The Internet of Things (IoT) is bringing about changes across a range of industries – connecting people, places, processes, and things to create new opportunities to streamline operations and cut costs. Success means pushing digital intelligence to its limits to enable more accurate, agile infrastructures.
Cisco is leading the way with its Digital Ceiling, which links services including lighting, HVAC, and security over a single, converged network. This results in a seamless, secure, and smartly connected building infrastructure to improve efficiency, sustainability, safety, and comfort.
What Is Cisco’s Digital Ceiling?
Cisco’s Digital Ceiling combines the latest innovations in smart IoT devices and sensors with Cisco’s broad portfolio of Power over Ethernet (PoE) and Universal Power over Ethernet (UPOE) products. Cisco’s Catalyst switches deliver PoE+ and UPOE to all connected endpoints, letting you create better experiences for anyone using the building and take advantage of more powerful analytics, integration, and control.
Lights are the perfect place to start because they’re everywhere – usually spaced no more than three metres apart. This existing setup enables you to create an intelligent hub by adding sensors that can detect:
- Presence and Proximity.
- Carbon Dioxide (C02) Levels.
- Bluetooth Low Energy (Bluetooth LE, BLE, BTLE).
- Visual Light Communication (Li-Fi).
After collecting information, Cisco’s sensors are able to share it among each other. This helps them respond to real-time updates about environmental conditions, occupancy, and traffic to make data-driven, in-the-moment adjustments.
Benefits of Cisco’s Digital Ceiling
1. Personalized User Experiences
Connecting systems enables your building’s occupants to customize their environments and workspaces – improving comfort, safety, and productivity.
- Optimize Workspaces: “Hoteling” or “Hot-Desking” helps support more workers in the same space by creating reservable spaces. With Cisco’s Digital Ceiling, people can customize a room’s light levels or temperature and carry those preferences with them if they move to a different spot.
- Automatically Create Comfortable Environments: Through its sensors, Cisco’s Digital Ceiling is able to automatically adjust cooling, heating, and airflow needs to reflect the real-time occupancy of a space.
- Create Human-Centric Environments: Natural lighting (or artificial that gets as close as possible) can help balance natural circadian rhythms, improving productivity by up to 16%. Cisco’s Digital Ceiling is engineered to make gradual, automatic changes to lighting levels without any human intervention.
2. Cut Costs to Simplify Management
Cisco’s Digital Ceiling helps save costs by making previously disparate elements part of a centrally controlled system:
- Reduce Power Needs and Lighting Costs: Combining modern LEDs with Cisco’s intelligent controls and integrated sensors means automatic dimming, daylight harvesting, presence-based lighting, and more.
- Simplify Maintenance: After being connected to each other, spaces are able to automatically let cleaning and maintenance teams know when they’ve been used and need to be cleaned.
- Streamline Installations: Network-powered building systems are easier and less expensive to install, maintain, and manage. Relying on low-voltage Ethernet cabling means eliminating needs for separate, individual electrical conduits and generates up to 14% cost savings.
- Reduce Operational Expenses: With Cisco’s Digital Ceiling, you can often update the software before you make investments to reconfigure the hardware.
- Improve Energy Efficiency: Integrating your networks gives you granular control, deeper insight, and long-term sustainability. It also enables you to explore new types of cost savings models.
3. Optimize Operations
Taking advantage of built-in sensors means you can harness analytics from anywhere in your environment to drive better outcomes for your business.
- Make Better Use of Real Estate: Embedded in-depth analytics improves visibility into how your space is being used, helping you better manage and optimize your existing real estate. Cisco’s Digital Ceiling can help you measure occupancy patterns, identify areas where changes need to be made, and highlight opportunities to control excessive heating or cooling costs.
- Heighten Physical Security: With Cisco’s Digital Ceiling, you can integrate physical applications including video surveillance and security controls. Lighting powered by the network can use sensor-activated closed-circuit television (CCTV) and access controls to secure sensitive areas.
Why Activo Chooses Cisco
Cisco is the ideal partner to make the Digital Ceiling a reality in our clients’ buildings. They provide:
- Proven Leadership in the Industry: Cisco’s scalable and secure network platform already helps customers make the most of digital-enterprise opportunities. You can unleash new capabilities using existing Cisco investments including Cisco’s Catalyst switches and end-to-end architecture.
- Strong Security: Cisco is dedicated to protecting data across the entire network – being used by stock exchanges and governments daily – letting you take full advantage of Cisco’s Digital Network without compromising on safety.
- Consistent Innovation: Cisco’s Digital Ceiling is about more than lower costs and efficient operations. With Cisco’s open-standards architecture and large partner community, you can put in place a platform for a world of new applications and experiences.
- A Growing, Low-Risk Ecosystem: Cisco’s platform includes everything – from lighting to hardware to software to building control systems. Cisco continues to add to its global network of partners to best meet its customers’ needs.
Digitization in the IoT has enormous potential to drive new experiences, cost savings, and revenues in every industry. With Cisco’s Digital Ceiling, the future looks bright.
Are you ready to make the most of the IoT? Activo is proud to partner with Cisco, providing advanced and industry-leading network solutions to our clients. Contact us today to discuss the networking technologies that will be right for your business.
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