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Put it in Context to Unlock the Next Wave of Mobile Innovation

By Keerti Melkote, Blog Contributor

The Wi-Fi that makes our digital lives instantly gratifying is only the beginning. The ability to work where and when we want and share our moments with friends and family is predicated on a pervasive wireless fabric. In our first blog on the future of the all-wireless experience, we talked about how the adoption of mobile unified communications is creating greater convenience. But there's far more to be gained.

Creating intelligent mobility networks can unlock new experiences and innovation. Tapping into the power of location-based services and analytics unleashes a new wave of innovation. Being aware of context is so much more than serving you ads or offering coupons based on your physical location. Many more applications await, solving the everyday frustrations of life and providing the foundation of services that have yet to be imagined. The potential is limitless.

Consider the mundane task of booking a conference room. In today's open workspaces, booking a conference room for a lively working session with your peers, a one-on-one meeting on a sensitive matter, or a videoconference for a supplier negotiation is a necessity. But it seems inevitable that when you want a conference room, they're all booked. And then when you walk past the conference room at the time you wanted, there's no one in there. Maybe one of your coworkers is a conference-room hog or maybe they just forgot to cancel the reservation. Either way, it's a common office annoyance.

Now imagine Uber for your company's conference rooms. Tap the app on your favorite device and see which meeting rooms are free—or reserved but not being used—and book it. Add in analytics to understand how people use meeting spaces and other shared services, and your organization can reap real cost and workplace planning rewards.

The combined power of location-based services and a mobility network create new possibilities for campus security. Whether you're in higher education or a business spread over a large physical campus, students, staff and guests can easily navigate their way with a wayfinding app.

Analytics, paired with real-time asset tracking, can unlock new value. Today, asset tracking is limited to high-value assets in hospitals, warehouses and manufacturing floors, but as buildings and cities become smarter, asset tracking will become pervasive. Not only will assets be tracked, but also lighting, temperature and other environmental conditions can be monitored, analyzed and adjusted automatically.

Connectivity is the foundation of mobility networks, but adding intelligence into the network will create new value. Intelligent mobility networks can provide valuable context that will give life to new applications and services and holds the potential to transform the workplace—and beyond.