#m2m device steering

People are increasingly becoming more mobile nowadays, not just locally, but also internationally, meaning, a greater number of people are now moving and crisscrossing various countries for various reasons. Some people simply cross national boundaries because they simply want to travel. Others, however, move from one country to another because they are looking for greener pastures. Hence, the demand for better international roaming systems and plans is even becoming more imperative.

How Did M2M Device Identification Improve Roaming?

The methods of international communications have never been better owing to the development of Machine-to-Machine (M2M) Technology which enables smart machines to readily communicate with other smart machines. M2M technology is now in use in most infrastructures of mobile networks allowing smart phones and mobile subscribers to readily connect to another network when they are out of the geographical areas of their home networks. M2M technology basically works hand in hand with Internet of Things (IoT) Technology.

With the use of M2M and IoT technologies, a smart phone can readily allow the transmitter and database of the visited network to identify its SIM and code name. At this point, it would be a good thing to note that each smart machine or phone that is manufactured has its own identifying code or name, making each smart phone and machine readily and uniquely identifiable from other smart machines. The accessing of the visited network is made possible because the smart machines of the visited network can readily identify this code.

The roaming mobile SIM or phone would then send a signal to the visited network asking permission to access and utilize the infrastructures and the services of the visited network. In turn, the visited network will send the home network a message informing the home network that one of its subscribers would want to utilize the existing infrastructure and services of the visited network. Tariff charges will then be imposed by the visited networks on the subscriber, and these charges will appear on the next billing cycle of the subscriber. The seamless international calls and connections that you have therefore is partly due to M2M and IoT technologies.

Some telecommunication companies are just recently incorporating M2M technology into their telecommunication infrastructures. The initial costs of upgrading the existing infrastructures of a network to incorporate M2M technology would be a bit expensive. However, the seamless integration of M2M technology into the existing infrastructures of a telecommunication network would surely greatly leverage and enhance the services of a network in the long run.  

Problems with Misdialed Roaming Calls

When using a roaming service, the most troublesome problem that a subscriber would encounter is that of misdialed calls. The main reason why there are misdialed calls is due to the lack of facility of most subscribers in using dialing codes. Misdialed calls however often may cause a subscriber additional minutes to their month bills. Another problem encountered by most roaming subscribers is that of answering unknown calls. With the use, however, of CLI delivery, and inbound ICA, subscribers can readily avoid answering unwanted calls.

The world is fast becoming a “global village” wherein people of different countries just cross boundaries and countries with ease as if they are just traveling locally to one of the cities of their countries. This globalization process is brought about by fast communications and transportation. The technological advancements in communication, for example, has brought about new behavior and new needs in communication. One such need is the need to stay connected internationally using mobile phones if you are outside of your network coverage area.

The M2M Technology and How it Improves Communication? Communications, both international and locally, have never been that better than before. In the previous decades, it would definitely be very difficult to contact persons overseas. Nowadays, the ease and quickness of contacting anybody abroad is very much apparent, thanks to the M2M technology that is at use in most communications nowadays.

But what is M2M technology? M2M technology means Machine to Machine technology. This means that that there is a growing network of machines that are capable of communicating with other smart machines. You may be asking how this was made possible. The simple explanation to this is that more and more machines nowadays are equipped with powerful microprocessors that can process data at tremendous speed. Moreover, these machines have powerful sensors that can readily sense if there are smart devices around. The smart phones that you are holding are examples of these smart machines that are capable of ready communications.

To understand further how M2M technology is wrought, it is important to understand that those who manufacture smart devices and machines usually assign a unique name or code to every smart machine that they manufacture, and to access any of this device, they usually make use of this code or name to complete the access. A signal is usually sent via the network asking for application to the server or service. Thus, in case, your smart device will lose connection to your network transmission lines because you have gone out of the coverage area of your network, your device will automatically try to find any available network provider’s signal, and thus, if your device will find one, you can definitely stay connected despite being out of your network coverage area. This is also the reason why mobile phone providers are able to provide you with an international roaming service—because your smart phone has its own code or name that is readily recognized by another network provider. M2M device awareness therefore is the technology that makes possible seamless international connections using your smart phone. However, there is one caveat concomitant with M2M technology, and this caveat concerns M2M billing. Sometimes you will really get the shock of your life with your roaming bills if you don’t understand the intricacies of roaming packages.

