IoT is the secret behind great CX

5G promises to bring unprecedented advances to wireless networks, with greater bandwidth, lower latency, and exponentially greater speeds. 5G will also allow devices to simultaneously connect with each other at a much larger scale, and allow for new technologies such as Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and the Internet of Things (IoT) to take the centrestage in digital transformation.

This has direct implications on the frontline workers of these enterprises: those that work in the field, away from desks and closer to customers or machines. From channelling workers to the exact locations in a factory or directing the nearest delivery personnel to the closest pick-up location, mobility has been instrumental in enabling the workforce to break out of the office into the real world. 5G will supercharge this mobility, bringing the full capabilities of cloud-native applications and bandwidth-rich functionality to the end-user device, for workplaces without borders.

A lot of the bottlenecks in edge computing may have occurred because of throughput issues and not because of compute power; 5G promises to change this and empower devices with high network availability. While most workers already have devices that accompany them in the field, 5G promises a host of new applications and greater bandwidth. This means that real-time connectivity between data in the cloud and data in the back office can be facilitated for the worker, enabling a seamless working environment no matter the distance from an office base.

This can be a game changer for industrial workers, for example, who will be able to make sophisticated operational changes and repairs or overhauls to equipment in the field, without having to repeatedly check back with the back office.

In healthcare, 5G will enable patients and care workers to use devices that will help patient monitoring as well as drug administration and use. 5G-enabled connectivity can help facilitate this outside of the usual hospital environments - such as in patient homes or nursing homes - and take patient care and elaborate patient management out of crowded hospitals. AR and VR applications can also help in the visualisation of the human anatomy in the field, using smart devices and high-throughput connections.

Earlier this year, Singapore unveiled its 5G plan¹ and identified six verticals for 5G applications that can generate the most global export value: maritime sector, urban mobility, smart estates, manufacturing, as well as government and consumer applications.

In the maritime industry, 5G trials by Singapore’s port operator, PSA International, involving remote operation of cranes, equipment and vehicles will have a direct positive impact on the security and physical safety of workers in the field at the port, and reduce much of the risk operating equipment in potentially dangerous environments. The automation process will also help reduce the turnaround time of ships at the port, making the process more efficient.

Work is getting more specialised in terms of skill sets, and millennials are less prone to accepting standard 9-to-5 work hours. The rapid speeds delivered by 5G mean that it is poised to finally enable enhanced telecommuting, the way it has been envisioned by many enterprises — but limited in large part by connectivity constraints. For example, current 4G coverage and speeds have improved significantly but connectivity is more than raw speed and range. Latency or the time taken to upload data from a phone to its target, averages around 50 milliseconds on 4G compared to 1 millisecond on 5G connections. Low latency is vital to applications such as autonomous vehicles, robotic surgery, and others. Even collaborating with an office application in challenging environments such as the subway can prove difficult if high latency impacts connectivity.

Sales teams, often on the move, are often cut off from the head office, and 5G promises to deliver the full suite of collaboration and communication software that desk-bound employees have enjoyed in the Internet age. The future of work is “anytime, anywhere” productivity enabled by low-latency, fast, MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) connectivity — truly flexible work that the gig economy is set to enable. It has the potential to unleash the full force of a globally distributed workforce envisioned by futurists since the advent of the broadband age.

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¹ https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/singapore-tests-5g-applications-starting-104811825.html