According to a survey by Salesforce, wearable technology is growing three times faster than the smartphone revolution and, ~79% of corporate participants think wearables are or will be strategic to their company’s future success. As we speak, businesses are adopting this emerging technology. This article will explain how wearables can help you as a business to drive revenue and reduce costs.

ROI of wearables

Investing in wearables is a challenging and futuristic decision. Companies have to invest in hardware, build applications, APIs integrations and expect employees to embrace the technology. One could wonder if this is worth investing in and, the answer is yes. Wearable technology can re-engineer work processes and improve;

1. Workplace security
2. Time management and employee efficiency
3. Effective communication
4. Employee safety

Wearables in demand

Smartwatch

The Apple Watch Series and Samsung Galaxy Watch are the market leaders. Smartwatches are evolving with functions that differentiate from mobile app experiences, making it the most used wearable technology. By developing native apps or by using 3rd party watch apps, companies can use this technology to:

1. Track employee clock in and clock outs by using beacon technology and verifications such as touch id.
2. Share real-time analytics with executives for data-backed decision making.
3. Improve communication by making sure that emails and calls won't go unnoticed.
4. Share real-time instructions and checklists for field officers.
5. Access real-time data from other business applications for decision making.
6. Guarantee field employees safety through location and biometric vital tracking.
7. Initiate employees health and fitness programs that will reduce the cost of health claims.

Wearable glass

Even though wearable glasses aren't yet a commercially viable product, its usefulness in the workplace is proven. Wearable glasses use immersive technologies like Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR). MR is the newest immersive technology and Google Glass and Microsoft HoloLens are the industry leaders of this technology. Corporates have adopted this technology to:

1. Customise and visualise products that can't be produced straight away (Automobile customisations)
2. Presell luxury products to customers (pre selling apartment complexes)
3. Provide on the job training sessions to employes using mixed reality
4. See-what-I-see coaching with live remote trainers and consultants (Allied health field officers getting live instructions from superiors)
5. Evaluate employee performance and training with streaming sessions.

Earpods

Earpods provide an opportunity for multitasking. With the use of AI assistants like Siri & Alexa, earpods allow employees to do the following whilst their hands are involved in a task.

1. Send and receive texts, emails and calls.
2. Run search queries using voice assistance.
3. Access checklists.
4. Play recorded instructions.
5. Add reminders.

Digital lanyards & Beacon technology

If you are not in a position to invest in leading wearable technologies, digital lanyards and beacon tags will be an affordable solution. These technologies can:

1. Assure workplace security by controlling access.
2. Automate employee check-in and check-out
3. Provide proximity alerts for field workers security.

Gesture recognition wearables

Gesture recognition wearables helps you manoeuvre presentations, videos, AR and VR modules and control other connected devices of your work environment. Tap Strap wearable keyboard and Myo gesture control armbands are a few examples of this domain.

1. Assure workplace security by controlling access.
2. Automate employee check-in and check-out
3. Provide proximity alerts for field workers security.

Wearable apps (Real-world examples)

ShiftExpert - employee shift planner

ShiftExpert is a watch Os app that enables employees to plan and manage their shifts better. The app allows users to clock in and clock out, mark their lunch break and request shift swaps or leaves through their watch. This provides managers with better visibility of workforce availability and identifies gaps. Managers can assign tasks in real-time to optimise gaps in the workflow. This app can also improve employee satisfaction by factoring in their shift requests when it comes to roster planning.

New voice media - customer relationship solution

New voice media is a smartwatch app that notifies users about incoming calls from prospects. Unlike a traditional call app, it identifies the caller and retrieves sensitive data from the company’s CRM and provides real-time insights into the caller. This data includes transaction history of the caller, VIP status and the potential to upsell. Responding to calls with such data helps companies build brand loyalty and drive more conversions. Always on display of the smartwatch makes this process frictionless and employees can make sure that their VIP clients won't go to voicemail.

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KFC's wearable glass solution for employee training

KFC was searching for a solution to reduce employee training time and cost. They introduced a Google Glass app for their Taco Bell food chain. Kitchen staff were provided with devices with a native software to access the job training manual with a mixed reality experience. They can see orders assigned to them on the glass screen and if they are not confident with the step by step process involved in making that order, they can access it as a slideshow on the glass screen and follow the steps. Staff can record and submit tests to their supervisors to evaluate their progress. According to the developers, every training hour results in a $14m benefit for Taco Bell.

As a company, if you are yet to start your wearable tech journey, Maytech can help you with your wearable app requirements.