ASSA ABLOY has begun its journey into the IoT sphere by connecting their innovative products.
The company is making a vital transition from selling hardware to also selling digital services. Taking the Internet of Things (IoT) route, ASSA ABLOY is enabling their devices to communicate and interact through the Internet, allowing the company to monitor, control, and analyse their functions, thereby, creating a new business model that optimises their products’ true value.
By extending Internet connectivity to their physical devices, the company is able to gather important data that helps them deliver more benefits to their customers.
ASSA ABLOY Shared Technologies product manager Tomi Viljanen is working on ‘Information Services’, a global platform currently under testing, designed to connect the Group’s products through digital infrastructure.
“It is happening within the company,” says Viljanen. “This work is hugely vital. If we just look around at what customers and competitors are doing, we can see that everyone is working in this area.”
Intelligence in each component
Data gathered from cloud-connected ASSA ABLOY Entrance Systems products is used to inform and enhance servicing and maintenance performance. The ASSA ABLOY Hi-O (Highly Intelligent Opening) technology works by building intelligence and communicative capabilities into each of all the components involved in a doorway solution, enabling higher security and simplified management.
As a result, service engineers are able to react faster to a faulty door, or even replace a door’s malfunctioning components before it breaks down. This not only makes for a more secure environment, but also saves time and cost. ASSA ABLOY products, such as the Smart Residential product range, and Yale and August locks are gradually becoming connected devices that can be controlled remotely through the users’ smartphones.
By applying IoT in large facilities where there is considerable flow of people, data about customer and staff movement can be collected and measures taken to improve services.
In a store, for instance, such information can help ensure managers are opening and closing at the right times, identify busy periods or understand how long customers usually stay in a store.
Building close-knit connections
In order to support HID Global’s IoT applications, ASSA ABLOY is also working on building a cloud-based platform that will enable these digital ID credential products and software to function in a more interconnected structure.
