Device Testing: Don’t Deploy in the Dark

Sending out a fleet of devices can feel like a significant risk, whether it’s your organization’s first or 50th time. A lot of backend work is required to make sure that the devices connect once they reach their destination, particularly if the device is connecting to a local network outside of your home base – for example, Canadian devices connecting in Europe. This is difficult, and the aforementioned risk is compounded if devices are sent to areas where connectivity can be challenging, such as Brazil or Africa. 

If an enterprise is leveraging new devices or entering into new regions, again, there is risk. The costs and delays – as well as potential damage to customer relationships or failure during Proof of Concept – associated with devices not connecting as they should, are certainly not ideal. 

Customers have approached floLIVE with concerns about sending devices out into the field and not knowing with the utmost certainty that they will connect. floLIVE patterns its success off of our customers – it is the foundation of our business model – so we have implemented a failsafe process so you are not deploying devices in the dark. 

Device Testing Before Deployment

At floLIVE, we test the devices before deployment in a controlled environment to understand that they will correctly connect to the network in their unique configurations and meet the requirements of the application. 

Many IoT devices are deployed outside of an organization’s home region. Let’s say that even a small example, an organization has an IoT solution that it is selling in all of England. This might be a smaller country but it has a lot of mobile network operators (MNOs) to choose from – EE, O2, Vodafone, and so on. This enterprise in the example, wants to serve the entire country but must equip the device with a SIM card that can support more than one MNO. This might be a Multi-IMSI, an eUICC, or an eUICC with a Multi-IMSI profile. 

The device will deploy without being connected to a network and then either switch to the local network through remote provisioning or have a bootstrap profile to connect once it arrives. 

Autonomous switching is also another connectivity feature that users need to know is working properly with their devices. This allows a device to connect to the best available network, which is a challenge in large geographic areas with coverage gaps, such as Africa. 

With autonomous switching, when the device modem detects a no-coverage area by the current network it’s connected to, the modem will be instructed via autonomous switching to scan the area and connect to another pre-loaded operator profile. This requires no intervention on the enterprise or end user’s part, which makes it quite an attractive feature. 

floLIVE tests complex conditions like landing from one country to another and checking if the relevant pre-defined profile will be selected autonomously and choosing the preferred operator. floLIVE can also simulate when connectivity is lost to show how the device behaves and ensure the SIM applet can switch to the next available profile. 

Device Testing with floLIVE

The complexity in SIM behavior has certainly made global connectivity much more accessible, but it does create razor-thin margins for ensuring that devices properly connect with no issue. 

At floLIVE, our business is modeled so that our customer’s success is our success. We are not in the business of selling SIM cards and then hoping for the best – we are going to ensure that your devices are supporting your solutions, anywhere in the world. 

It’s why we offer our device testing lab, where we simulate conditions in a controlled environment to know how the device will react and that it will properly connect to the network. 

It’s fast, easy, and gives the peace of mind that solutions will work as they should. Want to learn more about this service? Reach out to start the conversation.