IoT technology provides seamless communication and data processing for everyday tasks, from household duties to industrial appliances. Smart house equipment, autonomous vehicles, animals’ biochips – managing all these “things” is possible with IoT networks. An increasing number of organizations implement IoT solutions to grow efficiency, improve user experience and gain brand value.
What is an IoT network?
The IoT describes the system of interrelated objects, like sensors, gadgets, mechanisms, and software that connect with each other and exchange data via a network without manual intervention.
By means of edge and cloud technologies enterprises can collect information from devices without human-to-human or human-to-computer interactions. IoT acts like a bridge between the physical and virtual world, allowing businesses to become more flexible, instantly react to environmental changes and generate better insights.
How does IoT work?
Smart devices are the main constituents of IoT networks, which gather the initial data in the first stage of the process. Their complexity can vary from simple inexpensive sensors to forklifts or other autonomous mechanisms. Here are a few examples of the information, which can be monitored:
- gas leaks in buildings;
- temperature and humidity at warehouses;
- geolocation in smartphones;
- a number of steps in fitness bracelets, etc.
In the next stage collected information is sent to the gathering point wirelessly. There are several types of IoT networks for data transmission, including cellular, mesh protocols, and solutions for local (LAN/PAN) and large areas (LPWAN).
To pick a suitable one for your project, you should determine business requirements and goals, considering power consumption, coverage area, data amount, security issues, etc. If you have doubts about network designs, Euristiq developers can help you with decision-making and identify the best tech stack for growing business effectiveness.
Once the data is collected, software processes them, analyzes, and returns instructions to devices. Although the IoT process is fulfilled without human participation, administrators previously set up the software to trigger specific actions according to current conditions.
The importance of IoT for businesses
The IoT provides entrepreneurs with a reliable report on how the system functions. It helps to automate workflows, decrease labor costs and develop timely insights in response to process performance. IoT makes entrepreneurs rethink business strategies and create a solid background for companies’ digital transformation.
Although IoT networks are generally implemented in manufacturing and transportation, such industries as retail, agriculture, healthcare, automotive, and home automation would also benefit from using sensors. Some of the common advantages of IoT are:
- process monitoring;
- reducing expenses;
- increasing employees’ productivity;
- eliminating errors, caused by human factors;
- improving customer experience;
- integrating innovative technologies;
- growing revenue.
To receive the maximum benefits from IoT, business owners should pay close attention to reliable connectivity between devices and corporate data centers. For example, experts from Euristiq recommend using LPWAN for long-range transfers and small data amounts or Wi-Fi for larger data. To cover the in-country area businesses should implement the LoRa protocol, while international companies should use Sigfox.
