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How Smart Technologies are Transforming Businesses
Technology is all around us. From smart cars to smart watches, technology has taken center stage. But as much as our personal lives have been impacted by technology, the business world has been revolutionized almost beyond recognition in the past few decades because of the technology burst.
Some individuals and experts view this as an ominous trend. With technological advances come amazing discoveries and breakthroughs such as artificial intelligence. This is one form of technology that has seeped its way into every aspect of our lives, in more ways that many of us can count or imagine. Its benefits have been numerous, however the prospects of its influence on the future job market look shaky to many.
Regardless, there is absolutely no denying the positive impacts that technology has had on our daily lives. Ever think about how this smart technology has transformed everyday business? Below we outline three different types of businesses. Everything from your average mom and pop store to big box companies to see just how technology has changed the process of things in unbelievable ways.
Book a Flight-3 p.m. to 3 a.m.
Do you recall the days when you needed to call an airline during business hours or order your tickets through a travel agent? The process was often long, monotonous and tedious. Hard to imagine life without the ability to simply type “flights to San Francisco” in order to explore the numerous options American Airlines or any other major companies have to offer. When you throw in comparison websites such as Kayak.com, it makes us wonder how we ever managed to live a fulfilling life without them.
In an article on technology’s influence on business, Jane McGrath notes that businesses needed to adapt and change their infrastructure and that computers offer a way to organize dense databases, personal schedules and various other forms of essential information.
Not only can you order your tickets online with smart technology using major airlines like American, you can check into your flight, map out your flight route and receive real-time updates on flight status right on your phone. It’s absolute insanity. We are literally able to go through every single step of the process from start to finish, and do it all in the palm of our hands. A few centuries back they would have called that witchcraft and burned us at the stakes for insinuating such a thing.
During your flight, you can add the airlines app to your phone and check flight speed, altitude and a map showing where you are. With real-time updates for customers, much more accurate weather tracking for flight safety and delay information, as well as in-flight technology including internet use, booking and flying have become one of the simplest things to do.
Delivery without the Chit-Chat
Big businesses aren’t the only ones to benefit from growth of smart technology. Love that small pizza or sandwich shop around the corner but don’t love calling? Smart technology has connected small businesses to homes everywhere offering the ability to order online, save time and, often, save money.
Many small businesses are connecting to online food apps and, with it, offer discounts for using their online service. Starbucks is one major company who has recently added online ordering to bolster business. Why wait in line when you can have your iced mocha ready when you walk in the door?
I mean when it really comes down to it – we are practically being spoiled rotten. Long gone are the days when we even have to leave our houses to eat. Now, even groceries are being delivered at our doorstep. Homemade meals and health food packages and plans, as well as prime cuts of meat can all be packaged shipped and delivered to your front door within a matter of days.
Spreading the Word without Saying a Word
How business advertising? Be it the small scale painting company in your town or Sherwin Williams, technology has now made it possible for billboards equipped with special cameras to tailor an ad for the person looking at it.
As Jane McGrath describes, cameras can approximate not only the age and gender of an onlooker, but also how long they gaze at the ad. Using all of this information, the ad can change to suit the needs of its viewer. Ever wonder how your favorite stores “pop” up as your browsing the internet? Smart technology has made the world of advertising for business almost a “no-brainer”.
Marketing has been revolutionized in that so much of the busy work has been taken over by computers and complex algorithms. They are faster, more efficient and they don’t make errors. Marketing has turned into a completely different ballgame with the inclusion of all kinds of analytics software and platforms. It has enabled marketing professionals to offer much more targeted approaches to consumers and clients and has facilitated more organic approaches to marketing than were traditionally offered.
This is because thanks to smart technology and artificial intelligence, we now understand so much more. We are able to take this information and manipulate it in ways that we have never been previously able to do. Marketers are able to free up their time and put efforts towards more productive aspects of business while letting the computers handle the monitoring and analytics.
The above mentioned subjects are only but a handful of ways in which artificial intelligence and smart technology is transforming our businesses. The advances in technology have worked to make our world exponentially more efficient, productive and has simultaneously increased the quality of our lives in ways which we cannot even imagine.
The same additionally goes when it comes to our businesses. However, with this rise in technology comes a need for businesses to remain proactive and ahead of the curve. Companies that don’t find ways to latch on to technological trends are finding that they are getting left behind in the dust at a much quicker rate than they ever were before. It is said that within a matter of a decade approximately 40% of F500 and S&P500 companies won’t even exist anymore. That’s some heavy news, but companies taking advantage of these technological transitions will be in the clear. So stay proactive, stay well-informed and above all else – stay creative.
