Podcasts
30 October 2024
IoT Leaders with Mirella Ishida Cruz, Head Franchisee Relationship Analyst at Link Monitoramento and Ana Carolina Bussab, Managing Director at Eseye Brazil
How do you track 40,000 vehicles across Brazil’s patchy mobile networks without losing connection?
In the 48th episode of IoT Leaders, Mirella Ishida Cruz, Head Franchisee Relationship Analyst at Link Monitoramento joins Ana Carolina Bussab, Managing Director at Eseye Brazil to discuss:
Tune in to this special Portuguese episode to learn how IoT is transforming vehicle tracking and improving business operations across the board in Brazil.
Join us on the IoT Leaders Podcast and share your stories about IoT, digital transformation and innovation with host, Nick Earle.
Contact usAna Carolina Bussab
Hello and welcome to IoT Leaders. I am Ana Carolina Bussab, the Managing Director of Eseye Brazil. I’m today subbing in for Nick and I’m very happy and excited about the opportunity because we’re doing a special episode about Brazil and we invited Mirella from Link Monitoramento to join us today.
Our interview will be in Portuguese but there will be English subtitles on the YouTube video of this interview. So please join us and I hope you like to hear about Tracking mobile in Brazil and IoT in Brazil. It’s very exciting and I’m happy to have you Mirella, and I’ll now start speaking in Portuguese.
Well, let’s go. Well, to begin with, I wanted you to tell me a little about Link Monitoramento, right? Link Monitoramento has been on the market for 15 years.
And it has a very positive market share, not only in the vehicle tracking market but also in the entire IoT market, right? You have the profile of entrepreneurs, with a desire to follow the market. We think this is wonderful. And then I’ll pass the word to you. Tell me a little about the history of link
Why Eseye’s connectivity and how Eseye was chosen as a partner for Link Monitoramento and how we contribute to this market?
Mirella Ishida Cruz
So, first Ana, thank you for this opportunity. Eseye has proven to be a great partner of ours here. Link was born with a different concept. We have been in Brazil’s market for 15 years.
We are the only company that works with tracking and monitoring in the franchise format. This is what brings our customers very close to our franchises. We can then provide much more personalized service, much more agile in terms of solutions for what they are looking for and the development of specific products. So, this has generated loyalty among our customers.
The format of Link business regarding Eseye as a partner and may I say a great partner, Eseye came to solve some problems that we have in Brazil, Brazil is a huge continental country where the coverage in mobile data is not as good as in other places, like in Europe or even in the United States. When our tracking device is experiencing a signal outage from an operator, it disrupts our work and the delivery of our service. However, Eseye brought us a solution where we can migrate from one operator to another.
So, it’s as if Eseye in Brazil today, not as if, Eseye Brazil has partnerships with three of the largest operators and allows us to connect using 2G or 4G. So, in the past, I would have a tracker with a single carrier option. What if there is no signal where the device is? Sometimes on a road, it’s very far inland.
I would be left with nothing; I could only have the signal when this coverage returns. Full stop after signal. So I end up with a single solution and 6 possibilities of operation at the same time. For our customers this is a huge gain. It also brings financial gain too.
Today I have a reduction in the value of this SIM card that is inside each our devices. So, this also increases the profit margin of our franchises.
Ana Carolina Bussab
This is nice and there was a process there, right? Rigorous for choosing Eseye.
Right? You did a series of tests, and tell me a little bit about how they happened, these tests? What was the coverage area of these tests? What was your perception regarding Eseye’s solution in field, in practice?
Mirella Ishida Cruz
As we work on the franchise format, everything we deliver to our franchises, we need to have tests, they have to be approved, measured, it’s not just “I found this solution on the market, let’s bring it here, implement it and release it on the street” No. So, we did several tests, we did some reconciliations, the integration between Eseye and our platform.
We simulated several scenarios to see if what Eseye was really promising us would be delivered. And then after this series of tests, Eseye passed, with flying colours. And we started our partnership for our entire base, for our entire network. So today we are doing this implementation, we already have 10% of ours. Base with Eseye. And we have been exchanging this with our franchisees. They are migrating to Eseye as the operations are happening.
Ana Carolina Bussab
Nice! We were also very happy!
Because we used these tests, as we talked, shared information and results. And we used these tests to update the information we share. Today in Brazil, in the market, we use information about resilience, about network redundancy about connectivity time above 95%.
And Link Monitoramento’s tests showed that they were extremely important and helped us a lot, because you have a very large national coverage. You weren’t restricted to a single area. They helped us to start to publicize a little more strongly.
