WordPress & the Internet of Things (IoT)

by Vipe Team in WordPress Development; Published on 03.08.2022 Last updated on 03.09.2023

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What if our WordPress agency for enterprise told you that the Internet of Things (IoT) and WordPress are a match made in heaven?

The number of installed Internet of Things (IoT) devices worldwide is presently well over 7 billion. The latest research predicts that this figure will surpass 30 billion by 2025. What’s even more astounding is how this technology will affect the economy. According to Deloitte, more than $1 trillion will be spent globally on IoT projects by 2023.

So how does WordPress fit into this picture? Since WordPress is among the big players online (being the most popular CMS in the world), the Internet of Things will inevitably affect the platform. In the not-so-distant future, we may need to think about how to integrate WordPress and the Internet of Things, much as we do now when we optimise our websites for mobile devices.

This is why, in this article, our enterprise WordPress agency will explore what the IoT trend could mean in the context of WordPress. We’ll focus on how the REST API functionality of WordPress can be used to make the platform communicate with all kinds of devices. We’ll also give you examples of some possible implementations of IoT in WordPress. Let’s begin by explaining what the Internet of Things is in greater detail.

The Internet of Things (IoT) Explained

The Internet of Things is a term that refers to the network of physical items, or “things”, that are equipped with sensors, software, and other technologies that make it possible for the “things” to communicate and exchange data with other devices and systems through the Internet.

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These gadgets range from basic household items to cutting-edge industrial equipment. When it comes to IoT, our WordPress agency for enterprise wants you to remember that the main idea is to connect people, services and other “things” without human input. This happens when sensed inputs are routed through a variety of networks and domains.

IoT presents the world with a brand-new level of connectivity, which creates unusual mixes of services, technologies, and applications. Of course, all of this propels business, innovation, and creativity further.

The Internet of Things can be seen as a large, autonomous “nervous system” since the so-called “things” can communicate, be tracked, and controlled, resulting in “smart”, responsive networks.

So when we say “things”, what kind of “things” do we actually mean? Below, our enterprise WordPress agency will give you a few examples of the most popular types of “things” that are already part of the IoT trend:

Home Tech: Lighting, appliances, doorbells, cleansing robots, heating, security cams, etc.
Wearables: Eyewear, watches, wireless cameras, motion trackers, earpieces, etc.
Health Tech: Blood pressure monitors, heart rate monitors, body sensors, etc.
Transport: Cars, driving monitors, automated vehicles, navigation devices, etc.
Buildings: Air conditioners, ventilation systems, surveillance cameras, heating systems, electricals, etc.
Cities: Power grids, street lights, traffic lights, traffic signs, waste systems, pollution monitors, etc.

Now that we solved the “things” part of the IoT equation, you’re probably wondering “Ok, but what tech is involved in all of this?”. Below, our WordPress agency for enterprise will give you a quick outline of the most important tech that is associated with IoT:

Devices: Mobile, static.
Software: Operating systems, applications.
Networks: Physical, web.
Data: Cloud.
Sensors: Environment, location.
Components: Batteries.
Interfaces: Machine to machine, machine to object.

All in all, there are two distinguishing characteristics that define the IoT concept:

Automation: IoT, in its broadest sense, refers to the unhindered direct connection between disparate devices, tools, and other gear.
Connectivity: Access to varied information is made simple by improved connections inside one global network.

These distinct characteristics make it necessary for the Internet of Things to employ a variety of technologies in order to guarantee automated data flow, analysis, and response between various devices.

For instance, our enterprise WordPress agency reminds you that automation is unachievable without artificial intelligence, big data, and machine learning. Similarly, cloud computing and wireless communication technologies significantly facilitate connectivity.

In a nutshell, the Internet of Things means CONNECTED EVERYTHING. The possibilities with this concept are practically endless. Businesses and end-users are already entertaining and implementing ideas such as connected home, connected car, connected doctor, connected supply chain, connected business, etc. What’s more, some major brands have already introduced IoT devices that can improve various aspects of our daily lives.

? Major Benefits of IoT for Business

Our WordPress agency for enterprise wants to stress that IoT is not only about connecting every physical object imaginable to the Internet. The network of “smart” devices can actually offer a myriad of advantages that can streamline business processes.

Here are some of the biggest benefits of IoT for businesses of all shapes and sizes:

? Increased Staff Productivity and Decreased Human Labour

IoT solutions enable routine operations to be completed automatically, freeing up human resources for more complicated jobs that demand unique abilities (particularly creative problem-solving).

