IoT | Internet of Things

IoT is probably one of the most discussed phenomena these days. But what is the ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT)? Gartner, the world's leading information technology research and advisory company, defines it this way:

FAQ - How the Internet of Things is enhancing the workplace

This FAQ answers five questions for corporate real estate and facility managers who want to embrace the benefits of internet connected assets.

Read more in this FAQ

“The Internet of things is the network of dedicated physical objects (things) that contain embedded technology to sense or interact with their internal state or external environment. The IoT comprises an ecosystem that includes things, communications, applications and data analysis.”

With the introduction of meters, sensors, building systems, and devices that measure actual behavior and can communicate and interact with other systems, there is a broad spectrum of applications for IoT within building and service operations.

What you need to know about IoT for building and service operations

Now that familiar operational technologies are becoming internet-connected, these assets can deliver increasingly more detailed information to create new business insight and intelligence. Data collected by these meters, sensors, building systems, and other connected devices provide real-time guidance for the decision-making process, and allows for instant feedback. This data also provides unprecedented insight into the workplace, helping organizations better understand how to unlock employee satisfaction and productivity.

For Real Estate and Facilities Management there are five potential areas of application for IoT technologies.

• Experience of the users: Because conditions are monitored in real-time, reduce the need for users to reactively ask for things to be fixed or experience failing facilities
• Climate parameter sensing: Monitor climate conditions and automatically adjust building systems to meet the needs of individual occupants within the space in order to create a consistent healthy working environment.
• Consumption/connected metering: Gain better insight into when and where possible waste takes place, and use this data to drive improvement efforts for these activities.
• Condition/electrical and mechanical parameter sensing: Monitor parameters of actual behavior of many types of assets by measuring vibration, temperature, pressure, sound, production hours, and more. This way you can implement just-in-time operations for maintenance.
• Demand/desk and space occupancy sensing: Detect and monitor actual occupancy and usage, and provide availability data to users, as well as track actual usage of facilities, detect and manage no-shows, and analyze occupational patterns of workspaces and meeting rooms.

Here are some concrete examples of how the Internet of Things can be used to create Smart Buildings. These are just a few examples, for there are hundreds of ways to implement IoT in your office or building:

1. Improve meeting room occupancy using sensor technology
2. Create a healthier workplace with air quality sensors
3. Increase building performance by using sensors to predict asset failures
4. Reduce cleaning costs by measuring user behavior
5. Improve customer satisfaction through feedback buttons
6. Gain insight into real-time space occupancy using desk sensors
7. Enhance customer experience with digital assistants, such as Amazon Alexa, for making RM requests
8. Improve the employee experience with smart lighting or preferred temperatures
9. Improve data quality with automated data collection by using sensors for energy meters, mouse traps or other devices.
10. Optimize parking space and enhance your guests’ parking experience using parking sensors
    
    

Building IoT and Integrated Workplace Management System

Unlocking new business value from the Internet of Things goes beyond connecting devices. It’s about gaining new (big) data-driven insights that drive actions from IoT data, which enables your business to deliver innovative services and make quicker, more informed decisions.. When it comes to Building IoT, the focus is more about the behavior it can enable rather than the technology component itself. In order to keep building data from becoming overloaded, massive data acquisition and interaction must be actionable.  IWMS systems have created a link between Building IoT components and management reporting tools within the IWMS platform. An IWMS allows for the abstraction and analyzation of this massive amount of building IoT data in order to drive automated processes and analytics.