Vodafone connects families and businesses with new Internet of Things range

Vodafone is expanding its V by Vodafone range with two new wearables and a smart home kit, IoT products designed to make smart living a reality for families.

• V by Vodafone range expands with new wearables and a smart home kit

• Simple to use and priced to make smart lives a reality for the average family

• Vodafone’s expertise in Internet of Things (IoT) helps businesses create new digital buildings

Vodafone is expanding its V by Vodafone range with two new wearables and a smart home kit. All three products have been designed to make smart living a reality for the average family – with ease of use and value for money being top priorities.

Businesses will benefit too, with two ‘digital building’ solutions. Both utilise Vodafone’s expertise in connectivity and technology to help businesses ensure space, resources and costs are optimised.

Nick Jeffery, Vodafone UK Chief Executive, said: “Our aim is to help families create a smart home simply and without too much expense. Many families would like a smart home, but worry that it would be too complicated or expensive. It doesn’t have to be that way. Our V by Vodafone products are designed to plug in simply and work via one easy to use app. Together with our new wearables, they will help busy families stay connected and give them peace of mind that their loved ones and home are safe.”

Around 14% of consumers in the UK own wearables, such as smart watches, to track their health and fitness. By 2024, wearables are predicted to be the most widely used IoT application in the UK, with approximately 28 million connections.[i]

At the same time, demand for connected home technologies is growing. Currently about a third of UK homes contain three or more connected devices, and that number is projected to reach an average of 8.7 connected devices by 2021. More and more families are turning to smart home systems, including motion sensors and security cameras, to protect their homes – ownership of such devices has doubled to 8% since 2016.[ii]

V-Kids Watch is a smart watch designed for younger children. It has several safety features, including a built-in SOS button to call for help if required. Parents can exchange voice recordings with their children and use geographic coordinates to set ‘Safe Zones’,[iii] places where their children will typically be spending their time, such as their home and school. Parents can also check on their children’s whereabouts with GPS tracking and receive updates if required. Built-in child friendly games help to keep wearers entertained.

V-SOS Band is an easy to use smart bracelet designed for vulnerable family members or those who have mobility issues. The band’s safety features include an SOS button that when pressed sends a notification to family members, along with a timestamp and geographic coordinates. A notification alert is also triggered if the wearer falls down, or if the remaining battery power falls below 15%. The band is waterproof and features a long life rechargeable battery.[iv]

V-Home hosts a range of smart home devices and services designed to help you keep your home safe and secure, even when you’re not there. V-Home includes a security camera, a multi-sensor, an indoor siren and the V-Home Hub, which connects all the devices through one easy to use app. Customers can also add devices such as water leak sensors and smoke sensors. As part of our V-Home service, customer care agents will contact you to ensure that you are aware of any missed alerts – all for much less per month than traditional monitoring services.

Safer, greener buildings

IoT systems can transform buildings such as airports, offices and shopping centres into safer, greener spaces. The number of IoT connections in buildings is forecast to increase from 0.1 million in 2016 to 2.1 million in 2024.[v] To meet this growing demand, we are offering two packages:

Vodafone Building Surveillance enables businesses to monitor multiple sites remotely with a platform that connects to the Cloud. Vodafone Building Surveillance is easy to install and works with the customer’s existing CCTV equipment, making it cost effective to introduce digital technology across an entire estate. Customers can use the smart analytics dashboard to send alerts when certain incidents occur, such as if motion is detected in a specified area. All footage is watermarked and stored securely in the Cloud.

Vodafone Building Energy Management integrates critical energy and environmental systems – such as lighting, air conditioning, refrigeration and heating – into a single Cloud platform that can be managed from anywhere, and on multiple devices. An easy to use dashboard compares business KPIs and real-time performance, so that customers can optimise how systems are used to save energy, reduce costs and improve operational efficiency.[vi]

Notes to Editors

[i] Statistics in this paragraph are from Cambridge Consultants’s 2017 report for Ofcom, Review of Latest Developments in the Internet of Things.

[ii] Source: techUK, State of the Connected Home 2017

[iii] Safe Zones are pre-defined areas which you are able to set up on the TCLMOVE app. If the wearer moves in or out of these areas, you will receive a notification. Please note that these alerts are not instant. If the child is on the move, the watch will check their location more frequently than if they are still; the frequency of the checks depends on factors such as the speed of movement. This preserves the battery life of the watch. When on the move, the watch will try to contact the network as soon as possible.

[iv] Terms apply. For full functionality: a 30-day V-SIM plan, Vodafone network coverage and GPS signal are required. V by Vodafone products (except V-Auto) must be activated via the V by Vodafone app (available on Android and iOS devices only). V-Kids Watch: Your 30-day plan provides access to the TCLMOVE app and service. If you cancel or suspend your plan you will no longer be able to use TCLMOVE location and messaging features. All location updates are subject to GPS and Vodafone network coverage, and this can affect the frequency of location reporting. V-SOS Band: All falls are different and not every fall may be detected. This is not a medical device. Consent required from the user. Your 30-day plan provides access to the V-SOS app and service. If you cancel or suspend your plan you will no longer be able to access the V-SOS app or service. Full terms and details at https://shop.v.vodafone.com. V-Home: 24m agreement. Requires purchase and activation of V-Home Service subscription. Not a replacement for any home monitoring service. Notifications from Hub to the end user is subject to change and is dependent on network connectivity.

[v] Statistics in this paragraph are from Cambridge Consultants’s 2017 report, Review of Latest Developments in the Internet of Things.

[vi] Vodafone Building Energy Management has been developed – and will be delivered – in partnership with Dell EMC and Utilitywise.