Is Your Business Ready For Wearable Tech?

Businessnewsdaily.com published an article recently on the ways in which wearable technology can be used within a working environment. With promises of improved employee safety monitoring, boosts in productivity and the encouragement of healthier lifestyles resulting in lesser healthcare costs, businesses are pursuing ways to fit wearable technology into workplace daily operations.
The article states that although wearable technology has been a fast growing sector in Augmented Reality, however we can’t say that we’re seeing a vast number of businesses using it within the workplace, with hesitance attributable to ROI. The result of such resistance sees businesses opting for ‘safer’ options, such as stronger network security, IoT and other technological advancements, first. Meanwhile, wearable technology is still going from strength to strength, according to a report on wearables from the International Data Corp: shipments of such devices are set to reach 101.9 million by the end of this year, a 29 percent rate of growth from 2015.
The article states that businesses that have already adopted wearable technology are seeing the following benefits:
• Streamlining operations and boosting productivity
• Monitoring employee activity and guiding them through potentially dangerous tasks
• Offering of fitness trackers in order to improve workers’ health, with the potential to make them more productive and less absent and also having the possibility to save employers healthcare costs
• Changing consumer relations, with targeted advertisement and simplified payment services, using NFC (near-field communication) chips

Security of wearables is also discussed. Warning that a lack of encryption makes data easily interceptable and that NFC chips are only designed to communicate at a short distance, making it easy for hackers to reach sensitive information, that control over devices in the workplace is vital. The article offers suggestions on reducing the risks of hacks:
• Ensuring that devices are only allowed access in certain areas
• Creating separate policies and rules for wearables in the workplace
• Creating a separate channel outside of the company network for wearable devices