Hertz signs up for Orange’s IoT connectivity service that will allow centralization and management of its fleets’ SIM cards.
Orange Business Services, the business communications arm of France Telecom, has inked a three-year deal with Hertz to provide the vehicle hire firm with Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity services to support its hourly vehicle rental service.
The telco will provide IoT connectivity across seven European countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, and the UK. The Hertz Hourly 24/7 Hour service is currently available to businesses and partner networks, enabling users to retrieve their car or rental van in a convenient location at any time and for the duration of their choice.
The IoT connectivity provided by Orange Business Services allows customers to have a call service on board the vehicle and thus make direct contact with the Hertz call centre.
Related: Orange partners with Konetik for fleet management solution
Hertz 24/7
Up until now, each country had to call on a local operator to obtain the SIM cards that allow them to connect the vehicles. This new agreement with Orange Business Services enables Hertz to centralize not only the management of SIM cards in its fleets but also the management of the connectivity service with a single global provider of communication services.
The connectivity services deployed for Hertz are sourced from Datavenue, Orange’s modular Data & IoT offering. Datavenue makes it possible to select the appropriate data and objects, connect them reliably and securely and manage them within the company’s information system. The service was first launched in France in 2015 and was made available worldwide in October last year.
“We are constantly evolving as a business to reflect the changing demands of our customers. Our partnership with Orange Business Services is an ideal step for us as we embrace the future and take on new digital technologies that improve customer service,” said Fabrice Genty, senior director, Car Sharing Operations at Hertz.
“IoT technology paves the way for new innovative services in the future. Working with a global player in the industry like Hertz is a great opportunity for us to showcase our global IoT expertise and the reliability of our services. We prioritise an unmatched customer experience, and we’re firm believers in pushing the boundaries of innovation. By working with Hertz, we can do both,” said Anne-Sophie Lotgering, senior vice president, Europe, Russia & CIS at Orange Business Services.
Proliferation
David Markland, senior technologist – critical communications, Sierra Wireless, told Internet of Business that the proliferation of in-vehicle applications, mobile devices, and wearable gadgets are creating a headache for IT teams.
“Each on-board or wearable device requires a fast, reliable wireless connection and, as the number of applications has grown, so too has the number of ways to connect them,” he said.
“One option that IT managers are now deploying is purpose-built, high-performance vehicle networking solutions. There are in-vehicle routers and gateways available that provide enough bandwidth to support multiple, data-intensive applications and devices. They offer features like Gigabit Ethernet and Gigabit Wi-Fi for the Local Area Network (LAN) or Vehicle Area Network (VAN), and LTE-Advanced to support huge volumes of traffic over the cellular network.”
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