A lot has been said about the power of the internet. Looking at Google alone can lead you to think the search engine is some heavenly power almighty who knows it all. With about 5.6 billion searches daily and 228 million searches per hour, Google leads the way for everyone who needs to know more on just about anything under the sun. Certainly, all that power shows you the endless possibilities offered by the internet.
Above and beyond searches, the internet is also making the Internet of Things or IoT possible. Combine a piece of equipment with the internet, and you have a smarter gadget. And that can transform lives. Think of the smart TV that you have at home. It’s a glorious example of IoT. Where before, you’re pretty much limited in terms of what to watch on television, today with a smart TV, you practically have bazillion options. Indeed, anyone who has experienced a smart TV is bound to leave his traditional TV in the garbage bin.
But the use of IoT goes beyond the confines of your precious abode. It can drastically transform business as we know it. Here are two examples.
Better Customer Experience
Knowledge is power. And this is nowhere more apparent in business. Think if you manage a fleet of cars. Say your business is a car rental business. Now, you’d have to contend with a lot of maintenance issues in that kind of business. We’re talking about tire health, engine efficiency, and fuel efficiency, to name a few. Now to arrive at these data points, you’d have to collect them. Ask your driver and perhaps your car maintenance guy to update you now and then.
That can certainly cause delays. You’d know the tire needs changing when the driver starts to complain, or if lucky, the technician catches the car anomaly before it hits the road. But that won’t have to be the case with IoT factored in. The car itself can give you critical data so you can predict equipment failure before it happens. Imagine how much comfort that can give your customers with such a “car that thinks.”
But that’s not all. With IoT factoring, a timely upgrade in your car’s software-reliant component can be done remotely. For instance, a non-working headset can be repaired via an over-the-air (OTA) software upgrade. Instead of taking the traditional long trip to the car manufacturer, you get a software OTA.
And that’s how Elon Musk and Tesla have been doing things: sending OTA software fixes to deal with various issues, from suspension lifts to battery performance.
When it comes to IoT and maximizing the power of machine data, one of the foremost leading technology is Splunk. The California firm helps companies provide top-notch customer service by producing spot-on software that collates and analyzes machine-generated big data. And we’re talking in real-time. The company has generated so much success that countless Splunk-managed services have excelled in their field and trumped the competition over the years.
Reduce Costs and Downtime
The bottom line is always important. And with IoT, reducing your costs should be easy. With better data-gathering, you should be better positioned to decide on the best course of action.
Take, for instance, the rise of digital twin technology, another feature made possible by IoT. It answers a fundamental problem. And that is how to test a system without being limited by the physical limitations of that system. The answer is twin technology, where you have digital models of your physical assets. As these assets are built from actual real-time data, you can construct a 3D representation or have it in pure data format.
With a digital twin, you can predict possible failures in the system before it actually happens. Imagine how much downtime you can save if you can pinpoint the exact bug in the system before it actually becomes one.
That is made possible because every part of said system is internet-connected. You can monitor data in real-time. You can model possible outcomes that can be corrected as data pours in.
That is how construction giant O’Rourke worked to better railways. It helps solve a perennial issue confronted by people every day. By making the most digital twin technology, the big firm can rework and improve the West Coast Mainline’s overall operations.
And the results are amazing. Countless commuters daily today have benefited from it. That’s how IoT can change lives for the better. It’ll continue to do so as more learn about the various benefits it can provide.