The real number we see is over 99.6% connectivity. So it’s something we’re very grateful for. Link Monitoramento’s collaboration was very important in this regard. You talked a little about 10% of the base today. Tell me a little about your base today? What are the numbers you have and what is the growth, what is the potential that with this help from Eseye, do you foresee?
Mirella Ishida Cruz
So, Ana, today we have around 40,000 vehicles in the base. And because Brazil is a continental country it has a large part of the fleet is highway, so we have a lot of market to grow, there is still a lot of potential for us to be able to do this, which is what we foresee in the future. But we do not work solely and exclusively with the tracker effectively only for vehicles, right? We also have some other fronts, some other actuators, other sensors that in addition to working in the market.
But what you said about Eseye’s coverage is a partnership and one that worked out well, with the link with Eseye, where tests were done so that we could now increase our share here in the market. Exceptional! And we are eager to increase this share, to conquer more of the market.
Ana Carolina Bussab
I wanted you to tell me because this is a reality that is very present in Brazil, some changes that we’re seeing in the tracking market, which are video monitoring. The usage of cameras in the tracking market, tell me what your experience with the cameras is like. What are these images used for? How does this work? Tell our listeners about it.
Why is the camera so important in Brazil? And how is Link’s experience with this change? We’ve been adapting and we were already seeing many other things before they started happening, right? So, we’ve been developing this.
Mirella Ishida Cruz
When the market abroad started to see the real need for these products, we were already prepared. So today, we use cameras in two ways, so we have them focused on what would be the driver fatigue sensor. So, we have this range, this huge Brazilian highway. Drivers drive for hours and hours and hours. We have the fatigue sensor that can identify.
If the driver is tired, if he opened his mouth, if he is using the phone while he is driving, if there is something that is not within the scope of what he should have done, this fatigue sensor takes a photo of the driver, this is sent to the manager of that operation, and it also stays in the database so they can compare this information later.
What does this bring to the company? From the moment the driver also knows that he is being monitored, it is not just the vehicle, they drive a little more within the line of what must be within the company’s philosophy. And we also have the counterpart of being able to have this in favor of the driver, when he will say, but I didn’t do it, it wasn’t like that. So, we are ready, we already have this product to be delivered. In addition, we have another product called DMS.
It serves as an actuator in cases of collision prevention. Some vehicles activate the break when a sensor wants to prevent a possible collision. So, the tracker works together with these 2 camera options, because both DMS and fatigue sensor are actuators that are used through the camera.
Ana Carolina Bussab
Wow, yeah. It is very complex, right? It is a very wide range and possibilities. There is an example that I really like. As partners we attend to several events, together and in one of them they showed exactly this about one of those cameras. Not from the fatigue sensor, but I think from the DMS.
They showed an event where there was an accident and there was no way to identify what had happened, that typical thing, right? One blaming the other.
Each driver tells their version of the story. It would never be clear but the images from the camera showed what really happened. I don’t know if you can open it up for us, but if you can, in terms of numbers, how is it going? The request for these cameras?
I imagine there’s a different cost. We know from our side too, because there’s a higher data consumption, so there’s a higher cost, right? From your side too. And how is the market doing in relation to this? How is it bringing this to the base? Because I understand that.
This applies to fleet cargo vehicles for personal use?
Mirella Ishida Cruz
Yes, so, everything is a change, right? It requires a certain amount of time to mature. And I see that this brings a gain in results for the company, you can then enter the market. So today it is more of a prospecting job for us to be able to implement this, right? Offering this, this, this new tool that we have, then the opposite way. But we also feel that there are already companies that are already seeing it, the gain this can bring.
It is because it is not just the gain in safety, right? And there is the gain in safety both in the operation, in the life process of whoever is working there, whether the driver or a passenger transport fleet company and other things. And then there is also the financial gain at the end of the operation. This change is already happening. We already have a demand for this product in the market.
Ana Carolina Bussab
I thought it was interesting that you mentioned passenger transport, And Brazil being a continental country that opens up another market, the insurance companies. These companies soon will require the camera. Because it’s a safety issue and a very, very, very big one. As you said Brazil is a continental country and as our road network is very extensive, there is a cost issue with air tickets, so passenger transportation is a huge market.
I think that, speaking in numbers, 90% of the population travels by road, right? They don’t travel by air. So that’s a market to explore.
Mirella Ishida Cruz
The market is very large in this segment, and the market is huge, but it’s what you said, it’s not just for fleets, only if you think about the truck driver who is transporting something, right?
