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You may have seen the term “Internet of Things” bandied about recently in the popular press and media outlets, and like many fads considered it to be some sort of “buzzword” or meaningless phrase created by social media gurus that can be safely ignored.

However nothing could be further than the truth. The IoT (as we will now refer to it) is a broad definition for how almost any device around us can be connected to each other and other services over the Internet.

That may sound a little broad, so let’s consider some examples:

Checking the room temperature at home remotely, and control the HVAC if required – so you arrive home to a pleasant environment
Monitoring and controlling water flow levels for irrigation systems in four different states from a central office
Receiving an email from isolated vending machines when they detect possible theft, excess vibration or tilting
Real-time position monitoring of valuable cargo shipments as they travel between warehouses

With fixed or reliable wireless Internet access in all these examples, you can accomplish it all and much more. The IoT allows you to be in more than one place at the same time – to receive data from anywhere – and to control from anywhere – as long as Internet access is available.

Furthermore the volume and types of data that can be collected is only limited by your requirements and device type. With a constant IP connection between a sensor and your IT system – data can be gathered for real-time analysis. Information is power – and the more you know about your assets and their performance – the more agile your decision-making can become.

This type of machine communication isn’t new – for example you’d be familiar with terms such as M2M and telematics for many years. However the concept of channelling all the data over the Internet or a private IP network is what the IoT is about.

Existing sensors and actuators (the devices that send and receive data) can usually be adapted to the new IoT with little effort. For example, a sensor with a 4-20mA current loop output can be engineered with a current sensor that can be read with a basic microcontroller – and then interfaced to the IoT node.

As most IoT environments are skewed towards the consumer and technically-literate hobbyist, there will be work involved in adapting the system for your particular needs. For example, the provider may offer a range of doorbell or simple temperature sensors – but not devices that can transmit or receive data over standard data buses such as IIC or SPI. In situations like these, your engineering team or parter will be required to create interfaces between your current devices and the bridge to the IoT.

Enabling your devices to work with the IoT can be a challenge, due to the variety of systems and standards on the market, each with their own pros and cons. There are many points to consider, and these can include:

The initial costs of interface hardware, staff training and ongoing maintenance

Can you use your existing actuators and sensors – or create your own ones, or must you acquire new ones that are specific to the IoT system under consideration?
Is the required power and communications infrastructure available when upgrading particular areas to the IoT?
Will the data and commands be transferred using an external Internet-based host system, or can you keep the data within internal private networks?
If using an external host system, can they offer you an agreed SLA value?
Is the host system using proprietary data protocols – forcing you to use the host system provider’s engineering team to add your own devices to the system?
What security features are available to stop unauthorised access to the devices and the host system?

The Internet of Things is more than an exciting concept – it exists today, and your organisation can benefit from it. However due to the incredibly combination of systems and options – consider partnering with an independent organisation that has your needs first and foremost.

Here at the LX Group we can discuss and understand your requirements and goals – then tailor anything from a modified sensor to a complete Internet-enabled system for you. For more information or a confidential discussion about your ideas and how we can help bring them to life – click here to contact us, or telephone 1800 810 124.

LX is an award-winning electronics design company based in Sydney, Australia. LX services include full turnkey design, electronics, hardware, software and firmware design. LX specialises in embedded systems and wireless technologies design. https://lx-group.com.au

Published by LX Pty Ltd for itself and the LX Group of companies, including LX Design House, LX Solutions and LX Consulting, LX Innovations.

After completing the process of taking your idea from a concept to a finished product and service, apart from dealing with possible faulty units or returns you may consider the process to be over with regards to the customer. Now and again you may receive the odd customer contact, but consider these to be simple and not part of “the bigger picture”. However your customers are still potential customers and product advocates – so you need to take care of their needs before and after purchasing and using your products. This not only involves dealing with them on an ad-hoc basis, but having a structured system in place to handle servicing your customers’ needs.

The investment required for such systems can generally be proportional to the investment made by your customers, however providing excellent customer service is an investment – and the more you put in, the more you get out. Finally, the more interaction you allow with customers – the greater their sense of “ownership” – which equals more sales and positive recommendations to others.

With this is mind, we will now summarise a variety of methods you can use to support your customers, with the goal of each method to satisfy customer needs and maintain sales growth.

– Contact centre and online support systems. Offering a direct channel of support to your customers is paramount, especially for more complex or specialised products. An unhappy, confused customer can be converted to a happy, satisfied customer very quickly if their questions, feedback and problems can be handled in a timely, friendly and live manner.

This can be achieved with a contact centre staffed by employees trained in customer service and every facet of the product they represent. By extension, the requirement to interact with customers electronically via email and social media is also relevant due to the popularity of these methods.

– Ongoing design modifications, improvements and unit cost reduction. Over time feedback will be received by customers, and all those involved internally with the product, and possibly external regulators. This feedback is valuable as it can help reduce problems, introduce incremental features for existing designs, maintain standards compliance, and also reduce manufacturing and servicing costs.

Just as software can be updated over time, a product design can possibly be altered with minimal changes at the design and manufacturing stage. By implementing constant improvements you can maintain internal and external customer satisfaction with your product. Furthermore, by advising existing and potential customers of these improvements, they understand that you are invested in your product past the initial purchase date and will feel more confident with your organisation.

– Product life cycle management. For products with a finite life cycle, offering more up to date versions of the product is also considered to be great customer services. Savvy customers realise that some things just don’t last forever (case in point – smart phones) and they are happy to update their purchases over time. If they are happy with the product, and loyal to the brand – they will expect you to keep up and meet their needs in the future.

Life cycle management is the opposite of leaving a product “as is” after manufacturing. Instead, your team receives feedback from customers, manufacturing, regulatory agencies and other relevant parties to improve the product. This can also involve market research as if you were starting over, however you instead create a product “road map” – planning the future for the product.

Furthermore if there are enough tangible reasons to replace the product with a complete new version, succession planning needs to be conducted. This involves the design process for a new, replacement product superior to the original that takes into account the needs of customers and other stakeholders – yet maintaining (if necessary) compatibility with the outdated version.

As you can see, there’s more customer service than simply sales and delivery. Successful organisations engage with all stakeholders to increase their business success. However if this concept seems foreign to you, or you’re not sure how to implement a successful customer service system – it pays to consult with a team who can provide them, matching your requirements, budget and desired outcomes. Here at the LX Group we have a wide variety of experience in the entire product design process from initial concept – through to manufacturing, sales, support and onwards.

So contact us today for a confidential discussion about your ideas and how we can help bring them to life – click here to contact us, or telephone 1800 810 124.

LX is an award-winning electronics design company based in Sydney, Australia. LX services include full turnkey design, electronics, hardware, software and firmware design. LX specialises in embedded systems and wireless technologies design. https://lx-group.com.au