Crestron IoT smart building solution recognized by partner Microsoft
Crestron Electronics, an in-building control and automation technology vendor, was selected from among 2,600 companies to receive the IoT Microsoft Global Partner of the Year Award for developing the XiO cloud, an internet of things (IoT) solution which integrates all building and facilities related assets across multiple properties into a single management platform.
The XiO cloud, built on top of the Microsoft Azure IoT Hub, enables facility managers and IT staff to control entire environments with a push of a button or a click by integrating audio, video, digital signage, scheduling, lighting, building management systems (BMS), HVAC and security systems into single platform which can be monitored and managed remotely.
?For the first time, companies now can deploy and monitor all their building assets remotely in real-time to offer better occupant experiences. Our goal is to drive better engaging experiences in buildings of all shapes and sizes across the globe from private commercial businesses, stadium vendors, casinos, retail spaces to hospitals, convention centers, and educational settings,? said Ted Colton, vice president of Crestron Electronics, in an interview with In Building Tech.
The company says its XiO can view, monitor and deploy settings of ?IoT devices from anywhere in the world, and massively reduce the uptime in processes such as securely updating IoT devices to manage security fixes, maintaining logs of changes, and quickly identifying and fixing problems remotely.
Beyond enabling owners to manage the operations and performance of millions of IoT devices, Creston?s XiO can deploy and monitor devices and aggregate data across multiple properties- something which has never been done before, says ?Colton.
Previously, it would have required hours of time and coordination to monitor multiple properties, but now executives can make better cost-savings and occupancy decisions based on aggregate data at a hyperscale by analyzing each IoT device every building, in real-time.
One of the most potent aspects of XiO cloud is that it can replicate environments, from one location to another.
?Now companies can replicate the same experience across offices and locations in Tokyo, London virtually anywhere in the world. Think about the amount of time it takes to configure the devices used in casinos or hospital systems, and the real-time data analytics can make an enormous impact.?XiO can reduce this time substantially saving building owners millions in labor and other costs,? Colton said.
XiO uses machine learning to customize setting based on occupant preferences, outside temperatures, variations in sunlight exposure, virtually anything that can be monitored by a sensor can be added into the cloud.
“One of our customers in a commercial real estate building has a south facing large conference room which, in the summertime receives massive sunlight, and the temperature needs to be adjusted based on the time of day, the number of occupants, and outside temperature to create a better occupant experience. We can now use machine learning to optimize the temperature based on time of day and year by modifying the shades or increasing air conditioning. Now the room can adjust itself based on all the factors we just mentioned and it all happens remotely,” said Colton.
The award is a part of an initiative by Microsoft to invest $5 billion to develop new products and services for the IoT, specifically in three areas IoT operating systems, cloud storage platforms, and AI-based analytics tools to derive insights from data collected by IoT devices, in the next four years. ?
?Our ecosystem of partners is crucial to delivering transformative solutions, and this year?s winners have proven to be some of the finest among their peers,? said Gavriella Schuster, corporate vice president of One Commercial Partner at Microsoft Corp.
