The French telecom operator is set to provide IoT connectivity for the car rental company’s hourly vehicle service.
Orange Business Services won a three-year contract with Hertz to support “internet of things” connectivity services for its hourly vehicle rental service. Under terms of the agreement, Orange will provide the IoT connectivity across seven European countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and the U.K.
The IoT connectivity includes voice services from the vehicles allowing customers to have direct access to the Hertz contact center, with Orange Business Services enabling centralized management of SIM cards and service management. Previously, Hertz operations in each country had to use a local operator to provide SIM cards.
“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,” said Anne-Sophie Lotgering, SVP, Europe, Russia & CIS at Orange Business Services.
The Orange Business Services IoT connectivity service is part of its Datavenue platform, which is described as a a modular IoT and analytics solution launched in October. The platform includes certified and tested connected objects, including sensors, cameras or modules to connect existing assets. It also includes data on population movement using anonymized sources from mobile networks.
The solution also offers both cloud-based and on-premises software solutions, including remote device management, processing and visualization. The company said the platform can help multinational and French corporations capitalize on IoT opportunities.