Not Your Ordinary Elevator

April 27, 2016

Big Data is on the rise in the elevator business.

Getting stuck in the elevator may soon be a thing of the past as Otis Elevator and its parent company, United Technologies Corp., team up with Microsoft to develop a connected "smart elevator" using digital offerings that can improve energy efficiency in buildings and make people more productive—and happy.

With nearly 2 million units under contract and more than 30,000 mechanics spending approximately 60 million hours servicing elevator and escalator equipment annually, Otis is trying to transform its elevator service by applying Microsoft technology, including expanded use of the Microsoft cloud (Microsoft Azure IoT Suite), Customer Relationship Management system (Microsoft Dynamics CRM) and stream analytics (Cortana Intelligence Suite).

The goal is to use Big Data to drive condition-based monitoring and maintenance in order to cater to the 2 billion people Otis elevators lift every day, the company said. The outcome will likely be more reliable rides. Now, if someone could just do something about that awful elevator music.

About the Author

Stephanie Neil | Editor-in-Chief, OEM Magazine

Stephanie Neil has been reporting on business and technology for over 25 years and was named Editor-in-Chief of OEM magazine in 2018. She began her journalism career as a beat reporter for eWeek, a technology newspaper, later joining Managing Automation, a monthly B2B manufacturing magazine, as senior editor. During that time, Neil was also a correspondent for The Boston Globe, covering local news. She joined PMMI Media Group in 2015 as a senior editor for Automation World and continues to write for both AW and OEM, covering manufacturing news, technology trends, and workforce issues.