Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Internet of Things?

The Internet of Things, or IoT for short, is about extending the power of the internet beyond computers and smartphones to a whole range of other devices, processes, and environments.

IoT provides businesses and people greater insight into the world around them, enabling better and more meaningful decisions to be made.

Devices can be used to both gather and send information, and they can communicate not only within closed silos but across different networking types (Cellular, WiFi and some new protocols like LoRa), creating a more connected world.

Examples of IoT that you may have come across in everyday life include smart lighting, intelligent heating and cooling, smart doorbells and smart parking where sensors are used in each space to show you where you can park, or how many spaces are available.

What is a smart building/smart office?

A Smart Building is one that uses sensors and internet-connected devices to automate processes and provide actions and feedback to the people and machinery within it.

IoT technologies enable these buildings to be safer, healthier and more efficient. Smart Offices use a variety of sensors and data sources to understand and measure how people and objects behave in buildings.

This data can then be used to optimise space utilisation, streamline maintenance process, improve the workplace environment, and increase productivity.

I’m a real estate owner, how can smart buildings help me?

A smart building can help you to optimise asset utilisation, reduce operating costs, and create a healthier workplace environment.

There is a wealth of data about your buildings scattered across legacy systems and isolated silos that may be difficult to access and analyse. A smart building platform will allow you to take full advantage of this data by integrating it into a single platform and providing you with a single place to manage, analyse and action your data.

Smart building solutions could offer significant improvements to your portfolio as healthier buildings are on average worth 7% more than standard ones, 46% easier to lease and 28% more likely to command premium rents.

Metrikus can help you make your building smart, contact us now to book a demo.

I’m a facilities manager, how can smart buildings help me?

A smart building can streamline your maintenance processes, allowing you to manage your assets more easily. Through a combination of intelligent alerting and rules, you can be notified when assets are due to come up for routine maintenance.

By combining a smart building platform with BMS information, you can also start to eliminate the need for pre-planned maintenance schedules and unexpected callouts by tracking the performance of your assets in real-time.

Facilities managers focused on space utilisation and allocation can also use a smart building platform to understand which rooms are being frequently used and highlight underutilised space that can be reallocated to other teams or scaled back to improve operating profitability.

Metrikus can help you to make this a reality, get in touch with us now to book a demo.

How do smart buildings benefit tenants/employees?

Smart buildings empower you with the information you need to understand your Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) and how it affects your employees.

By integrating with a range of sensors, you can analyse key elements of the environment to measure the impact on cognitive performance, productivity and air quality providing you with real-time alerts on any deterioration. You could also integrate the smart building software into Building Management Systems to automate HVAC responses to improve air circulation and filtration and maintain air quality.

Whilst the issue of poor indoor environmental quality has been overlooked for many years, poor quality workspaces and homes can lead to chronic health problems if left unaddressed and impact productivity by up to 10%. By monitoring environmental parameters in real-time, we enable you to optimise your own health and wellbeing.

Metrikus can help you make your building smart, contact us now to book a demo.

How long does it take to implement a smart building solution?

A smart building project by Metrikus can often be scoped within a week and returned back to the customer for review. Once approved, it can take on average between two and eight weeks to implement the solution based on the size and complexity of the project. Real-time information from your solution is available as soon as the project is implemented, and our customer success team will continue to support you in getting the most from your solution throughout the lifespan of the project.

Which sensors does Metrikus use?

Our software platform is completely hardware agnostic and we have the ability to integrate any connected sensor into our single Metrikus platform.

This applies to both new sensors, and legacy sensors that have previously been installed in your building. We have existing partners who provide sensors that are ready for use immediately, but we take the time to integrate with new sensors where necessary.

We have to date integrated over 200 different sensors into the platform. Ranging from Occupancy and Capacity sensors for building, Indoor Air Quality sensors, to energy meters, Fridge and Freezer monitoring, to vibration sensors for all kinds of uses from railway track monitoring to motor vibration monitoring.

How do the sensors connect to the Metrikus platform?

Essentially, any device that can send data to the internet can be connected to the Metrikus cloud. Devices can be connected directly to the Metrikus cloud or indirectly via a local gateway (edge device).

Both devices and gateways may implement edge intelligence capabilities. This enables aggregation and reduction of raw telemetry data before transmission to the backend, and allows for local decision making capabilities on the edge.

Below are concepts for different device connectivity options:

Direct device connectivity to the cloud gateway: For IP capable device that can establish secure connections via the internet
Connectivity via a local gateway: For devices using industry specific standards, short range communication technologies, as well as resource constrained devices incapable of hosting a TLS/SSL stack. This option is also useful for aggregation of data at the edge.
Connectivity via a custom cloud gateway: For devices that require protocol translation or some form of custom processing before reaching the cloud gateway.
Connectivity via a local gateway and a custom cloud gateway: similar to previous, but also with some functionality performed at the edge.

Are smart buildings only for new buildings?

People often perceive that smart building technology is only for new buildings, but this is not the case!

Smart buildings can be seamlessly implemented in old buildings through the use of effective retrofit technologies. At Metrikus, we can connect any legacy sensors to our platform.

How many buildings can Metrikus monitor?

We can monitor as many as you like! Our solution can be scaled to any number and type of users, buildings, sensors and applications, quickly and in a highly cost-efficient way.

However many buildings you have, we enable you to view data across your entire estate in a single pane of glass view.

Is my data on the platform secure?

Our platform has been created with security at the heart of its design. Metrikus is both ISO 27001 and ISO 22301 accredited.

The platform also goes through strenuous annual penetration testing by a third party independent company to ensure best practice and security compliance.

Security considerations have been, and are, included throughout the planning, design, development, testing, and release phases of any Metrikus product or solution.

Who owns the data collected?

The answer to this question is simple - you own your own data!

Frequently Asked Questions

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