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Most businesses have heard about the Internet of Things, also known as machine to machine (M2M) technology. M2M enables devices and machines to communicate with each other and people wirelessly, opening up the next step in the Internet revolution.

Knowing about the technology and understanding how it can be useful to your business are two different things, however.

With that in mind, Sprint (News - Alert) has launched its new M2M Mondays Podcast series. Sprint has been an early leader in M2M technology, clearing its potential before many of its competitors. The podcast series will highlight M2M thought leaders and show creative ways that the technology can be combined to complete a solution.

The series, hosted by Retail M2M Marketing Manager Kelly Robinson, focuses specifically on how M2M can be used to improve services for food trucks. The series features Sprint M2M Solutions customer Itty Bitty Donuts and Sprint Account Manager Emily Trapani, and will address topics such as how to combine mobile Point of Sale (mPoS) with Vantiv and a Sprint Samsung (News - Alert) tablet and Geotab Geo-fenced GPS-based alerts.

“Together, the solution captures the customer opted-in email at PoS from the food truck customers and then loads customer’s email addresses into the Geotab data base,” series host  Robinson noted to TMC (News - Alert). “The next time the food truck is in the area where their customers are an email alert is generated to let the customer know their favorite food truck will be on their corner that day.”

Itty Bitty Donuts has found that this is a great way to both drive additional business and build customer loyalty.

Sprint M2M Retail Solutions offers many ways that retailers of all types can interact with customers. Not only can it be used to signal food truck placement, it also can enable retailers to offer discounts to customers as they pass by a storefront, or to signal special sales and offers.

According to Robinson, “The mobile point of sale demand is expected to grow as we see a global shift in mobility and the timing of the transition to Europay/Mastercard/Visa standards.” The technology is especially useful for businesses that are embracing mobility.

In fact, the next topic in the Sprint M2M Mondays Podcast series is all about the monumental retail shift at PoS to Europay/Mastercard/Visa (EMV) standards.

You can watch the podcast series on its website, http://m2mmondays.com.