The enterprise Internet of Things (IoT) encompasses connected devices that help people get work done or improve current process flows. Here are six examples of how practical applications of enterprise IoT can lead to more efficient workplaces
Working as a sales associate in retail can be tough. When customers see you, they expect you to have all the answers. Getting the information they need typically requires using tools like barcode scanners or radios that connect sales floor team members to stock room workers. However, a communications solution called Theatro seeks to change that.
It’s a wearable communication device that allows people to use voice-recognition technology to find out about stock levels, determine the location of certain team members or even have one-on-one communications with colleagues to ask them questions about products.
The voice-recognition aspect means users can get many pieces of information fed back into their earpieces without having to ask fellow workers. That feature cuts down on irrelevant store chatter. There’s a voice command for dealing with backups at checkout lines, too. There’s also a YouTube video that goes into more specific use cases.
If a substantial part of your company’s business involves deliveries, home visits for repairs or instances where your team members visit clients at their offices, you might have a fleet of company vehicles to use. The likelihood of that possibility goes up if there are substantial distances to travel, especially since people would want to avoid excess wear and tear on their cars.
IoT technology for enterprise allows businesses to track numerous things about their vehicles and how drivers use them. For example, they can see a person’s real-time location, which prevents a business representative from having to take the time to call someone who’s en route.
Also, a user could look at a dashboard that features a miniature map and includes details about all the company’s vehicles currently on the road. Then, if particular areas are exceptionally congested with traffic, someone at the company could alert employees and tell them to avoid those roads.
It’s also possible to tell if drivers consistently take longer-than-necessary routes to reach places or if they spend more time in a location than they should. In those cases, corrective action and coaching could help those individuals, and the company at large become more efficient.
Enterprise IoT products are also ideal for companies that want to make their operations more efficient by letting employees cut down on prohibitively time-consuming tasks. Non-IoT products also exist that complement connected items.
One example is Absolute PDF Server 3.0, a server-side PDF conversion and creation tool. PDFs are common in the business world, and knowledge workers tend to like the format because it displays information correctly regardless of a person’s operating system or device. However, one of the downsides is that PDFs are usually difficult to edit.
Absolute PDF Server 3.0 eliminates that pitfall by allowing users to automate PDF creation and conversion for sending, archiving and eventually repurposing those PDFs. A non-IoT server-side solution like this gives the entire organisation access to those centralised services, which streamlines PDF tasks in a single program instead of using several to accomplish their needs.
The IoT could come into the picture, then, if a company uses a connected printer.
