February 28, 2017 – KONE, a global leader in the elevator and escalator industry, has launched a unique tailor-made approach for its maintenance services and new 24/7 Connected Services, which uses the IBM Watson IoT (Internet of Things) platform.

The company is bringing new levels of flexibility to elevator maintenance, with the introduction of a fully customizable portfolio of services and advanced tools, designed to meet the individual needs of different customers, such as building owners and facility managers. KONE’s customers will be able to request and customise services to match the specific requirements of their business, their tenants, or their building type, instead of predesigned service packages.

“With new technologies and connectivity, we are able to even better meet our customers’ changing needs and expectations on speed, transparency and predictability. Our customised approach for maintenance services is designed together with customers, for our customers, to help them to better succeed in their business and add value in totally new ways,” says Henrik Ehrnrooth, President and CEO, KONE.

As part of KONE Care™, KONE has also launched 24/7 Connected Services, which uses the IBM Watson IoT platform and other advanced technologies to bring intelligent services to elevators and escalators. It means a completely new experience for KONE’s customers, with less equipment downtime, fewer faults and detailed information on maintenance work. For people using elevators and escalators, it means less waiting time and more personalised experiences. The system enables vast amounts of data from elevator sensors to be monitored, analysed and displayed in real-time, improving equipment performance, reliability and safety.

The launch of 24/7 Connected Services comes a year after KONE and IBM announced a multiyear agreement in which IBM will provide cloud-based Internet of Things (IoT) technologies and services to drive innovation in the elevator and escalator industry.