Advances in wireless technology and communications have given voice to a once-silent drone: the business machine. Known as machine-to-machine (M2M) wireless networks, these new systems are transforming everyday devices into never-blinking sentinels that provide both information and insight.

M2M wireless networks supply data about virtually anything -- temperature, moisture levels, pressure, vibration -- in fractions of a second, and enables businesses to track moving and stationary assets and inventory as this Time Inc. Content Solutions article points out.