IoT Benefits & What it Means for Your Organization

By Francesco Basile, Director of Technical Services - 16 Apr, 2021
Data Networking
3 Minutes Read

IoT (Internet of Things) can be found in our homes, cars, hospitals, manufacturing plants, schools, and workplaces. IoT are sensors and devices connected to the Internet to obtain and send data, receive instructions, and communicate with other IoT devices.

How does IoT Work?

Imagine the thermostat in your home. Your traditional thermostat may have been pre-set years ago to activate your heating system when the room temperature drops below a certain threshold.  This means that regardless of if anyone is home or if the air conditioner gets inadvertently activated, your heating system will go on if that temperature threshold is crossed.  On the other hand, an IoT thermostat will gather additional, even more, pertinent information to determine when best to activate the heat.  It can take into consideration the current outside temperature, the time of year, weather forecast, whether there is anyone in the room, and how long it typically takes to heat the room.  This additional context not only maintains the comfort of your home but conserves the environment well.  Utility companies recognize this, and some are issuing rebates to customers who are using IoT thermostats.

Benefits of IoT and Impact on the Future Workplace

IoT in Smart Buildings combines numerous devices to improve the workplace environment, efficiency, and experience.  A Smart Building may employ IoT devices to control HVAC, lighting, shades, elevators, physical security and access, conference room facilities, and workplace settings, among others. Just like in your home, IoT in Smart Buildings will use real-time and historical variables to create a more efficient workplace.

IoT can also be part of a corporation’s return to workplace strategy during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Such as this IoT device example: keeping track of safe space utilization can be accomplished with a few technologies – people counting, proximity monitoring, facial recognition, employee directories, and access control.  Many of these technologies can be found in your existing technologies, such as WiFi, security cameras, Active Directory, and security access control. They may require only incremental investment to deliver these types of insights.

Industry Benefits & IoT Security

Today there are nearly 14 billion IoT devices that can be found in all corners of the world.  The security challenges presented by IoT not only come from the number of devices, but its’ pervasiveness in our home and workplace, the absence and differences in manufacturing standards, and true to its name, it’s need to communicate, download, and upload data to the Internet.  To secure IoT, we need to augment traditional methods with advancements in Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, and behavioral analysis to identify IoT devices and detect and report unwanted behavior.

Implement IoT

New Era Technology can help answer any of your IoT questions or fulfill any of your IoT needs.  With our capabilities as a full-service IT provider, we can build, design, and manage the IoT environments that rely on the data network, cloud, wireless, audiovisual, physical security, life safety, unified communications, and cybersecurity.

To learn more about IoT and how New Era can assist you, please email solutions@neweratech.com.

Author: Francesco Basile, Director of Technical Services