(Image Courtesy Creative Commons)

 

Businesses are doubling down on digital. Many have digital transformation teams now that work on transitioning business functions for our increasingly mobile world. Yet embedded wireless charging and the proper infrastructure required to power this transition, unfortunately, lags behind.

The benefits of being a digital, transformer, focused on growth have been outlined by Accenture’s “Digital Double-Down: How Far Will Leaders Leap Ahead?” strategy report. Those that are investing in a transformation stand to gain. Part of this will be the right charging infrastructure to enable a world more connected over mobile.

To highlight the importance of building out the right infrastructure at work and beyond, consider the following technology trends that are changing the way we interact with the world.

Mobile Payments

(Image Courtesy Apple)

North America lags behind other parts of the world, like China, when it comes to mobile payment technology. At $9 trillion a year in mobile payments, China is leading the way on adoption of the technology, to the point that panhandlers and small shops accept mobile payments over platforms like WeChat Pay or Alipay, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Back in the United States and Canada, far from the WeChat Pay and Alipay duopoly, the number of players entering mobile payments are increasing dramatically. Everyone from Chase, Apple, Google, Samsung to Starbucks and McDonalds have different apps. PayPals Venmo app has taken off in terms of appeal to millennials.  

As we shift to a mobile world, employees are going to need phones for their integrated work and personal purposes more than ever. Running out to grab a coffee can mean paying with your phone, as can buying lunch – embedded wireless charging throughout your space supports their ability to keep their mobile ecosystem charged and working.

Everyone has an app

Linked to the fact that mobile payments and other trends like online shopping rising, is the fact that seemingly every company has an app now. McDonald’s and Starbucks, as mentioned above use their app for ordering and mobile pay, for example.

Yet the more apps we have and tend to run in the background, the more we create a strain on our mobile device batteries. Watch out for these top 10 worst apps for draining your battery. Bad news folks, the Outlook app is on there. And your work probably has some type of app that employees use to chat or communicate, like Slack, or Skype. All using background data and draining batteries.

However, rather than constantly turning off background apps on your phone, proper, embedded wireless charging means that app usage can remain as employees seamlessly charge their devices right at their desks.

IoT is here

(Image: WT Vox)

The Internet of Things (IoT) isn’t just coming, it’s already here. Again, this ties back into our previous point on apps. But more importantly, an IoT world isn’t just about having apps, it’s about using connectivity and communication between devices to create more efficient and optimized spaces. These save businesses money but also create more comfortable and intuitive spaces for employees. Yet apps like Comfy, that allow employee driven temperature control require people to use their phones require using your phone and having it communicate with others in the same zone as you. Other room booking software, requires you do the same.

Many IoT ecosystems that rely on phone data from users require Bluetooth or Wi-Fi to be on and communicate with devices. Again, take it as a general rule that the more your mobile device is doing, the faster your battery is going to drain. This applies whether that use is in the background or when you’re actively on the device. Make sure your business is supporting this connectivity and functionality.

After all, an IoT ecosystem without embedded wireless charging is like a road trip in a Tesla, without the Supercharger network.