GuideWireless & IoT · 6 min
We have thousands of IoT devices deployed. How do we manage them and keep the cost down?
One console for every SIM, data pooled across the fleet, idle devices suspended, and switching built in. Then cost per device follows what the fleet does.
The Clectiv team ·
A live fleet leaks money one device at a time. A SIM nobody switched off, a sensor on the wrong plan, a busy device paying overage while quiet ones waste data. None of it shows until someone looks at every device together.
What does a connectivity management platform do?#
It's the one console where you see and control every SIM in the fleet. A SIM is the chip that connects a device to a carrier's network. The platform shows what each one is doing and lets you change it without visiting the device.
Trackers are part of the fleet. GPS trackers on vehicles and assets (telematics) sit in the same console as every sensor.
| What you do | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| See every SIM and its data use | You find the quiet, the busy and the dead ones. |
| Activate, suspend and cancel SIMs | Idle devices stop costing you. |
| Pool data across the fleet | Quiet devices cover busy ones. |
| Set alerts and limits | A stuck device can't run up a bill unnoticed. |
| Connect through an API | Your own software controls SIMs, with no one logging in. |
An API is the way one piece of software talks to another.
AT&T runs a console called IoT Control Center, Verizon runs ThingSpace, and T-Mobile runs T-Platform. Each manages that carrier's SIMs. Granite sells a multi-carrier SIM, which reaches several networks.
These are some of our wireless and IoT providers that do it, and Clectiv AI runs the process for you: start a project.
A fleet on more than one carrier needs one view across all of them. The console doesn't cut cost by itself. It shows you where the money goes.
Before you call anyone#
Take the fleet as it runs today to Clectiv AI, not to your carrier's account team. Then Clectiv AI runs the process: a bid to each of the providers that fit, a real competition, and you choose at the end. Call your carrier first and you get its console, a renewal offer and a price built around you staying put.
Where does fleet cost leak?#
It leaks in the devices nobody is looking at. Count the fleet by state with Clectiv AI: active, idle, in a warehouse, in repair, retired. The state decides what each device should cost.
- Idle devices still billed. A device in a warehouse or a drawer can still carry a monthly charge.
- Overage on busy devices. Without pooling, each device has its own allowance, so some pay overage while others waste data.
- The wrong plan. A sensor on a plan sized for video, or a camera on one sized for a sensor.
- Roaming. Devices that cross borders can cost more than the plan says.
- Fees around the SIM. Activation, platform and support charges, and minimums.
Your real cost per device is the bill divided by the devices doing work. Divide by every SIM and the idle ones hide in the average.
Devices that were retired but never deactivated are the first place to look.
How do we switch carriers on devices already in the field?#
What's inside each device decides it. Sort the fleet by SIM type first.
- eSIM. The carrier profile changes over the air, with nobody on site.
- Multi-carrier SIM. It already reaches several networks, so there may be nothing to switch.
- One carrier's SIM. Someone has to visit the device and swap it.
Ask who controls the switch: you, or the carrier. Then move a small group first and watch that it reports in on the new network, before the rest follow. Check your current contract's end date and minimums before any move, because a switch that ends a term early can cost you.
Some devices sit where no cellular network reaches. LEO (low Earth orbit) satellite is the other route, and Amazon Leo is one who plays there, and the plan asks what each remote site can actually get.
That's a sample of the wireless and IoT providers we work with, and Clectiv AI runs the process for you: start a project.
We know this road. Clectiv AI runs the process that worked for other buyers, so you start where they finished. The plan goes straight to these providers, for the best pricing, terms and contract we can get on each.
Common questions#
What is an IoT connectivity management platform?#
What is data pooling for IoT?#
Why are we billed for devices that aren't in use?#
Do we have to visit every device to change carriers?#
What is IoT overage, and how do we stop paying it?#
How does Clectiv AI get this done?#
Start with Clectiv AI. Tell it how many devices are deployed, which carriers they're on and where they sit. It scopes the project with you and writes your plan: what devices are out there, which SIMs they carry, who manages them, and what a change looks like.
Then the Clectiv team takes your plan to the carriers and IoT connectivity providers that fit, all at once, through our partner network of 620+ providers. They bid for your business and compete with each other, the team pushes on terms, and you choose the one you like.
Companies like yours already climbed this. Clectiv AI runs the process we ran with them, so you start where they ended up. That's how you get the best pricing, terms and contract we can get from the providers that fit.
It's free to you, and it's days, not months. For all of wireless and IoT, see the wireless and IoT page.
Still choosing the connectivity? Read how to buy IoT connectivity at scale.
Sources and method. No prices appear in this guide. Provider names are examples of who sells IoT connectivity and management, from Clectiv's provider directory, not a ranking. Amazon Leo is named only as a provider of LEO satellite service, with no claim about where or when it's available.