Written By: Emma Montgomery
Reading Time: 2 minutes 10 seconds
IoT, or the internet of things, describes the billions of physical devices that are now connected to the internet. These devices have the ability to collect data, and to share it with each other. You probably already have multiple IoT devices in your home, and an easy way of visualising this is your smart TV or speaker. All you need to do is download your music streaming app to both devices, and from the touch of a button on your phone, you can play whatever song you want on any of the three devices – easier, simpler and cheaper than buying physical records. CDs and vinyl records used to be common in every home in the country – now, in the main, they’re collector’s items. This is an example of how innovation in IoT has already changed the way we live today, and in the coming years we will only see more.
Soon, everything you can think of will be smart. A popular Christmas present last year was smart toothbrushes – connected to a smart phone app that gives users feedback on their oral hygiene. While this may seem like a novelty, it makes sense – it’s basically like a dentist in your pocket, telling you how to avoid gum disease and reducing the need for visits to a real dentist.
For the operators of commercial buildings, connecting your existing BMS to the cloud is a logical step. Instead of having to waste time, energy and money completely replacing your old system, just update your existing system with Pulse – like a Chromecast, but to make your building smart, not your TV. This has many benefits, like monitoring energy usage, being able to see when your building is occupied and cutting down on some unnecessary maintenance visits.
However, these benefits don’t come without risk. You may have seen headlines about IoT devices that have caused concern in the last few years. There was the V-Tech breach in 2018, where hackers were able to collect data from IoT products, for instance. So much data is being collected – consumers need to know that it is secure.
With Pulse, your data is yours and is completely safe. Security is a huge priority for us as a business, and is one of the things that sets us apart. By implementing the Open Connectivity Foundation’s standards, we are secure by design. There is complete, end-to end encryption, and your data is only accessible by those you have authorised to see it. Take a look at the Open Connectivity Foundation Specifications to learn more: https://openconnectivity.org/developer/specifications/