Miovision lays foundations for smart cities with AI and machine learning

By 2050, 70% of the global population, or 6.7 billion people, will live in cities, according to the UN. As they grow, our cities need to get smarter, safer, and more sustainable. And one trailblazing Canadian company is using the power of data and AI to enable them to do just that.

Miovision was founded in 2005 by three university students with a simple goal: to use video analysis of traffic and machine learning to transform the way roads are managed. Today, Miovision serves 17,000 municipalities in 60 countries worldwide.

Yet it’s doing far more than making sure traffic is flowing freely. “The world is seeing massive urbanization and so the needs of our cities are evolving at an ever-growing rate,” said Erin Skimson, VP for Product Management & Corporate Programs at Miovision.

The information stored in traffic cabinets is an incredibly powerful tool that enables society to improve mobility, productivity, road safety, and CO2 emissions. Miovision is unlocking a far more connected view of the city and allowing the municipality to be far more efficient and proactive.

As well as giving cities a more connected view of what’s happening on their own streets, Miovision needs a 360-degree view of its own sales, service and marketing functions.

“Data is the new oil,” said Miovision Senior Director of Information Systems & Technology Matt Fisher. “Our core vision is to use data to improve the lives of citizens. And Salesforce shares our vision of putting the end user first and using technology and data in a smarter way to make our lives easier.” 

Today, Miovision is using Sales Cloud Lightning, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud and Pardot, and was the first company in Canada to use Einstein for Sales Cloud. When it rolled out Salesforce CPQ in 2016, it saw a 95% adoption rate among its 230 workers.

“Since launching Salesforce CPQ, our sales team no longer chair swivels between multiple applications and adoption of Salesforce has increased,” said Fisher. “CPQ gives a single source of the truth for all products and prices so we can do margin analysis on SKUs and see the approvals path. It allows us to bundle products together to make the whole process more streamlined and run more smoothly.”

When a prospective customer registers with Miovision, Salesforce generates leads for sales people to follow up with. By managing the process using Sales Cloud Lightning, the rep has full visibility of the lead whether they’re in the office or using the Salesforce Mobile App on the road. The management team can track progress using comprehensive reports, and Sales Cloud Einstein helps to set realistic goals for deal closure.

Miovision has been able to strengthen complex relationships, while allowing new opportunities and the needs of clients to be communicated throughout the organisation using Service Cloud. 

“Salesforce has given us phenomenal reporting on our marketing,” said Skimson. “We can now measure the success of individual campaigns and conversion rates. Sales can attribute success to specific activities. From a business management perspective, it’s been transformational. I can create reports and include them in a board report instead of creating them from scratch. It’s helped make my role more manageable and efficient.”

Miovision is evolving from a supplier of hardware to a strategic provider of long-term solutions. And to support its transformation, the company needed a more connected and intelligent way of managing internal processes.

“Sales Cloud Einstein really adds that extra level of value when you are doing more than just selling,” explained Fisher. 

With Salesforce, Miovision is helping more cities make their streets more efficient – and safer. “In life you can take the easy option, or the path that takes more time, thought, and design, but is ultimately more rewarding,” says Fisher. “For me, being a Trailblazer is about taking that second option. We are using technology to provide long-term solutions for the big problems societies face. Salesforce is helping us to build the business today that we want to be tomorrow.”