Internet of Things (IoT), is a term coined in the late 90’s refers to the networking of “physical devices”. The spectrum of physical devices is quite vast and can include anything from buildings to vehicles. These “smart” devices, functional on embedded software, sensors, actuators and network connectivity are capable of collecting and transferring data.
The interrelationship between IoT and UC (Unified Communication)
Initially, IoT and UC may appear to have no collegial accordance. UC is already a well-accepted concept and is known to offer proven collaborative benefits to companies across all verticals. On the other hand IoT is at the early stage of development, though it has already substantiated it’s worth among it’s target audience.
However, having a closer look will definitely show us the intertwined congruity between IoT and UC. Both have essential roles in organizational collaboration. The main objective of Unified Communication Solutions is to ease out enterprise communication for which it requires accurate data; this data can be accumulated through the interconnected devices based on the IoT technology. IoT and UC can be coupled to uncover information that will help cross-functional teams to operate better.
Organizations value data-driven strategic decision making and are thus willing to invest in technologies that yields timely data to assist them to pinpoint the upcoming market trends or track probable criticalities before any damage is incurred.
In spite of the fact that Unified Communication has a relatively mature market and IoT is just a newbie on the technological forefront, the underlying benefits of combining the utilities of this power couple is clearly visible. Imagine a situation where the heart rate monitor of a patient with a severe cardiac ailment, collects data, analyze it on pertinent medical standards and directs the data to the relevant person/s based on the analytic report. Thus, expediting the decision making and timely therapeutic assistance.
The future prospects stationed on the collaboration of UC and IoT seems bright. With an improved interoperable atmosphere, this joint force may work wonders in helping organizations have a better business process.
The Internet of Things market size is estimated to grow from USD 157.05 Billion in 2016 to USD 661.74 Billion by 2021, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 33.3% from 2016 to 2021 (MarketsandMarkets). It is expected that the IoT-UC convergence shall have a higher rate of acceptance for organizations, eager to provide the end-users with affordable and seamless experience.