Which SIM is right for you?
Recognising the differences between a regular smartphone type SIM and one made for IoT/enterprise device’s is a must for any organisation wanting to build efficiencies, have control over their data and manage costs. The differences in functionality and manageability help you to recognise the true value in connectivity for your business, providing you with the security and control that a regular smartphone SIM can’t. For consumer’s, a SIM card only needs to provide access to the internet, whereas for a company who require a SIM card to power their product or service a simple internet connection is only a small element of what they need. Understanding the additional benefits of a business IoT SIM card can be the difference between success or failure.
Control, Transparency and Security
Perhaps the single biggest advantage of a business IoT business SIM over a regular consumer SIM is the control and transparency that it brings. Platforms such as Cisco Jasper (offered by RiteSim) provide companies with a comprehensive interface for things like network status, diagnostics reports, the ability to lock a SIM to a device, plus real-time insight into data usage and associated costs. Having all of your connections on a centralised platform not only gives you complete control over your data usage but also the additional security measure of being able to freeze or stop a SIM connection instantly should a device be misplaced or stolen.
This Network Operator level of visibility and control through Cisco Jasper is only available using IoT SIM cards and is essential for businesses who need guaranteed ‘always on’ internet connectivity for their products and enables controlled growth.
Flexible Contracts, Costs and Coverage
Regular smartphone SIMs can have lengthy inflexible contracts, are limited to one local network and have additional roaming and rental charges. When you work with an organisation such as RiteSim that offer specific IoT connectivity services, you can tailor your usage and tariff to perfectly fit your companies needs, with the flexibility to change your service month to month as your business needs evolve.
IoT specific SIMs allow your device to connect to multiple networks in every country eliminating blackspots and offering connectivity without boundaries. For organisations that require telemetry capability to track assets across country borders, business IoT SIMs remove the worry of huge additional roaming charges as your goods travel, with your SIM switching seamlessly between networks to ensure you are always connected on a single SIM.
Regular consumer SIMs can be hard to manage at scale and complex to deploy across multiple regions due to insufficient single Network coverage and limited control. Business IoT SIMs however, are the complete opposite, with every aspect of the tariff and supporting services tailored to your business.
Reliability
Consumer smartphones and mobile devices are created with the consumer/user experience in mind. Apple for example, spent millions on perfecting their user experience. Consumer devices and SIMs are created for optimum loading and downloading speeds, constantly striving to improve the overall speed and experience.
Business SIMs with IoT connections are designed with a different feature – reliability. IoT is about ensuring that all your devices can talk to each other, that you have complete control of your connections and more importantly you are always connected. A critical service for companies that need to ensure that they have suitable connectivity for their business continuity or overall service. IoT gives you the flexibility to have lower throughput rates, using what you actually need, to ensure that you are always connected.
Access and security IoT gives you the capability to use private static IP addresses that consumer SIMs do not offer. Coupled with a VPN, a device can be accessed remotely from anywhere in the world.
Consumer SIMs don’t have this functionality as they assign dynamic IP addresses to a device once connected, removing the capability for someone to be able to login into the device and make changes.
Do you have the right SIM card?
IoT and consumer SIMs are available in mini, micro and nano sizes making them compatible across almost all devices. IoT SIMs however, come in different forms for more sophisticated use cases such as the MFF2 chip SIM which is smaller and installed directly into a device during the manufacturing process.
Industrial SIM cards for example, can be created using more durable materials, and are primarily used in construction projects. This SIM is a must for machinery operating in extreme hot or cold conditions in harsh environments above or below ground where the device needs to perform unmanned in certain cases for years at a time. For organisations that are brand conscious, IoT SIMs can be overprinted with your company’s logo either single or double sided.
Without a doubt IoT SIMs offer specific services and features that can support organisations in their connectivity. The additional functionality, security, and flexibility can truly reduce costs and provide greater control for organisations who have a need to be globally connected.
Here at RiteSim, we pride ourselves on our flexible and tailored approach, ensuring that you are able to build the connections you need to grow your business.
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