14 DAY TRIAL // Sierra Wireless announced that Isochron, a provider of machine-to-machine solutions for the vending industry, has selected Sierra Wireless embedded modules to provide high-speed wireless connectivity for its VendCast integrated vending management solution. In addition, Sierra Wireless' Professional Services team collaborated with Isochron to provide custom software drivers for the machine's operating system. Pilot projects with the new machines are currently underway in Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Phoenix.
"Collaborating with Sierra Wireless has enabled us to provide our customers with a number of key benefits that directly affect their return on investment," said Bryan Godwin, CEO of Isochron. "The real-time monitoring ability provided by the module, for example, offers the potential to significantly reduce labor, transportation, and downtime costs, particularly for a vendor with a number of machines in high-traffic locations."
Isochron vending machines with embedded Sierra Wireless PCI Express Mini Card modules offer customers reliable, real-time, two-way communications with their machines, allowing them to monitor for inventory or service alerts, and enabling them to accept cashless transactions. The ability to remotely access data from the machine increases operational efficiency for the operator, who can better estimate customer demand and dispatch drivers only when a machine needs to be refilled or serviced.
"Integrating high speed broadband with VendCast furthers our ability to provide true interactive communications with the consumer, directly at the point of sale," said Godwin. "With this added capability, communication delivery methods become endless, and involve everything from real time news feeds to streaming video."
"This is a classic example of the value a Sierra Wireless broadband M2M solution can offer," said Dan Schieler, senior vice president of Worldwide Sales for Sierra Wireless. "The ability to access information in real time and use that information to operate more efficiently is what wireless is all about, and we're pleased to work with Isochron to deliver this to their customers."