The Internet of Things, or IoT, is a phrase that has been prevalent for over a decade now. The benefits of having smart devices that communicate with each other is immeasurable, but what about if these devices could also learn behaviours to help make operations more efficient and ultimately more automated?
The benefits of integrating an IoT SIM card into operations has been felt across every industry, for example, in agriculture an irrigation system that includes a SIM card that can report soil conditions back to base can save a farmers hours of investigative work. But what if this machine could be programmed to read the soil conditions and respond to certain triggers – i.e turn on the irrigation system if the soil is below a certain moisture level – this would be a form of trigger-based AI. Better still, if the machine could be programmed to respond to learned behaviour, for example it learnt that every time the soil moisture level dropped below a certain point, the farmer turned the irrigation on, it would automate this process without any prior programming – this is a form of machine learning. This type of machine learning could bring huge benefits to almost every industry.
In a warehouse setting, IoT lighting could learn, over time as operators turn the lights on, that when the light levels are below a certain point, if a truck arrives in the loading bay, additional lights could be required and automatically turn this lighting on.
Machine learning is already used heavily online – when you’re shopping online and you start to see those shoes you were looking at yesterday everywhere you go, the algorithm is learning and responding to your specific behaviour.
An IoT SIM is very much the same as the SIM that you might have in your mobile phone, they come in the same size types – mini, micro and nano! But with an IoT SIM there can also be ‘embedded’ versions – often used in wearable tech where a traditional SIM would be impractical. Like a traditional SIM, they have varying data levels – depending on your monthly subscription, or Pay As You Go choice. And while these devices do come with an associated cost, the time-saving opportunities often cancel out this cost several times over.
The number of IoT enabled devices on the market is at an all-time high across every sector, so there has never been a better time to take stock and review your operations. Is there an opportunity within your business that could benefit from Machine to Machine (M2M) communication, could elements of your operations be automated to save time and resources? If you need any help spotting these opportunities, then our experts would be happy to assist. We can also advise on the best IoT SIMs available and help put together a bespoke package to help your business take the next step towards embedding the IoT into your business.
