How is the IoT Making Our Offices More Productive

The IoT realizes everyday objects being connected to the internet, enabling them to be controlled remotely or to gather data and communicate without a human being involved. Implementing IoT in the office/workplace can contain various hardware and different technologies such as smart devices, robots and artificial intelligence to increase efficiency and generate new business opportunities.

There are various connected devices that run on different connectivity networks and can make any office environment not only efficient and more productive, but will save your operating costs and increase ROI. According to the markets and markets report, the smart office market will reach US$46.11 million by 2023. Making IoT devices more intelligent and capable to communicate with other devices could increase employees’ work efficiency and also make it simpler to estimate productivity by utilizing real-time data.

Increasing Office Efficiency

With IoT technology, the possibility of automation also comes out. Smart offices make use of various connected devices that analyze, handle and manage different operations across a business. By utilizing these to automate recurring tasks held by employees can enhance efficiency and free up their time to concentrate more on complex work. IoT developments could also assist your team to execute tasks more easily. There is a potential for improved productivity as AI assistants streamline routine tasks, throughout the day by learning from your habits and connecting with other devices to be a part of the IoT ecosystem. They can also support employees to control their schedules in order to utilize their time more efficiently and in turn, be more productive. 

By considering this, companies are initiating to invest more and more in both smart speakers for work and voice-enabled AI applications that will enable employees to communicate with virtual assistants to have work done without ever touching a keyboard.

Synchronizing Conference Room Occupancy and Operations

Sometimes it is difficult to book the conference room when various teams land up at the door. For the earlier time, booking was a manual task or just with an email at best. Hence, smart scheduling systems, which enabled access based on who applied first, have solved the complexity to a greater extent. And with the help of IoT in the office, this gets further easier as the managers get immediate alerts about the availability of the room right on their mobile phones or on smartwatches. For instance, if a booking is already canceled or the room is occupied initially than planned, others who are waiting for the rooms can get rescheduled as per the notifications.

Also, the huge amounts of data gathered from IoT devices can be used in a remarkable number of ways, this is what makes the IoT so beneficial for businesses. One way this data is being utilized is to observe day-to-day operations. For instance, some companies are utilizing smart sensors in their buildings to notice when specific rooms are mostly occupied and where employees spend most of their time.

This data can then be utilized to schedule meetings more effectively and can reduce the disruptive effect that can have on employees productivity.

Tracking and Reporting in Project Management Tools 

In project management, the reliability of deep analytics relies on archived historical data. While it has always been a labor-extensive process, IoT can assist to get this data, immediately! So, a manager who has to analyze various verticals in the project such as budgeting, resource allocation, meeting scheduling, reporting as well as assessment, can do so in detail with IoT networking

Lowering Energy Costs

In addition to increasing employees’ productivity, IoT can support businesses to make more effective use of resources and reduce unnecessary costs. I.e, The utilization of smart heating and lighting systems. IoT devices such as a smart Thermostat can assist lower energy expenditure from overuse of air conditioning and heating. These cost savings can add up more ROI to the business.

Improving Collaboration

One of the ways that employee productivity is being increased is via improved possibilities for remote working. Utilizing connected devices means that employees are no longer needed to be in the same physical space and co-operate with each other. Cloud-hosted software and portable devices enable employees to handle their work from anywhere over shared networks. As per the Harvard Business Review survey, 58% of respondents report that they have seen improved collaboration within the business with the help of IoT initiative.

Tracking Manufacturing

An Smart Manufacturing could enable you to analyze factory assets more easily than ever before. Smart sensors can recognize and inform you about any concerns in real-time – faster than any person would. When individual components will get break down, you can easily find them immediately based on the data they send out and replace them with simplicity before they cause more damage. This is specifically beneficial if you run a composite operation that can be very expensive to shut down when unexpected concerns arise.

Sensors and IoT modules will become an important concept for all types of workplaces. They can be installed in machinery as well as office devices to analyze their operational health. These sensors can recognize a fault and send an alert notification before the device breaks. This enables a business to repair any concern before it becomes too extreme and to avoid costly replacements.

Looking at future development, combining wearable devices with the smart office is one of the possible areas of development.  It’s not imaginary now for a smartwatch being capable to open the door of your office and log you into your desktop. But these IoT devices also drive lots of other sensors which could be helpful. As this technology evolves, we will begin to notice the scenarios for IoT development remarkably beyond the traditional use cases which will support the workforce to be more productive and efficient than ever before.