Chirp, chirp! That’s your water bottle signaling your phone that you’re dangerously below your hydration goals for the day. The little sensor measuring your water intake is just one of the billions of sensors that make up the Internet of Things (IoT). From personal electronics to agriculture, innovators have squeezed smart sensors into unlikely places, sending billions of devices speeding onto the information superhighway. We’re all savvy to the common newsmakers: self-driving cars, smart cities, and nosy porch cameras. But for every motion-activated Ring video posted on Nextdoor, there are a million sensors humming under the radar. Nestled in your iPhone or Apple Watch is enough sensing tech to rival a mission to Mars: you’ll find sensors powering the depth perception that glows-up selfies on Portrait Mode and the ambient noise monitor that pings you when restaurant cacophony exceeds comfortable limits. Smart sensors sneak into unusual nooks and crannies like your fitness water bottle and your puppy’s water dish, promising 500 billion IoT-connected devices by 2030.The flood of data flows back to an app, dashboard, or corporate HQ. The Internet of Things presents organizations with an unparalleled peek into product and user behaviors.But managing the new inundation of data and making sense of it can be a significant challenge for businesses. To rein it in, smart organizations are funneling IoT data into their process automation strategies. IoT serves as new fuel to boost process effectiveness—but only if it's exercised smartly. Here are four ways process automation can benefit the Internet of Things.
1. Squeeze useful insights out of big data
By integrating sensing streams with process automation, you not only find a lasting home for big data—you can put it to work. Telematics sensors measure a vehicle’s speed, location, and overall performance history. This information feeds into a central process automation dashboard, powering decisions made by workflows. The data collected helps fleet managers plan predictive engine maintenance, optimize delivery routing, and identify drivers with a little too much lead in their foot. Some help caretakers and physicians keep an eye on patients from afar. Health professionals can find new insights into how often a patient sits or stands, how many steps they take throughout the day, and if they’ve taken a fall. The patient can also ping for emergency services dispatched to their exact location. This trove of data helps the medical and home care industry build care plans and trigger messaging that encourages healthier behaviors.
