LoJack did what many companies wished they could do: become synonymous with the product they offer. Like Bandaid and Sellotape, LoJack become the way to describe a car that was fitted with a tracking device in the US. That means that LoJack is one of the longest standing telematics companies, as that sort of tracking is part and parcel of what telematics firms offer today. Unfortunately though LoJack was a little late in expanding its business, so it wasn’t until 2013 that it really looked into fleet management as well as basic security monitoring. But it’s not planning to fall behind anymore as LoJack has now announced a partnership with AT&T to offer improved telematic features.
Initially working with TomTom to provide its asset management system, LoJack has now switched over to the American telecoms provider, with hopes that it can provide a more versatile service to its customers.
“As LoJack continues to build on its current portfolio of telematics offerings and our strong history in the automotive industry, we’re excited to collaborate with AT&T to deliver new connected solutions,”said Randy Ortiz, president and CEO of LoJack.
“In an increasingly connected world, both companies can work together to empower businesses with innovative solutions that drive operational efficiency and customer service needs, while also improving driver safety. The safety, security and protection of our customers is paramount to what we do at LoJack, and AT&T’s successful Texting & Driving…It Can Wait campaign is a perfect example of why this collaboration is a natural and compelling fit.”
Neither AT&T or LoJack are particularly forthcoming with what changes the partnership will bring, through they stress that it will allow for them both to offer better solutions to customers for machine to machine communication. They also highlight in the release how better implementation of the internet of things should allow for reduced costs for a lot of businesses and will ultimately lead to “exciting new solutions for customers.”
Regardless of what the two companies can bring existing customers however, no doubt the move to partner up is driven by the fact that the telematics industry is expanding at an exponential rate. By the year 2018, there will be billions of telematics enabled vehicles and assets around the world, and capturing a larger piece of that together is likely to be more financially favourable, than taking on a smaller one alone. AT&T will be able to utilise the LoJack name to expand into new markets that were previously only focused on security and LoJack can benefit from AT&T’s large, connected backbone of technology to trial new services and offer cheaper solutions to customers moving forward.
“We’re leading in machine-to-machine connections in North America because we are committed to providing innovative solutions so an enterprise can achieve those goals,” said Chris Penrose, senior VP for the Internet of Things at AT&T, in the close of the release.