? Effective Operation Management

The connectivity of smart devices allows for automated control of several operational areas, including inventory management, shipment tracking, fuel and spare parts management, etc.

? Improved Utilisation of Resources and Assets

Our enterprise WordPress agency reminds you that the automated scheduling and monitoring made possible by interconnected sensors allows for greater resource efficiency, including reduced water and power usage. For instance, affordable motion detectors might result in considerable power and water bill savings, increasing the efficiency and environmental friendliness of both small and large organisations.

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? Cost-Effective Operation

IoT devices significantly improve administration throughout the whole company structure as well as inside specific departments. Because of the automatically scheduled and controlled maintenance of operations profitability may be increased.

? Greater Workplace Safety

Our WordPress agency for enterprise reminds you that scheduled maintenance can also be very helpful for guaranteeing operational safety and adherence to the necessary regulations.

Companies that provide safe working conditions are more appealing to investors, partners, and employees, which improves reputation and brand trust.

? Comprehensive Business Development and Marketing

Voice assistants and other smart home products that may regularly engage in direct communication with end customers are particularly helpful as sources of data for business research. IoT can help enterprises by collecting massive amounts of user-specific data used for all kinds of management and marketing activities.

? Enhanced Customer Service

Our enterprise WordPress agency can also tell you that enterprises can better understand consumer expectations and behaviour by employing the aforementioned user-specific data collected by smart devices.

IoT facilitates post-sale follow-ups such as automatic tracking and informing clients about needed maintenance of acquired equipment after its predetermined duration of use, the expiration of warranty terms, etc. All of this significantly enhances customer service.

⚫ More Business Opportunities

Enterprises that employ IoT solutions are able to offer a greater selection of services or goods or raise the quality of those items. Such companies may take on jobs that are more complex in terms of production difficulty, time, or quantity.

Our WordPress agency for enterprise can assure you that your organisation will become more competitive and appealing as a possible business partner when smart solutions are used across the board.

⚪ Better Company Image

Companies that use high-tech solutions such as IoT tend to be better perceived by customers, investors, and other business partners. Additionally, if a business offers a secure working environment, supported by a network of smart devices, it will be simpler to recruit highly sought-after experts.

⚖️ Potential Challenges Associated With IoT

The benefits we can experience with the Internet of Things are pretty clear. When everyday objects connect with each other through the web, our lives become much easier. However, our enterprise WordPress agency is aware that every new technology creates new challenges for industries, organisations, and individuals.

With that being said, let’s look at some of the biggest challenges and potential risks associated with IoT:

? Security

Data breaches have always been a major concern on the web. Since the Internet of Things connects so many devices (which can be potentially insecure), the global network becomes even more vulnerable to attacks.

Because of this, our WordPress agency for enterprise wants you to remember that IoT solutions must be implemented by experts who can guarantee that the installed hardware and software systems have no vulnerabilities and are well-protected against any hacking attempts.

? Privacy

Highly personalised home and body tech will most certainly start a whole new debate about privacy and data-capture ethics.

? Standardisation

IoT devices need to operate under a certain set of standards, which can lead to style platform “wars” (think Apple vs Android).

? Forced Innovation

Our enterprise WordPress agency can also see a scenario where businesses are forced to ride the IoT wave simply because everyone else is doing it. This is clearly not OK, as no matter how innovative a particular technology is, this doesn’t automatically make it a good fit for everybody.

? Service Overload

Since IoT connects all kinds of physical objects together through the net, the end-users are very likely to experience service overload where there is simply too much to choose from.

? Associated Costs

Implementing IoT infrastructure in an enterprise organisation entails creating a sizable network made up of numerous smart devices and the technical infrastructure that goes along with them, such as the power grid and the communication network.

As a result, our WordPress agency for enterprise warns you that such an endeavour necessitates large financial outlays for the installation, upkeep, and progressive network expansion required to meet future demands.

IoT solutions provide a variety of advantages, but it takes a while for them to start making money (however, their economic benefits outweigh the expenses of their first adoption).

? Dependence on the Power Supply

An IoT network is highly dependent on external factors. Smart devices need a stable and sufficient supply of electricity, necessitating an additional well-thought-out infrastructure. This infrastructure must contain an adequate number of UPS devices, surge protectors, and other equipment with the necessary ingress protection (IP) ratings.

