Explaining IoT in a deeper context

Today, there exist several thousand IoT platforms, devices, sensors and gateways. What should you as a white label distributor, IoT enabler, retailer or vertical business leader choose?

According to Market Verticals, Safe4 is an IoT expert. We know that a safe, electronic doorlock-solution is far more complicated than installing a parking sensor. Even that can be tricky enough due to surrounding factors like dust, ice, snow and more.

We know IoT is difficult and we know there exist a long and winding road through the IoT value chain. Let us guide you!

 

The sensors and transmission of data

IoT is still no off-the-shelf business. The media write about Smart Cities as if they are plug and play, but to manage public infrastructure or an individual building you need deep knowledge about mechanics, process and control engineering, attenuators, radio transmission and “How it all Works”. Did you even know that all sensors are analogue at the tip? The head itself that feels the situation is very close to the human senses eye, ear, nose. The IoT platform is more like a less developed version of the human brain.

Think, if you are narrow-sighted and put on long distance + glasses, you don’t see a lot! The same goes for an optical sensor with a cheap or faulty focused lens. But why does a humidity or water leakage sensor have to be waterproof? There are several electronic components inside, including a battery powering the chipset and radio transmitter. Also, the cover for the antenna has to let trough radio signals and cannot be metal encapsulated. There are loads to think about. In addition, one must take into consideration the pricing and manufacturing.

Sensors can be very expensive in small numbers, produced in millions only down to a few cents. Due to mass production of the chipsets, the electronic brain inside holds all the sophisticated software. But a sensor can never be cheaper than the cost of its housing. The housing is again chosen according to the environment the sensor is put into or the physical level of clean or smooth surface. Sensors in a manhole or sewer must withstand acids encapsulated in a none-corrosive housing while sensors for medical tasks have to be of a material not harmful to the patient or other sensitive equipment. A temperature or GPS tracking sensor placed on live animals or in processed food must be of nontoxic and nonstick material approved by public health authorities. The approval process can also be a winding and expensive road even before a sensor can transmit as much as bit or message.

At Safe4, we safeguard that all our sensors meet regulations and are properly tested according to task, process and environment. We always test sensors and devices for a White List approval against our Gateways and radio bridges. To us, security is not only a matter of protection against unwanted incidents. We focus on every little component in the huge IoT ecosystem.

 

How to build an IoT value chain to revolutionize your customers business?

If you are an IoT enabler or a PropTech consultant, you tell your customers in very few words: leave it to the experts. Don’t waste time and money on such tech research activity. Concentrate on your business. We can help transforming it and explain how.

How do your customers afford to pay you or us?

We do customer PoC’s – Proof of Concept, but we also charge a fee. There are so many projects out there, and your customer has to be committed. For EUR 5 – 10k you are normally running a limited but sufficient Proof of Concept. We question key staff, make a report, show up with a kit of sensors and gateways connected to the Iotiliti platform in the cloud. Then, you can decide if your ideas are achievable with our solution and what a further project will cost.

Then we suggest a solution

Now you have started to transform your customers business from static income to recurring revenue of monthly fees per task, sensor or gateway. Then, we teach you how to build a Marketplace around all the IoT devices and services. This enables the recurring revenue model in an ecosystem for your customers and service suppliers, with you also benefitting a part of the revenue stream. You should act before competition! .

Safe4 helps you to both lead and win because we have the knowledge.  IoT transformation is what we do!

Other insights

Why we are experts in safe-electronic-lock control and Access Management.

There exist many vendors out there with a highly sophisticated Building Access Management...

Get in touch!

Have questions? Want to see a demo? Or wonder how can our solutions work for you? We are here to answer all your questions.

Get in touch!

Have questions? Want to see a demo? Or wonder how can our solutions work for you? We are here to answer all your questions.