The development of technologies is sometimes quite difficult to predict; however, some people who are gifted with prescience seem to understand pretty well where technological developments are heading to, and which technological advancements will happen in the next decade. Bill Gates, for example, on the 3rd of January, 1996, audaciously wrote a succinct essay entitled "Content of King.” This essay contained several bold predictions, some of which have already been fulfilled. One of the predictions of Bill Gates in that essay was that of onset of wireless devices that would keep each person in touch with each other, and would allow a person to engage in electronic business anytime and anywhere. This prediction is already partly realized nowadays, with billions of people owning smart devices that allow them to communicate and do electronic business anywhere and anytime.

With the onset of the World Wide Web, almost every industry around the world has been greatly revolutionized by the internet. Afterwards, there seemed to be no letup in the feverish technological advancements. With the introduction of the open-source platforms, the software explosions came afterwards. Likewise, the cloud technology soon followed, and now there are the M2M and the IoT network technologies.  

It is indeed very common nowadays to see people walking with their smart devices in their hands. Yet, mobile devices are not only the end results of these feverish technological advancements. With the development of powerful microprocessors and M2M device identification, even simple machines such as those of refrigerators or washing machines can now become smart machines. M2M device steering likewise are now leveraging the operations of many companies of different industries. In the field of telecommunications, for example, the application of M2M technology is greatly enhancing and upgrading the services provided by telecom service providers.

How M2M and IoT are revolutionizing the Telecommunications Industry?

It is a common idea that some of the most sophisticated technologies were first used by telecom industries. For this reason, the telecom industries are very proud of their sophisticated technologies, and are quite adamant to espouse advanced technologies from other sources. Hence, when the M2M and IoT technologies first started to be commercialized, the different telecom companies seem to be a bit hesitant to utilize these technologies. Self-satisfied with their existing technologies—that had proven so many times in the past to be reliable—these companies tend to dilly-dally with the adaptation of these newer technologies.

The adaptation of IoT and M2M by telecom industries may not be happening as fast as it should be, for the IoT and M2M technologies are still in their incipient stages. However, it is expected that by 2020, there will be more than 20 billion IoT devices in use around the world, and the number of these devices will continue to increase in the succeeding years. It is therefore right to say that these two types of technologies will surely be very difficult to ignore in the years to come. The sooner a company adapts and incorporates these technologies into its systems, the better the prospect of success and expansion for a company in the years to come.    

It is said that knowledge is power, and the deeper and keener your understanding of a particular subject matter or aspect of life, the more you would be capable of having a perfect control on that subject matter or aspect of life. However, there are aspects of life that are hard to understand, especially, if you haven’t had any experience on those aspects of life. Hence, you would often need to have a first-hand experience of those aspects, before you can fully understand them. The concept, for example, M2M device identification is an alien concept to those who are uninitiated to the intricacies of this Internet of Things (IoT). It will be better, therefore, to get a first-hand experience of how machine-to-machine identification happens to fully grasp the implication of what M2M is all about.    

What is M2M?

At first glance at the acronym “M2M,” you may say that it may refer to the famous female duo from Norway who popularized several good songs in the 90s. Yet, upon close scrutiny, you would readily recognize that it does not refer to the duo, but to “machine to machine” connectivity. M2M signifies a direct communication between two devices. This direct communication is made possible via a communication channel such as wires, cables, or even wireless connection. M2M allows for greater and more enhanced communication among different devices. Hence, machine-to-machine intelligence has been applied and utilized by communication companies to further upgrade and improve their services to their subscribers.

This M2M technology has many applications and benefits, and some of these benefits are:

· First, it improves wireless networks' efficiency and production in the different aspects of their operations. Using this technology, networks are able to streamline their products for better consumption of their consumers.

· M2M, in the realm of medicine has been very useful. It allows physicians to efficiently monitor their patients by having them wear devices with M2M technology.

· Moreover, this technology also improved the monitoring system of wireless networks. Its application on utility meters, for example, allows for improved monitoring.

· Third, in the field of advertising, digital billboards are easily updated using this technology.  

M2M, as the automated communication between devices, is the technical foundation of the Internet of Things (IoT). Networking companies such as those that focus on mobile networks are greatly enhanced by the application of M2M technology. Mobile devices, for example, are outfitted with microchips which would enable these devices to readily roam and find new networks when they are out of range from their networks. Equipped with M2M SIM, for example, your mobile phone will be greatly enhanced, and you will surely experience excellent data transfer and SMS communication even if you are out of your network’s range. You can likewise deactivate and activate this SIM anywhere you are located in the world.

