If you can measure it, you can monitor it. And if you can monitor it, you can use the information you receive to change things for the better. 

Monitoring can save lives. It can improve safety and wellbeing, lead to less energy use and lift the quality of our lives. It can be applied in an incredible range of situations and locations – from our homes, to our workplaces, to the middle of the ocean.

Closing the distances between us

Distance can be an enormous barrier to taking care of people, animals and assets. But with monitoring, we can help overcome the problems caused by distance.

Remote patient monitoring, for instance, took huge steps forward during the pandemic. Doctors can now use online consults to talk to their patients, then continue to receive data from patients’ devices: smart watches, blood pressure cuffs, pulse oximeters, glucometers and more.

In New Zealand, there was a ten-fold increase in the number of telehealth consultations during 2020 compared to the previous year, according to a HiNZ report. With the Ministry of Health having earmarked $10.5 million for digital enablement, remote patient monitoring is here to stay. Which should lead to some excellent outcomes: a large study by the UK’s Department of Health found remote patient monitoring resulted in a 45% reduction in mortality rates.

Read more about 5G next generation healthcare

It’s not only people whose health has benefitted from remote monitoring during lockdowns. Remote monitoring is also improving health outcomes for zoo animals. Many animals require carefully regulated environments, controlled for temperature, humidity and water levels. With IoT connected devices, zookeepers can be notified as soon as any problem is detected by the remote sensors. If there’s a power cut, keepers can move quickly to protect animals from the heat or cold.

Temperature control saves power and improves comfort

Being alerted to temperature changes is also valuable for protecting against spoilage – whether that’s food, plants, or medications.

At Hawkes Bay DHB, for instance, temperature-sensitive medications are stored in 80 fridges across more than one location. They installed monitoring devices on their fridges, so now the team is immediately notified via the IoT Bridge platform when the temperature rises. They can quickly move the medication to a fridge that’s working, or fully close a door that’s been left ajar, preventing wastage and ensure medications stay safe and effective.

Read more about Hawkes Bay DHB’s temperature monitoring solutions

Safety is also a priority at Cardrona skifield, where the team can be looking after up to 5000 people each day in peak snow season. Monitoring food temperatures and water infrastructure was taking staff away from more important responsibilities, and one freezer malfunction had already cost the business around $30,000 in spoiled produce. Introducing monitoring has not only saved time and money, but also ensured compliance with food and fire safety regulations.

Find out more about Cardrona’s IoT network

Smarter, safer workplaces

Temperature monitoring can assist in creating healthier workspaces in almost any industry, making people safer and more comfortable. Humidity, light and noise levels can also be monitored, as well as air quality factors and carbon monoxide levels. Occupancy monitoring can also allow business owners to better control energy use in their facilities, so they can keep employees comfortable while also cutting wasted energy.

Read more about occupancy monitoring

For those employed in high-risk jobs, monitoring can be even more essential. On offshore rigs, for instance, remote monitoring can track the weather, atmospheric gasses, asset integrity and wave heights. A crack in a rig can be identified when it’s just a hairline, instead of waiting until it’s large enough to be spotted during a manual inspection. As monitoring increases, it will mean fewer people required to work on the rigs, allowing them to become fully unmanned for the majority of their operating time. These are dangerous jobs; fewer people on rigs will mean fewer fatalities. 

Almost anything, almost anywhere

If we can measure it, we can monitor it: weather, water, workplace wellbeing. We can use remote monitoring to produce data about almost anything, almost anywhere – talk to the team at Spark about how monitoring solutions could work for your business.

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