INDUSTRY CHALLENGES
Remember when you installed your first smart light, thermostat or speaker and there was a different mobile app or interface to control each device? This was the introduction of the Internet of Things (IoT) to the home. Then products like the Amazon Alexa and Google Home came to the rescue and provided a unified solution to control all these new in-home IoT devices.
Many commercial property owners and operators today still use dozens of disconnected tech solutions and outdated technology to manage and monitor their building’s energy, controls, performance, safety, and communications systems. This inefficient set of operations is a costly challenge for building owners and managers who are under increased pressure to reduce expenses and power usage while meeting the rising expectations of occupants for a modernized, safe and healthy space to live and work.
Commercial buildings are more complex than the home and serve different purposes – they function as a place for business and provide services to people, such as offices, schools, hotels, restaurants and retail, stadiums, places of worship, and multi-family units.
The commercial building industry has lagged behind in developing centralized platforms to connect its growing number of systems; and now more than ever the market is being inundated with new technology solutions commonly referred to as Building-IoT (BIoT) devices that optimize a physical space for essential functions and emerging services such as hands-free controls, adjustments to temperature, lighting, and air quality, emergency response, security and much more.
More specifically, this problem exists because: