Minnesota-based MultiTech has launched starter kits to enable quick evaluation of LoRaWan technology for building and industrial applications.

The OneBox kits provide a quick, easy path to validate the effectiveness of LoRaWan and a roadmap for expansion for those with no LoRa expertise.

The OneBox smart building and vibration monitoring kits can simplify the process of evaluating LoRaWan technology for building applications and industrial equipment monitoring.

Each kit includes a tailored set of LoRa-enabled MultiTech Reveal sensors and an easy-to-deploy Conduit AP gateway for LoRaWan to achieve insight from sensor to cloud, regardless of the application. Paired with an integrated device management console, OneBox provides automatic provisioning, monitoring and configuration, as well as data visualisation and notifications for immediate access to critical information to enable better business decision making.

The first of its kind integration, the kits eliminate one of the largest barriers to adoption of LoRaWan – the difficulty of building an integrated system by new-to-LoRa or non-expert end users. In the past, organisations had to build their own system, which involves the complex integration of sensors, gateway, IT backhaul connectivity, network server, application and more, all before being able to simply validate that the radio and sensor technology is a fit for their application.

With OneBox, these same organisations now have one box with all the required components to do it for them.

“We are looking to help organisations concentrate on their end business versus worrying about how they are going to evaluate whether LoRaWan technology is a fit for their environment and whether the data deliver business value,” said Mike Fahrion, CTO at MultiTech. “Now we can take care of all of that for them so they can concentrate on what they do best, enhancing their customer experience, saving costs and meeting compliance and sustainability goals.”

According to research firm Transforma Insights, smart buildings and associated applications account for over 20% of all IoT revenue.

“This OneBox product neatly combines three of the biggest trends for IoT in 2022,” said Matt Hatton, founding partner at Transforma Insights. “Firstly, the massive importance of both the smart buildings and industrial verticals, secondly the growing trend for the integration of hardware with connectivity to simplify the job of developing IoT, and thirdly the further growth in LoRaWan a rapidly growing technology for IoT with a vibrant ecosystem.”

Features of OneBox include: LoRa enabled MultiTech Reveal sensors; easy-to-deploy Conduit AP gateway for LoRaWan, tailored for in-building deployment; active SIM for cellular backhaul; access to Console, an integrated device management console for the automatic provisioning, monitoring and configuration of sensors in the field as well as visualisations and notification features; and two-year warranty, upgradable to five years.

MultiTech products connect assets, leveraging proven, standards-based sensor and communications technologies and open architectures for systems and processes. It provides technical support and partners with its customers to overcome IoT integration problems with off-the-shelf and custom products.