⬛ Network Dependence

Our enterprise WordPress agency reminds you that IoT devices also need an infrastructure that guarantees a stable wired and wireless connection with high throughput, low latency, and ongoing Internet access. Therefore, a company that wishes to utilise IoT must first offer the full complement of necessary networking hardware, including cables, routers, hubs, local data storage devices, etc.

⬜ High Standards for Talent

IoT solutions call for responsible, knowledgeable experts who are well aware of the scope and potential repercussions of their job. Therefore, enterprises will need highly skilled administrators who can deploy, set up, upkeep, and scale IoT solutions.

Such professionals can be rather difficult to discover and hire given their high salary expectations. Additionally, our WordPress agency for enterprise reminds you that all staff members should also obtain the appropriate training and manuals before dealing with the implemented network of smart devices.

Regardless of the challenges that come with IoT, our enterprise WordPress agency believes the concept holds an enormous potential that can really benefit individuals and businesses, as long as it is executed ethically and correctly.

WordPress REST API: Beginner’s Guide

WordPress & the Internet of Things (IoT): Everything You Need to know

WordPress is, without a doubt, the biggest player in the global CMS arena. Since the platform has always put a great focus on innovation, it only makes sense that connecting WP with the Internet of Things should be a doable endeavour. And indeed, this is the case.

As it was made clear from our previous points, IoT adds value by collecting data and using it instantaneously. With that being said, WordPress and the Internet of Things can cooperate in a sensor-to-machine relationship (where WordPress is the sensor). By working together, WordPress and IoT make it possible to boost productivity, improve workflow, and analyse data without using extra, complicated gear.

So what is WordPress’ not-so-secret superpower that enables the platform to connect with the Internet of Things? Our WordPress agency for enterprise is glad you asked. Allow us to introduce you to one of the coolest functionalities of WP, namely REST API.

REST API: The Functionality That Makes WordPress and IoT Work Together

REST API is what makes WordPress an IoT-ready platform. Since the Internet of Things is all about a globally connected world (on the device level), proper development and implementation of APIs become a must.

With IoT, billions of devices will be expected to communicate with each other. Because of that, the future of the web is going to be largely dependent on having clear protocols and open APIs that can support that complex communication. The WordPress REST API provides exactly this kind of functionality.

Our enterprise WordPress agency has covered the REST API functionality of WP previously on our blog. Here are some expert and detailed articles for those who are interested:

REST API enables a standard range of endpoints with which you have access to essentially anything in the WordPress core. The best part is that for unique use cases, you also have the choice of creating your own endpoints.

The fully-fledged REST API functionality of WordPress means that external devices may directly connect with WordPress and vice versa via a well-established communication channel. The possible applications are endless, but they all depend on having access to this straightforward data-in/data-out pathway.

Possible Applications of IoT in WordPress

Our WordPress agency for enterprise believes an IoT-integrated website can benefit businesses in many ways. IoT has the potential to improve user experience, which, in turn, can lead to a boost in user engagement.

With that being said, let’s look at some hypothetical examples of how to leverage the power of IoT for your WordPress website:

?Professional bloggers may set up alarm notifications using IoT integration so that they are promptly alerted whenever a new comment is made on a particular article or page.
?In companies with big support teams, IoT devices integrated with WordPress may assist business owners to monitor and manage each support ticket. Our enterprise WordPress agency believes this would be very handy for keeping track of which tickets are addressed and who answered the majority of them.
?A WordPress site with IoT integration may also keep track of how many sales were generated over a given time frame. When you succeed in achieving your goals and objectives, such integration can signal that your target has been attained.
?IoT can also be configured in WordPress to keep track of downtime. This way, you can receive a mobile notification so that you can address the issue immediately.
?If you own a WooCommerce store and want to increase employee motivation, our WordPress agency for enterprise has an idea for you. How about you enable push notifications that can sound an alarm on various devices each time a sale is made? Sounds cool, right? All it takes is a little fiddling with the WooCommerce API.
?IoT can also be used in WordPress for data aggregation and display. For instance, a wellness/fitness blogger can effortlessly incorporate his own personal health data into every element of his WordPress environment by making WP directly communicate with his Apple Watch (and Apple’s Healthkit).
?With the help of IoT, you can set a physical hit counter that displays your website’s traffic or other stats.

These hypothetical examples are pretty simple, as web developers still have a long way to go until they figure out how to make WordPress and IoT work together in a way that’s going to be most beneficial for businesses.

However, our enterprise WordPress agency believes that in the not-so-distant future the possibilities for integrating WordPress with IoT devices will likely be limited only by our imaginations.

