According to a recent announcement, KONE Americas has chosen AT&T (News - Alert) as an Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity and service management provider for the KONE 24/7 Connected Services, which are designed to enable monitoring and analysis of real-time data from elevators and escalators.
The companies are making thousands of elevators and escalators smarter across the U.S., Canada and Mexico using Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity that will help improve the safety, equipment uptime and predictability for maintenance services.
“Reliable connectivity is an essential element for powering KONE 24/7 Connected Services and for driving our smart buildings strategy. Our solution enables real-time data to predict, maintain and act before a breakdown occurs, creating a better customer experience. With AT&T, we can easily implement and scale KONE 24/7 Connected Services for our elevators and escalators and those we service across North America,” said Larry Wash, EVP, KONE Americas.
KONE 24/7 Connected Services brings intelligent maintenance services to elevators and escalators. KONE monitors parameters such as speed, weight, vibration, temperature, frequency of use and much more. The solution uses AT&T IoT connectivity and service management to transmit real-time data about the condition of elevators and escalators to IBM (News - Alert) Cloud. Using IBM Watson IoT Platform means the data can be analyzed using cognitive learning to help identify and predict faults before they happen. All of this is facilitated to keep equipment up and running, and to improve people flow.
Building owners and facilities managers use an online dashboard to track the operation of their equipment. KONE technicians automatically receive alerts when equipment has an issue or is not performing to standards, so they can perform proactive, even predictive, maintenance.
“Escalators and elevators are often something that we take for granted – until they aren't working. As they transport millions of passengers each day, just one broken-down elevator can cause bottlenecks in buildings, which can be frustrating and inconvenient,” said Chris Penrose, President, IoT Solutions, AT&T. “KONE is showing how a manufacturing and services company can use IoT solutions to help put customers first and improve insights into the condition of elevators and escalators.”
AT&T shares a long-standing business relationship with KONE. AT&T provides several global edge-to-edge solutions to KONE, including mobile, wireline, managed network services, AT&T NetBond for Cloud, and traditional voice and data services.