Smart Office – already a necessity? 5 examples

According to a Future Workforce Study research for Dell and Intel, almost a half (42%) of Millenials indicates as a potential reason for leaving the job that “the office is not smart enough.” This is shocking news in the context of the fact that practical implementation of such solutions is very recent. It must not be forgotten, too that everyone can understand the concept of “smart office” differently. Some will have in mind the futuristic office from the TV series “The Jetsons”, while others will see it as a kind of upgrading comfort and improving working conditions. Companies such as Google and Facebook have started the “super-office” trend where the office is not a standard place where you only perform daily tasks, but it can also meet a whole range of needs classically associated with leisure.

1. Q is a system improve management of order in the office. Using a phone application , for example,  you can schedule the work of the cleaning staff. Just install the application and configure the to-do list on your smartphone. The right people will show up at in the time set by the user.
2. The Italian company Carlo Ratti Associati, among other things, specializes in designing customized intelligent offices. The main factor taken into account while planning space is the ecology and energy saving. The plans include employee identification and adjusting the conditions to their individual preferences, taking into account the heat and lighting level. In addition, the system is able to identify particular rooms being empty, and turn off all unnecessary equipment. The design should be implemented at the level of architectural planning because it includes not only the set of sensors, but also considerable interference in the installations.
3. Robin is a device for automating conference rooms booking. At the moment of entrance to the room, the software recognizes via Bluetooth and Beacons whose phone has appeared, and thus books it. It also helps to remote booking, check availability of halls and ordere necessary equipment. Soon the application will also to be equipped with the Auto Start function of presentations in Power Point.
4. By placing the sensor in the bathroom door,The Nerdery is able to learn about the use of the room over time and, above all, communicate its real-time availability. The solution is particularly useful when many employees use only one bathroom.
5. Intel solution is a fully integrated system with a range of functionalities. One of them is biometric recognition of employee’s faces. Instead of punching the card at the entrance, the functionality can identify people entering the office, thus saving office security a lot of work. The system has also such built modules as monitoring the weather, lawn humidity and adjusting room temperature to individual users.

While introducing smart office equipment one must keep in mind that our office is not going to become intelligent with just a single improvement. It is better to think of  the Smart Office as a project in progress. Currently, at Apollogic, we are working on our own Smart Office solution  which is able to skip the stage of Smart Office “construction“. Our set of hardware assumes remote control and optimizing the conditions in the office.