The Internet of Things (IoT) is a technological shift that’s been quietly happening in the background of all recent technology. From wearables to kitchen appliances, it is the hidden interconnectivity in all things. Soon there will be billions of connected devices all around the world, communicating with each other and gathering data.
But what does this mean for the world of unified communications?
It’s not clear how IoT will impact UC but trends and a little industry speculation can give us some insights.
The synergy of IoT and UC
IoT already exists to some extent: our phones, health trackers, computers, and even home appliances can provide us with some level of interconnectivity. Our phones connect us to each other, our wearable devices connect our fitness and health to the Internet, and we can get a text from our fridge saying that our milk is about to expire.
Ultimately, the hope for a world fully integrated with IoT means all the data gathered from any connected device will be used to make things run more seamlessly. Industry experts are excited and hopeful about the future of UC with IoT and for a good reason: whenever there is a huge advancement in how technology functions, all areas of tech, including UC, are bound to receive some benefit.
How does IoT affect the UC industry? Many of the devices that exist in the UC field are already connected and communicate with each other to some extent. With the advent of IoT, there is, even more, data that will allow valuable insights into how UC technology can optimize business. The usage of UC will become a leaner and more methodical operation. IoT means more data and that means more knowledge.
IoT and UC usage case
UC’s interconnectivity already exists because the whole point of UC software is to connect users and facilitate collaboration. The internet of things could gather metrics from meetings and create insights that make the process of using UC even smoother.
For example, the lights in the conference room could dim themselves at certain times of day during a meeting to make participants more relaxed or to alert them that the end of their meeting is nearing. If a participant in a video call has a louder voice than the rest of the members, the camera could recognize that person and the microphone could lower its volume. The applications are seemingly endless.
These are just some low-level and intuitive use cases for the intersection of IoT and UC. There will be more to come in the future, as the function of IoT is to provide new data that gives us perceptive ways to use our technology.
Analytics are critical
The main takeaway from IoT is that it will provide a staggering amount of data related to how things operate and give us insights that will help us find new ways to use technology. In a way, Vyopta already does this for UC technology. With our UC analytics tool, we have provided our customers with new insights on how to utilize their UC environment to give them a money-saving and streamlined network.
To find out more about what we do check out our website and try our demo to see how analytics can help your business.