The technology of Internet of Things and M2M is expected to mature and become predominant in the coming years. In the succeeding years likewise, there will be more and more machines that will be connected such as connected cars. Lastly, M2M is expected to leverage many forms of businesses, allowing these businesses to generate more revenues, especially, in the aspect of connectivity, communication, and networking.

Now operators can easily launch their salable packages, which are most easily monitored and tailor made packages of M2M device identification system, which are more powerful and effective in the latest technology. There are some companies, which have launched the HD-Iot M2M device identification and awareness, which can optimize the call and provide real call time charges to the operators and their customers.

 Utilizations of M2M device identifications:

 · M2M awareness system can optimize the users plan and roaming service. They can stream the international roaming network between IT services. They can also optimize this awareness in their inter-departmental system. As a result, operators will gain much revenue, and they can decrease the loss margin in their roaming networking.

· This M2M/Iot system can minimize the roaming networking cost and manage the traffic signals of the networks. It is very difficult to access the home networks during the roaming mode, and you can reach the highest network traffic by this system and operators can easily manage their new connectivity and networking models.

· This system can generate the accurate revenue volume through the IOT system, which is very effective, and operators can easily gain some new revenues through their value added services. Customers need to pay the exact amount for their own value added services, and they can save their overall cost and bill amount.

 Increasing revenue per unit through M2M device identification and awareness:

 Now M2M awareness can enable calculating system of call duration on per unit basis, and operators can easily calculate every unit and generate revenue within this network. Apart from that, this plan mainly decreases the loss of networking, and they can also provide comprehensive solutions for data financial clearance and create unique business intelligence network system.

· This is a steering program, which decreases and can calculate the inter-connected network system.

· Your devices cannot become frozen in any networking coverage and you can use the network without any disturbance. Along with that, operators shall get the real time revenue from this system.

· It can remove all traffic disturbances and does not use high cost sharing networking system. It can only allow steering network, which can give some profits to the operator, and which removes all interruptions for the subscribers.

Machina Research recently estimated that there are approximately 350 million cellular-based connections being made worldwide, and this number is expected to more than triple over the next five years. What may be even better news for mobile network operators is that the proportion of M2M connections which are the result of roaming are growing even faster.

“Permanent Roaming” Necessary For Multinational Customers

Customers have their options when it comes to tapping into a mobile network when travelling abroad, but the majority of users still want to stick with roaming.  The majority of customers, however, want to deal with one single provider. Dealing with one single provider rather than two or more makes billing simpler, makes contacting customer support easier, and it goes a long way in terms of relationship management.

Another benefit is that permanent roaming allows M2M devices to obtain better quality and more consistent coverage.  This is something they could not do if they were to use a local SIM.

Drawing Customers To The Right Network

The growth in traffic is good news for all network operators, but there are some pitfalls which networks are often unaware of. One is that roaming M2M devices come with different humans who may have different usage needs.  For example, some may use large quantities of data while others may only send and receive very little.  Others still may rely heavily on “free” signalling resources from the visited network.

Roaming M2M devices are also more difficult for home operators to “steer” or redirect to a preferred network provider. Sometimes it is because the contract between a customer and its provider prevents roaming M2M device steering.  In other situations it may be because the devices does not comply with GSMA steering recommendations like handsets do.

The good news is that there are cutting edge companies in the M2M steering space which have created tools which allow your network to address your customers' demand for more effective roaming.  The best tools on the market today can the customized so that operators can change the steering type to specific enterprise customers and to specific devices.  Many also allow networks to charge customers additional fees for using a non-preferred network.

The Benefits Of A Device-Oriented Steering Solution

These solutions help networks protect their margins and increase their revenue.  Customers are happy because they can continue to operate without interruption which bolsters a network's reputation.  A network can increase revenue by optimizing device traffic and deterring high cost and low revenue devices. Some solutions are even able to optimize inter-network costs.

Another benefit is that these solutions give networks greater visibility so that they are able to steer incoming devices in the outbound direction and they can then optimize their network's M2M cost base. The most sophisticated solutions allow a network to apply steering types and behaviours to specific device types and user needs.  Finally, these solutions allow for seamless bilateral cooperation between both roaming and all M2M business stakeholders.