How Wearable Tech Is Changing The Game Of Business

Improves Workplace Productivity

Wearable tech is helping to untether employees from their desks while still helping them keep a finger to the pulse of their business. For example, with smart watches, you get access to calendar and appointment reminders. Unlike cell phones and tablets, wearable tech delivers much of the same information and features while keeping hands free for other tasks.

In the retail industry, wearable tech allows salespeople to have immediate access to information like tech specs or pricing. They can call for help from management or other departments while still keeping their hands free. These features allow salespeople to stay right with the customer while getting information or calling for support.

Both wearable cameras and smart glasses allow technicians to look up schematics or contact more knowledgeable support. They can both see the issue in real time, go through the process together and fix the issue.

Customer service reps can show supervisors what is on their screen and get tech support without either having to leave their desks. This allows managers to manage larger teams of people more efficiently, which decreases customer wait time.

Construction workers are able to use wearable tech to see inside piping or walls or other small spaces where they can’t fit. It also allows them to get their eyes on something they would otherwise be trying to blindly fix.

Opens The Gate To New Business Opportunities

As more and more consumers are using wearable tech, it offers retailers and other business greater information about consumer habits and patterns. These, in turn, can help businesses better tailor and market their products to the consumer.

Technology currently gives advertisers a great deal of insight into what marketing campaigns are actually causing people to purchase or spend. However, wearable tech will give them the opportunity to determine what people are looking at and what they aren’t i.e. what is getting their attention and what is not.

With smartwatches, for example, a customer service rep can receive alerts of customer preferences so as to deliver an experience worthy of a VIP customer. Streamlining customer interactions this way increases efficiency and makes way for new successes.

Crucial Role In Health & Safety

Many companies are already giving employees wearable devices and creating wellness programs to help increase the fitness level of employees. This is particularly important for employees who spend long hours sitting at their desks or remote employees that might be much less physically active.

Not only do smart watches help monitor health, but they can give you reminders when it’s time to get up and be active or when you have been sitting too long. But these are just a few of the potential uses for wearables in the business world that can help increase productivity, manage health and cut costs all at the same time.

Fitness watches are already able to track and monitor heart rates and soon may even be able to help prevent heart attacks and strokes. Wearable devices also encourage regular deep breathing, but may soon be able to even monitor stress levels to help even further increase employee wellness.

One product already on the market can help prevent accidents for truck and delivery drivers. The smart cap looks just like a baseball cap but can detect alertness levels in drivers. The cap can even give a driver a warning when they are approaching “microsleep” to help reduce fatigue-related accidents.

Security Concerns

While some employees may have concerns about the vast amount a data an employer may be able to gather about them through wearable tech, there is currently a wrinkle in the system that may help them rest easier.

At the moment, wearable tech actually stores very little data but instead sends it to a nearby smartphone. Those smartphones, however, are not nearly as secure as companies and businesses that deal with proprietary data would like. In addition, when tech companies start delving into the terms of service of the devices, they find that the companies that make the device also own the data, not the buyers or wearers of the device.

So, for the moment, thanks to the security risks that wearable tech currently presents, employees can breathe a little easier about just how much data their employers can collect on or about them.

Wrapping Up

While wearable tech is offering a wide range of new opportunities to businesses, it still has a long way to go to reach its full potential or be a viable replacement for a smartphone or tablet. At the moment, it is a valuable accessory to a smartphone or tablet but is not yet ready to replace them.

That being said, the earlier businesses start strategizing around the future of wearable tech, the better chance they have of staying ahead of competitors. Businesses and companies that find ways to embrace and utilize these new technologies will often find a number of doors opening for them that can lead to expansion, growth, and profitability.

 

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