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5 Ways IoT Can Transform Your Workplace

By Special Guest
Bernhard Mehl, co-founder and CEO, Kisi
July 26, 2018

Thanks to powerful new technologies, today’s workplaces have transformed into connected systems where people function in unison with technology. While some security challenges remain, nowadays job duties are shared between the human workforce and computers with a positive impact on productivity business efficiency. With its capability to integrate electronic smart devices via the web, the Internet of Things (IoT) has created a new environmental ecosystem, helping people manage work conditions remotely and create smartphone-based workplace manager for various aspects of the modern office.

Here are five specific applications to showcase how the IoT has enhanced the current workplace.

Augmented workplace environment
If you ask workers in shared offices, most of them will agree that setting the right AC temperature is a common disagreement among coworkers. Well, with new smart thermostat apps - for instance - Google’s Nest Thermostat, it won’t be up to the team to decide which is the most effective workplace temperature. The smart Nest Thermostat learns your preferences by tracking your manually set schedule few days in a row and adapts its functioning to fit your needs. An extra 60 percent of savings on the energy bill is a welcome extra benefit. In a similar way, workers can enhance multiple workplace aspects, such as manage lights and book meeting rooms and shared desks. Take the Comfy App, for example, which is a powerful all-in-one tool to help workplace teams stay better connected and manage their work environment.

Access control
Conventional keys and locks are slowly fading in oblivion because they have been replaced by more advanced electronic access control devices. Forgetting the key, and even losing an access card is no longer a reason to prevent door access. Now, it takes nothing more than a smartphone app to manage your workplace security, and while users like such solutions, IT managers and admins truly love it. Cloud-enabled access control system allow not only to set granular access rights to different members of your organization, but also to perform remote unlocks and set a variety of automated rules. With the most modern solutions you can for instance integrate the door system with Slack and unlock a door with a simple command, monitor trends in accesses overtime, integrate with other security systems and a lot more.

Digital Assistants
Once smart home devices proved that they are competent home managers, it didn’t take long for the advanced digital assistants to occupy the workspace. If you thought that getting your way around your home is the only way smart technology can enhance your life, wait until you see what Alexa for business can do for you. Equipped with over 10,000 business skills, Alexa for business helps you create a network of shared devices distributed across various work locations. Once your team members get access to the business account, they can use the smart devices to set room temperature, attend virtual meetings, autodial into business calls, and manage the workplace calendar. Alexa for business proves that some jobs will never look the same.

Smart lighting
Smart apps are not the only way you can get a lower energy bill. Smart lighting has the same role and it has been one of the first IoT devices adopted for popular use. Lights have turned wireless, helping staff manage the amount of lighting around the workplace. Philips Hue lights, for instance, have powerful capabilities that let you control outdoor lighting from a mobile phone and create immersive visual experiences by matching the lighting hue with the colors coming out of the TV/video equipment.   

Telepresence
To say that running a remote video conference is a novelty is a bit of an overstatement. But although we’ve been used to making video conference calls across the globe, lost connections and poor video quality, as well as the inadequacy of video meetings to resemble to real-life experiences, have been regular pain points for companies. Thanks to telepresence technology, staff can participate in workplace conferences getting a virtual reality feeling about the whole event.

Key Takeaway
IoT can be utilized to improve the time and experience at workplaces, in turn increasing the productivity and satisfaction of employees. By letting employes make more autonomous choices, having a greater say in perfecting the workplace environment, and assisting them in task management, IoT is making a huge impact on the organization of the workplace as we know it.

About the Author: Bernhard Mehl?is?the?co-founder?and?CEO?of?Kisi. Headquartered in New York City and operative since 2012, Kisi offers a full-stack access control solution powered by mobile and IoT.?Bernhard’s?security philosophy?of?"access everything"?has proven to strike a chord?with?many tech-driven?companies.


 
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