A commodity is a cargo vehicle. There’s this other side that’s very important, which is passenger transportation, whether it’s for tourism or work, right, because many companies still have to collect passengers, right, to take them to the company.
Yes, you have school passenger transportation, it’s the range, it’s very large.
Ana Carolina Bussab
I confess that it’s a market that I had no visibility about it you’re the one who opened my eyes to this really important market. And speaking of it but going back a little bit to the part of that we see even more present in Brazil. Speaking of tracking, I know that Link Monitoring is not limited to tracking. There are some really interesting operations that I really like in Link Monitoring, such as Linkfarma. Tell me a little about these other operations, and the other uses besides tracking. What are the other operations that you use?
Mirella Ishida Cruz
We use Eseye connectivity with Linkfarma, as you mentioned as an example. What is this service that we offer at Linkfarma? Today, we have, a company that does laboratory tests and it needs to transport the material that was collected. You went there, did a blood test and this material has to go to the laboratory to be performed the tests that the doctor requested.
This material cannot be damaged. It cannot be transported at an inadequate temperature; it cannot be in an inadequate humidity. It even needs to be processed. So Linkfarma. It is a device that is placed inside the vehicle that will do the transportation, where it will measure.
The ideal temperature, if it is within the ideal humidity and if it has suffered any impact from light that it should not have. as some material also have sensitivity in this sense. Then the tracker communicates with our actuator, our Linkfarma sensor and sends all the information to be able to monitor this material.
Ana Carolina Bussab
Well, so if you lose connectivity for 3 minutes, let’s not talk about a long time, you were offline for 3 minutes, but in those 3 minutes, for whatever reason, the door was opened and it wasn’t supposed to be opened light came in, the temperature changed and you lost this data. So, it’s extremely important!
Mirella Ishida Cruz
Well, you talked a little bit earlier about it. Sometimes we are, It’s not tracking, but monitoring fifes.
Ana Carolina Bussab
Right? We’re talking about the safety of the driver. We’re talking about the safety of the accuracy of this test, that there was no external factor that influenced the material being transported to undergo some change. We see more and more, that good connectivity is important in the world we live in, it’s essential. Is that so? Yeah, I even found it funny. The other day I received a WhatsApp message, in one of those groups, right? That talks about connectivity, about telecom, a pyramid of Marslow, but it was updated at the base, there was battery and internet, because it became a priority, right? When we’re not connected when we don’t even have a battery to be connected. We’re out of the world these days, right?
Mirella Ishida Cruz
No, you don’t do anything anymore, right? So, this connectivity that we offer, that we have, that we can take to the client, in addition to it being in real-time, which is very important, you can monitor an operation in real-time. It’s also in the palm of your hand. So today, with this change that we’ve had in work formats.
In most cases the team is not in the same place. When you have the information, it can be collected in real time, in different formats, in different locations. Having it in your manager’s hands makes all the difference for you to make a decision, for you to act on something that needs to be done at that exact moment. So, there’s no way to be without internet, to be without coverage is impossible. Nowadays, it’s not possible.
So Eseye really comes to fill a very important gap in our operations.
Ana Carolina Bussab
That’s great. I’m very happy to hear that. And Mirella tell me something, from now on, since we talked a little bit about the growth of the market. Let’s speak about a very present topic, a topic that is very trendy here in Brazil, which is artificial intelligence. What does Link have to tell us about future operations, news, projects, ideas maybe a project you’re betting on? Is there anything you can tell us?
Mirella Ishida Cruz
Yes. We have several things, right? But, one thing I could tell you today: as you know our operation involves some points, I wouldn’t say manuals, but some processes, right? That we’re reformulating until the end of the year. At the end of the year, we’re going to deliver a new product.
That will make our franchisee’s operation easier. So today, for those who don’t work in the tracking market, I have the tracker, I have the mobile operator to give me connectivity and I have Link Monitoramento`s system, which makes all of this work. The franchisee will receive this, this and this, and he has to put all three things together in the same place.
So, this takes time, it requires a larger team of collaborators, it requires several things in our process. By the end of the year, we have a new process to be delivered, where we have made a partnership between Eseye, our largest device supplier, Suntech and from this partnership resulted that our franchisee will receive the whole process done and ready. He will choose the tracking device he needs to use that will come with the Eseye SIM card, installed and configured, ready to use. He will receive it at his franchise.
So, we eliminate a step in the operation for our franchise, bringing economies of scale, and savings in time and revenue. This is one of our new features.
