Accelerate your digital workplace with 5G.

Remote work is on nearly everyone’s minds. Which is why companies seek to deploy the tools and processes to stay connected.

In fact, only 19.9% of enterprises believe their group chat and collaboration tools actually perform as advertised.  That means employees could struggle to connect to meetings, see or hear clearly on conference calls, or generally don’t deliver like they do in person.

5G could remove common mobility hurdles and enable tangible digital workplace gains. It could also usher in massive opportunities for your industry, with innovative applications that once seemed out of reach. The key is to start getting your department ready now to take advantage of future capabilities.

Why 5G for remote collaboration

High speeds and low latency could also usher in revolutionary new ways of interacting through the use of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). One potential use case is holographic video calls where 3D projectors let participants move around and interact in a virtual fashion as if they were in the same location, such as working together on a digital whiteboard.

With 5G behind the scenes, plant executives could someday virtually walk factory floors to inspect operations from across the globe. Healthcare facilities could dramatically expand and personalize their telemedicine capabilities. Imagine the possibilities. Surgical experts may be able to provide virtual assistance to complex medical procedures from remote locations across the globe. Financial institutions and retail stores could give customers AR- and VR-driven experiences from the privacy and convenience of their own homes.

Improving mobile experiences, on-and-offline

5G also has the potential to impact wearables, allowing them to exchange data faster than a Bluetooth® connection. That high-speed response can allow storage and processing power to move to the cloud, exponentially expanding device capabilities while shrinking their physical size. Banks could use this new breed of 5G-driven wearables to employ more sophisticated and accurate biometric measures for mobile banking activities. Similarly, they could make online shopping easier and augment in-store experiences by guiding customers to relevant merchandise.

Even with the smaller size of 5G wearables, potential innovations could occur.  For example, smaller microcells could leave plenty of space for the addition of a wide variety of new, innovative nanosensors, further increasing the potential of new applications. Physicians could more accurately and reliably monitor and diagnose patient health. Factories could better monitor workplace safety and productivity. And with the ability for 5G to connect hundreds or thousands of devices, wearables could become a powerful aspect of organizations’ edge networks, triggering a whole new wave of mobile Internet of Things (IoT) innovation.

Automate, personalize, break new ground.

Sensors in smart shelves or smart labels could quickly tell retailers and manufacturers when certain items are running low and automatically trigger an order for a new shipment to restock. 5G could also give manufacturers and retailers the ability to deploy and connect more sensors throughout their entire supply chain in such a way that gives them more complete and accurate visibility to improve forecasting, optimize efficiencies and reduce theft.

The low latency and high bandwidth of 5G should also create a myriad of new opportunities in the areas of artificial intelligence (AI) that enable organizations to better respond to market conditions, predict customer behaviors and more accurately personalize services and experiences. 5G and AI could also combine to augment robotic capabilities on the factory floor with smarter, collaborative robots that can make better decisions in less time and accurately respond to changing conditions in near real time.

From the factory floor to retail chains, financial services, the world of healthcare, and across all spectrums of mobile and remote workforces, 5G mobility could kick off a domino effect of business changing innovations. No one knows for sure where the greatest impacts will strike first. But we do know that the sooner organizations start planning for and investigating potential 5G opportunities, the greater competitive advantage they’ll enjoy.

To get a head start on your 5G competitive edge, learn more about Verizon 5G.