It’s
a question that service providers want to solve. What would the world be like
without your smart phone beside you for 24 hours? What if instead, your own car
was able to not only communicate with you, but the world around it. Machina Research predicts that there will be
1.8 billion machine-to-machine (M2M) vehicle connections that can do just that.
This will involve 700 million connected cars and 1.1 billion Internet of Things
(IoT) devices that will interpret real-time information and bring them to you.
The platform will provide services such as real-time traffic navigation, Pay As
You Drive (PAYD) insurance, parking services. In fact, the report predicts that
90% of new cars will feature such a platform by 2020, growing from less than
10% today.
Today’s primary decisions in making car purchases are pricing and gas
mileage, without a doubt. However, when the M2M players and service providers
join forces to bring connected cars to end users, they will have to realize the
challenges of bringing M2M to the masses. These challenges include simplifying
the use of technology and creating an experience where they consistently feel
connected to their everyday lives. There will be more to purchasing decisions
than pricing and gas mileage – the means of having voice over LTE (VoLTE), push
notifications, customer self-support, and mobile data will be major players in
the decision. All of the services of the connected car I mentioned have two
important elements: they further connect us to our everyday lives and enhance
the customer experience. This enables us to have our cars become our
smart phones. Just imagine, making payments right from your car, having your car
find the best available parking spots and not having to worry about the
maintenance of your car as there are automatic vehicle system checks, firmware
updates and data management services. What else could you ask for?
