Technology Tools

Internet-of-Things (IoT) enabled technologies such as water leak and fire/heat detecting sensors are also useful and an area that has yet to reach its full potential, according Jack Volinski, senior vice president at Hartford Steam Boiler’s HSB Connected Technologies, responsible for IoT Solutions.

The commercial property market is an “under-penetrated market” when it comes to the use of these loss prevention tools, he says. HSB Connected Technologies helps to mitigate risk problems before they occur by using technology tools utilizing artificial intelligence and IoT.

Volinski says that while the oil and gas industry has been using “sensors” for decades to mitigate risk, the lower cost, tech tools available today are now much more accessible to smaller businesses, he said.

“We see a large market potential for sensors around water risks (and leaks),” Volinski added. Third-party data, such as weather alerts, make for a much more robust risk mitigation tool, also.

Like other new technologies coming to market, the cost is rapidly declining. “We will continue to see in the sensor area and IOT area, the cost of the devices continue to decrease while the functionality or capabilities of what they can do will increase,” he said. “They will also continue to become more sophisticated, so we’ll get better and better at delivering outcomes.”

HSB plans to continue to push the innovation envelope on sensors and other IoT devices that will be used to again transform risk. “We’re combining access to technology with our understanding and knowledge of where the risk areas are within a facility or a business and then we’re looking to combine those to bring a better customer experience.”