Drone technology has rapidly evolved in recent years, transforming many aspects of business. These aerial marvels have helped business owners enhance their operations and achieve better results, significantly reduced costs, and improved employee safety.
Undoubtedly, integrating technology into the business landscape offers significant advantages, including elevating overall standards and cutting costs. However, incorporating drones into your industry can revolutionise your operations and yield substantial results. In fact, a recent survey revealed that 88% of businesses that invested in drone usage saw a promising return on their investment within a year.
With this in mind, what are the most common ways businesses are using drones to help them operate?
Photography & Videography
First and foremost, drones are the most obvious way to capture photo and video footage. This isn’t just for weddings or events; many businesses rely on drones to capture shots of land or buildings that are inaccessible to humans or would put them at significant risk. Flying a drone over vast bodies of water can get better and more complete assessments than doing so manually. Drones can get into awkward positions and capture footage from angles and positions that people won’t be able to get into, allowing businesses a better visual view of different elements of their company or the land they own. If this seems to benefit your business, click here to Learn More about the different drones and how you can use them.
Monitoring Aquatic Life
Drones have been put to use in many aquatic environments, such as fisheries, to monitor and report feedback on the health of the fish and the environment underwater. Allowing a deeper insight into the underwater activity will enable companies to implement essential changes to improve the health of the fish and ensure that the living environment is habitable without sending people in and potentially disrupting the status quo. A drone can easily be deployed to take images and capture data that can be fed back to businesses to help them monitor and impair necessary adjustments.
Animal Conservation
Drones are ideal for animal conservation efforts as they allow people to take a close and intimate look at the animals they are protecting and can be a great way to identify threats to wildlife from outside forces, such as illegal hunters or poachers.
The use of drones in this situation is beneficial as it allows the animal’s territories to remain inhabited and reduces the need for human intervention in the natural order of things. Due to drones’ ability to cover vast areas easily, conservationists can monitor larger areas and interject when needed to help improve their efforts in a less invasive manner.
Shipping and Delivery
Amazon is likely the most famous company you have heard of using drones to make deliveries. While they haven’t reached the expected volume of drone deliveries, they have still successfully delivered many packages to recipients via these methods. It has even proved so successful that other shipping companies, such as DHL, have also gotten into the game. Drone deliveries allow for faster same-day service, improved customer service, and can meet demand almost immediately. While drone deliveries won’t be able to replace human drivers and trucks, for those more minor, more immediate requests, they fill a gap in the market and have thus far proven to be a valuable asset to any delivery company.
Aerial Surveys and Inspections
Many different environments and situations can threaten human life or take a long time to allow people to access and inspect, especially in tricky environments. Drones allow an easier way to make visual inspections and check for anything untoward in any situation.
This could be something as simple as inspecting a residential or commercial building or roof for damage. Or it could be inspecting parts of a factory that are inaccessible or dangerous to check out. Drones can be instrumental in assessing large areas of agriculture, as they allow landowners to get better views of their crops and see what is happening, covering every square inch. The footage that is captured is then viewed by those responsible, and the appropriate action is taken to ensure everything is as it should be.
Search and Rescue
For many of the reasons mentioned in other points, drones are a valuable asset when it comes to search and rescue efforts for both people and pets. Drones are capable of covering broad areas fast, meaning they can be deployed quickly and at higher altitudes. It allows for more expansive coverage to assist in search and rescue efforts both on land and at sea. Equipped with technology such as thermal imaging and GPS, rescuers can use drones to pinpoint where they need to be as well as load them up with supplies to be delivered to those who need reducing while they await help to get them back to safety.
Geographic Locations
As drones can carry 3D mapping technology and imagery sensors, they have long been used by different government agencies to map geographical locations such as islands and coastlines. This assists in creating more detailed and informative maps and descriptions of different types of landscapes, especially those that are inaccessible, such as mountaintops or volcanoes. This information is then used for various reasons, such as to monitor potentially eroding coastlines, volcanoes that might be about to erupt, melting ice caps or glaciers, or simply identify the best areas to set up new housing, industrial areas and more.
Drones have many uses in the business landscape. They can be instrumental in helping to preserve health and safety and make the right decisions based on more accurate information. They can also be cost-effective by reducing the man hours and equipment needed to do the same job, increasing efficiency and productivity, and boosting overall satisfaction scores.
Drones have been instrumental in many areas of business for years, and as technology continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible, so too will how drones are used to meet these capabilities and an ever-increasing demand.