Last year, the COVID-19 pandemic quickly upended office life as we knew it. As vaccine distribution continues and cases decline, many employers are preparing to welcome employees back to the office.

To prepare, employers and building owners are investing in IoT technology as they look for ways to ensure occupant health and safety, comfort, and productivity. In fact, industry analyst firm Gartner found that 47 percent of businesses plan to increase their investment in IoT technology.

Role of Power over Ethernet and Smart LED Lighting

Power over Ethernet (PoE) and smart lighting are two key pieces enabling technologies in smart building IoT.

PoE plays a key role in delivering the connectivity, bandwidth and power required by connected devices behind smart building IoT implementations. Transition Networks offers various PoE switches, including PoE, PoE+, and PoE++, that can enable building owners to connect and power IoT devices wherever needed.

Smart LED lighting can be used to enable motion detection, daylight sensing, and UVC to combat COVID-19 and to guide security events with color-coded lighting.

Through sensors and timers now embedded into Smart LED lighting and powered by PoE, other building factors can be monitored and modified, including air quality, temperature, sound, and more, to provide new levels of environmental comfort and actionable information. For example, the sensors can provide information on when a room was used and when it was last sanitized with UVC to ensure COVID-19 safety compliance.

Free Webinar on Smart Office IoT

On Thursday, April 22 at 1 p.m. CT, Transition Networks will join Igor and Walsh PoE for the panel “Smart Offices with IoT Technology.” The Q&A style discussion will explore how IoT-connected devices using PoE can make office spaces smarter, healthier, and more productive. You’ll be able to ask questions as the panel explores the smart building IoT technology that’s drawing employees back into the office.

I’ll be speaking along with Cheyo Rogers, Director of Business Development at Igor and John Jung, Project Manager at Walsh PoE.

Click here to register to attend the free Zoom webinar.