Internet of Things at the push of a button

Deutsche Telekom is showcasing its IoT Service Button at Hannover Messe 2018 – a smart retrofit solution for logistics, manufacturing facilities, workshops, construction sites, and hospitals using the Internet of Things (IoT). Customized functions can be created via the IoT device to suit specific requirements. For example, the button could be used to order spare parts, arrange for full containers to be collected, or to report technical malfunctions. 

Krones AG is successfully using the digital button for logistics. The Bavarian manufacturer of filling and packaging systems for the beverages and foodstuffs industry has equipped 28 collection points with the IoT Service Button. As soon as a requested spare part is ready for the customer, a push of the button on the small IoT device sends a message to the secure Cloud of Things, Deutsche Telekom’s IoT platform. This then automatically sends a text or e-mail message to the logistics department to collect the component. Krones uses the IoT Service Button to send up to 100 logistics messages. This accelerates its logistics processes by minimizing the waiting and idle times between the different value creation levels in its supply chain. 

“The Internet of Things offers businesses many possibilities for digitalizing their machines, systems, and processes. A skilled partner is required to survive in this jungle. Deutsche Telekom’s IoT Service Button offers its customers a simple and practical solution for automatically launching the processes in laboratories, at production lines, at construction sites, in pharmacies, or at automobile workshops at the touch of a button. This avoids unnecessary running around and additional manual processes,” explains Ingo Hofacker, who is responsible for the IoT business in the Deutsche Telekom Group. 

The IoT Service Button is quick and easy to integrate anywhere thanks to its plug & play design, and its stand-alone format makes it independent from the power supply and corporate networks. It is powered by a standard battery and communicates via the mobile network or – where available – Deutsche Telekom’s new machine network based on NarrowBand IoT (NB-IoT) that forms part of 5G. This radio technology is designed to consume very little energy when sending small data packages in the Internet of Things. At the same time, NB-IoT easily penetrates buildings, thus offering reliable coverage even in basements and underground production facilities. 

The IoT Service Button is the first innovation to emerge from Telekom Open IoT Labs, which was set up by Deutsche Telekom and the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics IML in November to create IoT solutions and develop them for market.