Why Costa chose Eseye
Plans for international expansion and the need to transfer data in real-time led Costa Express to explore a variety of IoT solutions. It initially investigated several connectivity solutions, including on-site Ethernet or over-the-air (OTA) cellular connection. However, Ethernet meant relying on the site owner – often a convenience store or forecourt operator – and increased connectivity risk. For example, a modem failing would result in a failed connection, and could lead to lost business, frustrated customers, and trigger a costly engineer site visit.
Eseye has supported the company in deploying IoT-enabled vending machines, with confidence, and on a global scale.
IoT hardware and connectivity expertise
Each machine is fitted with Eseye’s HERA 604 IoT router which has over-the-air network switching as standard when deployed. Embedded with an eUICC compliant, embedded AnyNet+ SIM, Costa Express machines can automatically connect in 190 countries and achieve near 100% connectivity. Firmware updates can easily be sent over-the-air to the routers when new functionality is developed and made available.
Easy onboarding
With a single SKU, new coffee machines are commissioned much more efficiently – machine parameters are set in advance, for example language and price. An installation partner simply sets it up, then the machine automatically adopts the correct settings, connects to a local network, and is ready to start serving coffee.
