Insight Enterprises, the global integrator of Insight Intelligent Technology Solutions™ for organizations of all sizes, will use proprietary intelligent technology as a protective measure to help detect for common signs of COVID-19 and prevent its spread in the workplace when Insight returns teammates to its largest facilities.
Insight this week activated the Insight Connected Platform for Detection and Prevention solution at its warehouse distribution and integration centers in Hanover Park, Illinois, and Lewis Center, Ohio. The solution will soon be installed at 13 total Insight locations across North America, including the company’s corporate headquarters in Tempe, Arizona. Insight Connected Platform draws from Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities for applicable uses across all industries.
“When we established Insight Connected Platform, its original purpose was to make IoT and AI mainstream and scalable enough to solve everyday challenges in business and our communities,” said Ken Lamneck, Insight president and CEO. “With the pandemic, we saw a critical need emerge to help address how airports, restaurants, factories, stadiums and companies like Insight regain a sense of normalcy. So when we bring back our own teammates to the office, we’re striking a practical balance between business needs and the continued health and safety of our teammates. Technology like this helps companies take the steps they need to ensure going back to work or out to play can be OK again.”
Insight Connected Platform derives real-time insights from high-traffic work and public places by unifying data from a wide range of devices, cameras and sensors. The platform orchestrates the following applications to help detect signs of virus:
- Before coming to the office, an Insight-developed mobile app allows workers to take a daily self-assessment for workplaces – if a possible health concern is identified based on CDC guidelines, the app instructs workers to stay home instead of potentially putting others at risk
- As part of Insight’s stand-alone Thermal Monitoring Essentials solution, thermal cameras and non-contact kiosks at entryways quickly screen for elevated body temperatures among groups as large as 40 people, using CDC guidelines
Insight also has partnered with a multi-disciplinary team of industry leaders – including Citizen Care Pod Corporation, WZMH Architects and PCL Construction, in collaboration with Microsoft, Dell, Intel and Bosch – to launch Citizen Care Pod, a turnkey mobile COVID-19 testing unit that can be installed rapidly in high-traffic business environments and public places. Insight Connected Platform helps caregivers monitor wait times and crowd sizing via a single, intelligent dashboard to support smarter, safer testing.
On the prevention side, the Connected Platform also can manage:
- Optical cameras running edge-vision, machine learning modules to identify required social distancing and facemask adherence
- Sensors and smart cones monitoring safe social distancing in lines, and automated audio prompts to alert employees and guests
- Smart hand sanitation stations, capable of connecting to radio-frequency identification chips in employee badges to remind them to practice good hygiene
- Tablets, including a health questionnaire conducted by a chatbot, to enable non-contact communication between business staff and patrons
Smart technology will play an important role in resuming normal business operations post-pandemic, according to IT leaders from 200 North American enterprises who were polled in Insight’s newly published report, the 2020 Insight Intelligent Technology Pulse: The Impact of COVID-19 on Business Readiness. In the survey, 58% said they plan to invest in smart personal hygiene devices, 36% in contactless sensors, 35% in infrared thermometers and 25% in thermal cameras. One-third also said they intend to use an IoT ecosystem like Connected Platform to aggregate data from these devices.
“Intelligent technology is an enabler working alongside the more human touches of looking after our wellbeing, yet without needing to be literally hands-on to take care of people. We’re talking to many interested clients – hospitals, grocery stores, theme parks, sports teams, manufacturers, you name it – who are conscientiously looking for sensible approaches to returning people to normal day-to-day activities. Our platform helps make that possible for almost any situation,” said Stan Lequin, vice president and general manager, Digital Innovation, Insight.
Over the next month, Insight is installing its Detection and Prevention solution at its two Tempe corporate offices; offices in Conway, Arkansas; Tampa, Florida; Addison, Illinois; Eden Prairie, Minnesota; Austin and Plano, Texas; and Spokane, Washington; and in Canada, at its Edmonton, Alberta, office and its warehouse and integration center in Montreal, Quebec.