Ana Carolina Bussab
Yes, and that’s a big move, right? From you and from all of us! I can’t tell the number of errors, difficulties, and support tickets that we receive and suddenly it’s a wrong APN configuration, or a wrong SIM card installation. Simple things that can happen and for as a network, as a connectivity provider, it’s very difficult to see. We send a test for the SIM card and sometimes the SIM card responds “Hey, ok, I’m here, I’m working, I’m working, everything’s fine” and sometimes we don’t receive anything back and then we have to check the basics like, Is the SIM card installed correctly? Is the SIM card with the correct configuration?”
This is really going to bring us all together, right? Because when this happens, it affects everyone. First, I think it comes to us, then we talk to you and then you talk to Suntech. Then the three of us are at the table, like, but gosh, didn’t you know what’s going on until now? We actually have a case in question from Link Monitoramento, which brought the three of us together and…
So, we managed to try to find out what’s happening, why there’s a failure? Where is the failure? We haven’t been able to find out about this specific case yet, but we’ll be able to. So, it’s about as you said, taking this process and putting this process in the hands of the manufacturer of the device, right, which is a device approved by Eseye.
It’s a device that we constantly talk about with Suntech which is one of Eseye’s great partners. We’re constantly talking about the devices. We are updating the information, yes, it is a huge gain.
You mentioned financial gain for the client, For the franchisee, but it is also for us. For us, it is for Eseye, Suntech, for Link Monitoramento. We can dedicate our efforts to developing new projects, developing new calculations, going deeper, bringing news for the market and…
I talked a little bit about artificial intelligence before. I wanted you to give me Link’s general impression; what do you think is coming up with this growth in the use of artificial intelligence? Do you think it will bring another change to the tracking market?
Mirella Ishida Cruz
That is for sure, for sure. What we just have to separate, I believe, is that when we talk about artificial intelligence, sometimes we think of everything. It will be done alone, without human intervention. But artificial intelligence can be applied in many ways. So, for trackers, it’s also for monitoring, for fleet tracking.
It has to be an intelligence, where we can incorporate many other things, other options, and other gains. We shouldn’t just think of artificial intelligence as an exchange. So, the market is moving, many other actuators are being developed, already thinking about, already using some tools of this artificial intelligence, but until this is available to the market it will still be a long time, not very long, kind of short.
Ana Carolina Bussab
But soon, there will be some new features coming, and today everything is changing very quickly, right, Mirella? What we’re talking about here is that in a year’s time this subject will be obsolete, it will soon become old news in the world of technology. It evolves constantly and this is a characteristic that I really admire about Link Monitoramento, because you are always up to date with everything that is happening. You are always connected to what the market is asking for, to what is happening abroad that will bring it here. So it is extremely. It is fantastic to follow Link Monitoramento in this short time, that we have been together, I think a little over a year.
Following this growth has been very rewarding.
Mirella Ishida Cruz
Excuse me, we are able to do this movement precisely because we are very close to the customer. So, as a franchise, it is very close to the customer and our technology team.
It is very in tune, it talks a lot with the franchises, and we are able to have this more cutting-edge vision, to be one step ahead, already developing to be able to deliver. And of course, we also have this vision in function, right? Our CEO and CFO who has been head for a few years now.
Ana Carolina Bussab
Yes, and one of them you have to manage hard, right? It is part of it, right?
Mirella Ishida Cruz
Yes.
Ana Carolina Bussab
But it’s really cool. Look, I’m really happy with our interview, this chat, right, which didn’t even seem like an interview, it was a really nice chat. Yeah, once again I want to thank you immensely for accepting this invitation. I thank you, the listeners, the audience of IoT Leaders for listening to this podcast because there are a lot of cool things we talked about. It was really interesting. Yeah. I’m really happy to bring a little bit of Brazil for our podcast to talk a little bit about IoT in Brazil how we’re developing, and how we’re growing.
And link monitoring is really important. I think that in the national market in relation to this, that’s it, thank you very much, okay? You can always count on us and we’ll grow and we’ll bring many new projects, many new things for our listening clients, franchisees. I think that together we have a great future ahead of us.
Mirella Ishida Cruz
Oh, thank you, Ana. Thank you Eseye for the opportunity to tell us a little about what Link does, to really show our great Brazil, where Eseye comes from, and this partnership we have will certainly continue for many years to come, new projects, everyone with their heads in the right place.
Ana Carolina Bussab
Oh, for a few years to come, thank you, it’s true, I’m the one who appreciates it. So thank you everybody for joining us for this special edition from Brazil with Link Monitoramento and Mirella Ishida. Thank you very much.
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