MARKET REPORT The Smart Offi ce
The Smart Offi ce
Technology is offering the opportunity for offi ces to become smarter as businesses look to maximise
productivity and employee wellbeing. As we see the rise of connected technology and now artifi cial intelligence
is the Channel in position to deliver the future of our workplaces? In this feature Editor David Dungay delves
into this world to see what part partners can play
The o ce has changed for
many of us over the last
decade where we have seen
technology seep into the
work place which has o ered us
things like hot desking, mobile
conferencing, meeting room
booking systems and many
other, mostly uninspiring but
useful, tools and services. e
ood gates are now beginning
to open and as more intelligent
technology becomes relevant the
future of the o ce is looking
like a productive one.
In Microsoft’s Digital
Culture: Your competitive
advantage report looks at the
culture in the Irish market.
Where companies have a strong
digital culture employees
feel more empowered and
innovative. Productivity
was further down the list of
with only 22% linking it to
digitisation of the business.
“Impactful digital
transformation isn’t really about
IT. It’s about people. is is
where company culture comes
in,” said the report. A key concept
is that of ‘digital culture’, which
the report de ned as “Shared,
underlying, and deep-rooted
basic assumptions, values, beliefs,
and norms that characterize how
an organization encourages and
supports technology use to get
work done in the most e ective
way”.
Myles Leach, MD of NFON
UK, added “ e phrase “smart
o ce” has been one of the
industry’s biggest buzzwords
for the last decade. e problem
is that over this period what
the phrase means has changed
and, with the advent of new
technologies, it’s important that
the channel add value rather
than confuse. An intelligent
approach is to use the shift to the
smart o ce as an opportunity to
unify and consolidate suppliers
– integrating data and voice -
making it easier for businesses
to implement and use cloud
services.”
British Land ran a survey of
1,063 o ce workers in London
(of whom 291 are fully involved
in making decisions about the
location of their organisation)
to explore the appetite for – and
perceptions of – smart o ces.
Businesses largely appear
to be convinced that a smart
o ce is something they should
be planning for: 90 per cent of
decision-makers see a business
reason for working in one and
87 per cent say they’ll require
smart technology in their o ce
the next time they move.
Respondents were also given
a list of possible smart o ce
features and asked which of
those they don’t already have
would appeal to them. e most
popular were:
IOT IN THE WORKPLACE
Predictive Maintenance
Through strategic sensor placement, and autonomous systems
(using AI) businesses can help eliminate downtime of systems
such as elevators, lighting, and HVAC (heating, ventilation and air
conditioning).
Getting Comfy
The approach to occupant comfort stands to be completely
reformed. Live feedback from occupants via an app would mean
room temperature can be adjusted immediately and accurately,
according to the wishes of those in the room.
Data Analysis and Decision Making
Building sensors that pinpoint the causes of excess utility usage
will allow for the implementation of fl oor, room, or even deskspecifi
c
plans to combat wastage. Rather than resorting to guesswork
or blanket solutions, companies can make datadriven
decisions
based on specifi c pain points.
>
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36 | Comms Business Magazine | January 2019 www.commsbusiness.co.uk
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