Digital innovation can help people who are going back to the office
Covid-19 has necessitated the need for optimising operations with the help of technology. By
As employees return to company offices full-time or in hybrid ways, tech and smart building management can pave the way for better safety and use of space. Vodacom employees have recently returned to the office in a hybrid model, and the managing executive for IoT (internet of things), Pavesh Govender, says connective digital innovations can underpin this new way of working.
“I think hybrid working is the way of the future and we need to use tech to make sure that we make the environments in which our employees work safer and more slick from an experience perspective, and then we need to use tech to also make sure that we engage with our employees on an ongoing basis, and treat them like humans.”
For instance, Vodacom has expanded its internal employee app during the pandemic, and rolled it out for other corporates and in the public sector.
It is designed as a single interface to let employees do everything from checking in while working remotely, booking leave or even ordering from the office canteen. It also allows Covid-19 prescreening for those coming to the offices and will soon include a desk booking system to regulate occupation.
Bringing smart building technology into play can also manage people and resources better.
Vodacom majority-owns IoT.nxt, which builds and curates smart buildings. Govender explains that this might include smarter access control to maintain security and health, or easier engagement with the building through digitally checking in visitors and swiping phones rather than an access card. Digital building management tools can bring down costs and focus resources where lower occupancy strains budgets.
Energy and digital company Schneider Electric adjusted its own offices by automating doors and swapping biometric fingerprint readers for tags to avoid contact. The company uses apps as customer portals and to release product update information. “It was ... important for us to enable a physically contactless environment while maintaining a great customer experience,” says Devan Pillay, cluster president designate.
Schneider Electric offers an open IoT platform called EcoStruxure, which can integrate various ways of managing a building for the return of staff. Its Workplace Advisor offering on this platform, for instance, uses sensors to detect how much an office is being occupied, helping companies to make better decisions about optimising occupation, including infrastructure services such as cleaning and parking provisions.
“For example, it provides information on oxygen levels, airflow, temperature and humidity, and tracks the movement of people in a building,” says Pillay.
“This in turn allows companies to predict patterns and identify risk.”
Another way Schneider Electric has optimised its operations in the current climate is by using augmented reality as a way to provide remote support without sending in a full team to assess.
“This technology relies on the cloud in order to resolve issues that would previously require site visits,” says Pillay.
Linda Morris, the managing director of Smart Technology, says: “It is vital for businesses today to have a reputable technology partner since the success of your business will become as important to them as it is to us.” She explains that technology is now an integrated and core component of business that extends into the work-from-home and consumer environment.
However, these shifts do not come without their challenges and costs, of course.
“Companies had to invest in technology where it made sense, even when it wasn’t budgeted for,” says Pillay. He also reminds that the correct protocols and procedures need to be in place for secure and effective technology use.
Morris says that a challenge in the industry is a lack of equal accreditation or regulation, often meaning that the effects of poorly designed solutions end up with consumers. “So within an economy that is now highly dependent on technology-driven operations, this does mean that services are not graded fairly taking into account accreditations, certifications and solution design and security – decisions are made on cost as an entry point for competitors to gain market share.”
Govender says that not only big corporations with large budgets have access to such tech. “Small businesses can look at smarter access control, they can link their energy management to simple air conditioning, and so forth, to optimise the way they do business. They can really start small and scale fast, depending on where they are in their businesses.”
Pillay says: “The pandemic has opened our eyes to how technology can optimise operations; it has been a massive enabler of business and will continue to futureproof the way we approach decision-making and deployment for years to come.”