines are joining the list of connected devices, making it easier than ever to enjoy a fresh cup of Joe at the office.

According to Rodolphe Frugès, vice president of Internet of Things and M2M at Orange Business Services, www.orange-business.com, the beauty of M2M is its relevance to almost every vertical market out there. By connecting devices and making “dumb” machines “smart” through remote services and provisioning tools, enterprises can optimize costs and efficiencies—and sometimes this includes connecting machines not typically associated with enterprise.

Orange’s most recent partnership announcement involves Nestlé Nespresso S.A., www.nespresso.com, a Swiss provider of “portioned” premium coffee. Nespresso is enhancing its B2B (business-to-business) market play through a new, customizable M2M solution for coffee machines.

Nespresso has announced two new “B2B machine models”—Aguila and Zenius, the first tabletop coffee machines in the company’s lineup to be connected. The new models will feature embedded SIM (subscriber identity module) cards from Orange that will enable two-way communication between the machines and Nespresso’s customer-relationship centers.

Frugès says the No. 1 benefit of turning coffee machines into connected devices is the ability to perform preventative maintenance. Because the machines can be remotely managed and diagnosed, sending automatic alerts to technicians as needed, the quality of service is high for end users—who never have to face the wrath (or underproductivity) of employees missing their caffeine fix.

Plus, with the ability to keep track of usage specific to each machine, end users can be assured their replenishment will be on time and on target. Orange’s contribution to the solution not only includes connectivity, it also provides the tools to help leverage the connectivity, including activating, deactivating, and suspending service as needed.

Also, because these machines need to be able to communicate from a wide range of locations, Orange not only offers global coverage, but has created strong relationships with network operators to provide roaming access where necessary.

The solution relies on the AirLink GL6100 programmable modem by Sierra Wireless, www.sierrawireless.com, to monitor the data and send it to Sierra's AirVantage M2M Cloud Platform using Orange's wireless network. The company says its modem has the durability needed to withstand the vibrations, temperatures, and pressures typical of coffee-machine environments.

For customer-facing enterprises like hotels and restaurants, the ability to maximize machine uptime through remote machine diagnostics and preventative maintenance can be crucial to a company’s bottomline. For other businesses, a smart, M2M-enabled coffee machine is just one more way our world is becoming more convenient and connected.

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