 Scott Orlosky has over 25 years of experience in marketing, sales, and application support in a B2B environment. Scott’s career has involved the application of technology solutions to a variety of manufacturing and customer support issues. Scott is passionate about customer service as a strategic core value for business success.
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How to Use the Internet of Everything (IoE) to Interconnect Your BusinessAs the presence of internet enabled devices has grown, networks have become more complex, flexible and capable. Collectively, Internet-ready devices are known as the Internet of Things (IoT). Although many of these are intended for home use, many are perfectly suited to business environments. In the category of home or business you will find thermostats, lighting systems, security cameras, smart locks, and smoke and CO2 detectors. These safety and security functions can be a real money saver. For a simple example, unoccupied rooms could have their HVAC disabled, saving energy. CO2 build-up could cause automatic locking of doors to prevent entry, until the problem is discovered and fixed. These are simple ideas for combined usage of sensors to increase safety and save costs. Sensors and other devices that are geared more toward an office environment include printers, copiers, smart desks (adjustable workstations) and coffee machines and appliances in break rooms. These can be good for morale and productivity. Also cold storage monitors are available to manage temperature and humidity for everything from a dorm-style refrigerator to an industrial walk-in.
And lastly, for customer-facing technology there are smart displays, self-service kiosks, customer path trackers through the store and store wi-fi local connections to monitor usage patterns and response to in-store offers. Many of these are already common in small businesses (like thermostats, cameras, POS terminals), but making them IoT-enabled lets owners automate, monitor, and integrate them into broader operations — cutting costs and improving decision-making. Potentially, IoT can turn a small business website from a static page into a smart, real-time extension of your operations; making operations more efficient, improving customer engagement, and increasing thoughtful, well-informed decisions for business growth. Along with the flexibility of IoT and the power to envision an integrated business, there are still a few limitations and risks that need to be taken into account. Most IoT products rely on some wireless technology like Wi-Fi or Bluetooth to make the connection to the internet. These types of connections are not infinitely available and must be individually set-up. In addition, if you have enough of these types of connections, at some point you will pay the price in terms of speed. Another risk, that usually does not get fully addressed is the “hackability” of your network. Each node or device must be addressable by the integrated system. The way this works, is that each component has a unique IP (Internet Protocol) address. Before installation most devices will have a temporary logon and password (i.e. Admin/12345) and if this is not changed or encrypted a hacker could search for these known “starter” passwords and gain access that way. Similarly, a known piece of equipment like a high-end camera may have a specific IP address that can be directly targeted. Additionally, IoT devices that connect to the cloud, may create an opportunity for a hacker to eavesdrop or impersonate cloud-connected devices. Given the potential risk of being hacked, here are a few good security practices to follow.
Taking advantage of the growth in IoT can be a smart business move and give you a competitive edge. To see the maximum value, be smart and protective of your investment and make sure all employees are informed of the value of your integrated system and how to use it. Photo credit: Read other technology articles |
If part of your operation has a retail brick-and-mortar store you probably already are using an IoT connected point of sale terminal to monitor customer behavior and perform analytics. There is also a need for tracking inventory which can be done through smart shelving and package trackers. This allows for real-time tracking of product status.