Smart technology is changing the way employees communicate and collaborate in their offices. A modern office is a smart office.

Why be smart? Investment in smart technologies is an investment in the office as a whole – both in the way employees work and in the workspaces themselves. This gives employees more time to focus on what is really important. As you look ahead, it is important to think about which smart technologies will have the biggest impact on your office and how you envision employees interacting with the technologies. What are your goals in terms of return on investment, increased efficiency, and creating a safer and more comfortable work environment for everyone who walks through your door? Smart technologies help companies make better decisions about the spaces available to employees. Smart technologies generate and store usage and occupancy data, which are valuable in determining how to improve the use of existing spaces or when deciding when spaces need to be reconfigured. 

Smart office technology

IoT sensors

IoT sensors are the basis of every smart office. Sensors are mainly used to detect movement or occupancy in a specific space. They collect data and communicate with software platforms to analyse and provide clear visual reports on office usage. Without IoT sensors, you cannot have many smart functions that collect, store and analyse the usage data of almost every part of the smart office. Sensors help manage and analyse lighting, temperature control, the number of participants in the room, work desk reservations, monitoring from cameras to the coffee machine, which will always have fresh coffee thanks to them.

Smart lighting

Smart lighting is the first step that companies include in modernizing their office environment. That is because smart lighting has the potential to cut energy costs by up to 90 percent. Smart lighting consists of five key functions: LED lighting, IoT sensors and controls, connectivity, analytics and intelligence. IoT sensors detect movement in a room and turn lights on or off accordingly. Lighting controls automatically adjust lighting levels relative to the level of natural daylight. The new generation of smart lighting allows every user to turn lights on and off, control lighting intensity, and even adjust the colour of the lighting from their smartphones.

Smart air conditioning

You will probably never agree on the air conditioning temperature range desired by all employees, but you can agree on smart air conditioning control. Smart HVAC systems detect usage patterns in the office and automatically control the temperature accordingly. This increases system efficiency and reduces the carbon footprint while increasing employee comfort and satisfaction. Some smart air conditioning systems go even further than IoT sensor-controlled temperature and provide some degree of control to employees who actually work in the premises. This is because office temperature can have a significant impact on employee productivity and morale. The optimal working temperature for one employee is not necessarily the optimal working temperature for everyone. To solve this problem, there are smart air conditioning systems that can be individually controlled by users from their smartphone – they can change the current temperature in their work zone for a short period of time. These data are available online, it is possible to work with them further, and the requirements of individual employees can be evaluated with a view to finding a compromise between all employees.

Smart rooms

Smart rooms combine a number of smart functions to streamline and improve the flow of employee meetings. The meeting management platform monitors the use of office spaces, such as meeting and conference rooms, desks, phone booths or small areas for focused work. All the afore-mentioned spaces can be reserved in the online reservation system or directly on the panels located next to the individual room or desk. Booking is fast, clear, simple and allows users to search for spaces based on size, occupancy and equipment. Display kiosks located in corridors and common areas show who is currently using the room, what the upcoming reservation is, for what purpose and for how long, or how to find a way to the currently reserved room. Rooms can be equipped with sensors that evaluate and analyse space usage data, helping companies understand how employees work. You can better support workers by providing them with the spaces and tools they need most.

Smart desks

Smart desks are siblings of smart rooms. Just like smart rooms, smart desks can be reserved via an online reservation platform. You can make the most of smart desks in offices where desks are mutually shared. Smart desks not only help employees find a free desk for the given day, but they can monitor the reservations made by other people who are or will be in the building and arrange with them, for example, an ad-hoc meeting and discuss personally important matters. Some smart desks offer sitting or standing options and remember each user’s preferences. Sensor data provide managers with an overview of the usability of each part of the premises and the department.

Video monitoring

Video monitoring adds a level of security to the office. It helps facility managers collect data to analyse how spaces are being used. Video monitoring allows to monitor multiple locations at the same time with access from a smartphone or a desktop. Images are usually stored in a cloud and can be downloaded at any time; they are easily searchable by date and time. 

The smart office is constantly evolving. As new technologies emerge, designed to make our lives easier, safer and more convenient, it will not be long before these tools become the standard for work and office spaces. Can you imagine working in an office without air conditioning or email? Soon we will be saying the same about smart conference room systems and smart coffee machines.

Make sure your office takes the right steps towards becoming a smart office.