IoT Platforms That Can Be Used for WordPress-Specific Tasks

Even though IoT is still an emerging concept that has a long way to go until (and IF) it becomes commonly used, there are existing services that allow webmasters to connect their WordPress websites to various IoT devices. Let’s see some of them in the next few points:

1. IFTTT

Two fundamental ideas are at the core of IFTTT (short for If This, Then That): DO recipes and IF recipes. The whole thing revolves around the concept that you can cause outcomes to happen in response to certain events (these are the DO and IF parts, respectively).

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WordPress is one of the services that may currently be used with IFTTT recipes (referred to as “Channels” in IFTTT). With WordPress, website owners may link their free or self-hosted site to IFTTT and use it as a trigger or an action. Below, our WordPress agency for enterprise will explain the idea behind triggers and actions in greater detail:

Triggers: There are two triggers – ‘Any new post’ and ‘New post with tag or category’. The first one goes off when you publish a post on your website. The second one accomplishes the same task but enables webmasters to selectively activate the trigger for particular tags or categories.
Actions: Webmasters may set up their sites to take the following two actions in response to triggers – ‘Create a post’ and ‘Create a photo post’. The first one creates a simple post. The second one creates a photo post and links the given URL to an image.

Our enterprise WordPress agency considers IFTTT to be relevant to IoT in the context of WP since the platform offers a number of real-life devices as channels.

2. Sphero (littleBits)

Sphero (formerly known as littleBits) aims to teach kids how the technological gadgets they use on a daily basis function. This New York City-based startup creates an open-source library of modular electronics that can be assembled using tiny magnets for learning and prototyping. The goal of the company is to democratise hardware in the same manner that printing and software have done.

Relating back to the Internet of Things and WordPress, you may link the two platforms to receive notifications about your different website-related activities by using a special WordPress plugin. With this, you can keep an eye out for new comments, monitor your eCommerce sales, or even set off a light to blink when your website goes down.

However, our WordPress agency for enterprise needs to note that the plugin hasn’t been updated in a while. So if you decide to use it, you’ll probably want to modify the plugin’s code to accomplish your particular objectives.

3. Particle

Particle (formerly known as Spark) markets itself as the industry standard for IoT solutions. This is a full-stack PaaS that makes it simpler than ever to create connected products that boost revenue and streamline operations.

By using this service, forward-thinking businesses can identify growth possibilities, enhance consumer experiences, and establish competitive advantage.

Since Particle makes IoT software, connectivity, and hardware work together effortlessly in one PaaS, you can connect your products without being concerned about security, scalability, or connectivity issues.

Our enterprise WordPress agency likes Particle because everything about the service is completely reprogrammable and adaptable, allowing you to create unique applications for your specific use case. Their easy-to-use APIs, SDKs, and documentation allow you to launch your product more quickly.

When it comes to WordPress integration, you can use the Particle REST API. Additionally, you can check out Particle’s GitHub where you can keep track of bugs, feature requests, task management, and continuous integration associated with the open source hardware/software platform for the Internet of Things.

Make Your WordPress Website Work With the Internet of Things (IoT)!

The Internet of Things is part of the new wave of technological innovations that aim to revolutionise the way we interact with the Internet. Things like IoT, augmented reality, virtual reality, and the Metaverse are all set out to build a bridge between the virtual domain and physical reality.

Our WordPress agency for enterprise reminds you that these are all rather complex technologies and concepts, so we’ll have to wait and see whether they will reach their full glory or not. One thing looks pretty certain though – we’re headed towards a future where the great majority of the technology we use will be Internet-enabled.

Thankfully, WordPress is absolutely ready to play an integral role in that technologically-advanced future. The CMS can work really well with the Internet of Things because this boom of connected devices will need a reliable platform for displaying all of the produced data in user-friendly ways.

Thanks to its open-source nature, WordPress is a logical choice for this. Businesses that want to leverage the power of IoT can benefit greatly from the platform because it is not tied to any specific development company or device manufacturer. So our enterprise WordPress agency truly believes the possibilities here are endless.

What’s more, the REST API functionality that is supported by WordPress can help developers connect the CMS to all kinds of individual devices and solutions. True, there are already ways to hook WordPress to the IoT (mostly through plugins and third-party services), but none of those can be as effective as the WP REST API.

Remember that REST API can offer more direct means of integrating WordPress with external devices. With that being said, buckle up and get ready for the future – WordPress will gladly take you there!

?Further reading (for those of you interested in the newest and most exciting web development trends that can be implemented with the help of WordPress):