Smart Tech Tools That Will Save Your Business Money

Smart tech, or Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology, is showing up everywhere. In the home, people are saying to Alexa, to turn on and off various appliances. In the city, boarding the train has become as simple as swiping a smart card and stepping on it.

But you see very little of smart tech’s influence on businesses. Sure, everyone is on a computer, but smart tech isn’t just a gadget that’s connected to the internet. Smart tech is designed to analyze the situation they are in and offer a solution, usually through a smartphone.

There are so many applications of smart tech that it’s a wonder it is taking so long for companies to catch on. For all the details on how you can integrate some smart tech into your business, read our guide.

Payment systems

Contactless payment tools are likely to be the most recognizable option on this list. It is what is allowing people to board trains stress-free, as I mentioned, but it is also in every high street shop and on buses too.

Since we all became a lot more hygienic, there has been a great boom in the uptake of contactless payment methods. They allow customers and staff to avoid touching any germ-infested notes or coins and offer a swifter and easier alternative. Where once only the biggest of chains bothered to buy the new tech, now even your local newsagents have shelled out sometimes as little as $30 to get a contactless payment reader.

On top of making queues vanish with how fast it works, the contactless payment system is also more secure, with tokenization and end-to-end encryption securing payments.

Plus, if you are concerned about credit card transaction fees try this credit processing tool, which puts the fee on the customer, allowing them to choose if they want to pay it or forgo the item.

And as you’ve seen from the fact that trains are accepting railcards and buses are accepting bus passes with the card, you can even create your own smart card membership or loyalty cards. Since they can store data, they can keep track of things like a customer’s personal details and how much they have bought, allowing you to offer rewards, like buy 10 coffees and get one free.

Security systems

No doubt you’ve seen the funny home security cam footage of some neighbor falling over a bin while looking at his phone, but there are more uses to smart tech in security than getting a good laugh.

There are smart tech gadgets that are specially made for businesses but come with all the features of the home security systems you are aware of – and more! You will save loads of money when you think about how much can be stolen through an exposed window.

As a standard, these systems come with a camera that is motion detected, so that it will capture anyone approaching, and will contact the local police if there is a problem. They can also offer a two-way conversation so that you can tell that delivery driver where to leave your package. They are also remotely activated from your smartphone so you can even open the door to let the driver drop the package inside if you want to.

Meanwhile, smart cards and readers make an appearance yet again, inside businesses. Access can be controlled with smart cards that double as employee ID badges, and access can be personalized to the person holding it. So, if the new kid has to earn a qualification or hasn’t had a background check yet, you can keep them from accessing various areas of your business.

It also creates an automatic paper trail, so if something disappears from the warehouse you will know who was in there last and for how long.

Energy-saving tech

If you are conscious of the climate crisis – or even if you aren’t – smart tech can help you keep your carbon footprint down. And in turn, it will keep your utilities down. If your business has premises, and that is to say, isn’t entirely online or from home, you will know just how much money it takes to power an office or retail store.

There are lots of solutions to common energy usage problems in smart tech since most of them have been designed with energy efficiency in mind. For one thing, smart thermostats will fill the room with heat while using less power. They will also stabilize the temperature by turning it off when they need to.

If you are running a store, you will know that bright lighting is known to make your products more impressive, but with smart lighting kits, you can get the same effect using less energy. Their LED bulbs can be dimmed and change color for an extra special twist.

Plus, there are smart plugs available, for the business owner that knows they should be going around pulling out every computer socket but has a life to live. Smart plugs can be timed to turn off automatically when the bell goes, so there isn’t power leaking into unused appliances. You’d be surprised how much that puts up a home utility bill, never mind an office.

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