For those of you that don’t know, the Internet of Things (IoT) is all around us. You are probably using it and not realizing it. It’s been around quite a while but over the last couple years, it has really grown to become something we can’t live without. 

Let’s Define It

The internet! Something almost everyone uses on a regular basis. It’s all about the connection of over 8 billion different devices and the info that comes from them. However, these devices don’t need to connect to the internet which is an important part of the Internet of Things. It does use devices that require internet but it doesn’t necessarily run off of it.

The devices vary drastically as well. It can be a simple device that turns your lights on or something as complex as managing whole cities. It brings digital intelligence to the next level. The human side of things isn’t needed much or at all because the technology communicates with one another like a conversation without a person having to do much.

Here are some examples of how it is being used.

Smartphones can be used to manage just about anything in your daily life. Everything in your house such as lighting, heating, the coffee maker…etc can be controlled. Do keep in mind that the devices in your house are a part of IoT but the smartphones are not.

Self-driving cars are completely reliant on IoT as that is how it is able to drive itself.

Various cities are installing thousands of devices to help the city understand the needs and wants of the people and other aspects.

Planes that are collecting data from a bunch of little devices that are placed in the engine.

The Internet of Things for Businesses

There are various ways IoT can help improve a business. It can track products, get details about customers & the company’s internal system to help understand and improve everything that your business does.

The data that these devices can provide is invaluable. If you have heard of Data Science IoT is a similar idea to that when it comes to gathering data. There is so much movement in the business world it can be incredibly difficult to keep track of everything with what works and what doesn’t. Collecting customer data to improve their experience and even something simple like making the lights and AC automatic can make a difference. Probably the greatest thing to happen to IoT is its predictive capabilities.

Predictive Capabilities

The weather is a great example of how IoT can make predictions. It uses various aspects such as wind speed, sun levels, and more to figure out more exact patterns. Yes, you may be thinking well the weather people tell me that already. That is true, but many times what happens isn’t what we were told. IoT can improve this gap in information a lot to make weather predictions more accurate.

You may also be thinking, how does this help my business. You would be surprised how weather can affect people’s behaviors. It can affect what people buy at the store, or if they go to the store versus staying in and buying online. The volume of calls customer service receives can also change based on weather. Imagine knowing what your customers or clients will do before they do it.

Even automakers can use these devices in the vehicle to help predict issues with the vehicles before they even happen. The auto industry is probably one of the biggest areas where IoT is being utilized to help improve driver safety, decrease accidents, and catch possible issues.

A retail store, for example, could use a beacon inside the store that can track each customer as to what they walk past and what they linger at. This information can help determine what the customer is more likely to purchase. What someone eats, what they watch, where they drive to, and more can all be tracked and businesses can use predictive analytics that tells them what they should do.

It is crazy how endless the possibilities are for the IoT. No matter what business you are in, there are amazing ways to gather important and specific data about various parts of your business. Once you have that data, analyzing it can then help you make predictions about things to come.