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Getting a Handle on Business Communications

  By Paula Bernier, Executive Editor, TMC

Digital technology has really turned things upside down.

Businesses have traditionally been first to adopt new technology. But in recent years, it’s been the consumer who has led the way. Meanwhile, in the workplace, it used to be senior-level employees who ruled the roost. Now younger folks are having a real impact on the tools that are used to get the job done. And the kids who are now in high school are likely to drive even more workplace change.

This brings to mind a recent comment from my teenage daughter. She likes to keep up on current events and is an avid reader. But the other day she picked up a print magazine and said “I want to want to read magazines like this, but I just can’t.” She’s not much for watching TV either.

Instead, like so many people in her generation, she is simply more comfortable consuming content and interacting with others using her smartphone. And when she does so, she quickly moves from one thing to the next.

All of the above are signs of the time. And they all point to both the current, and likely future, change in work.

Indeed, as Darlene Jackson discussed in an ISI (News - Alert) Telemanagement Solutions

article last year, the young professionals currently in the workplace – and those who will follow – are used to an always-on existence and access to new technologies. And, she says, that’s changing the workforce in an array of ways.

As evidence of this fact, she notes a Fuze survey of 5,000 adult office workers and 2,500 teens in Europe.

Not surprisingly, the survey results indicate that youth prefer smartphones to landline phones. And, the survey said, while adult workers consider the desk phone a top-5 essential work tool. Meanwhile, as Jackson noted, desk phones barely made it into teens’ top 10.

“This is a pretty good argument for any business that has not transitioned to VoIP, unified communications, or SIP trunking,” Jackson wrote. “It’s seriously time to get with the program.”

The survey also talks about teens’ comfort level with video, their preference for texting, their interest in collaboration, and their desire to telecommute. Teens are as comfortable with video calls as they are with voice ones, according to the survey. The survey’s results also said 66 percent of teens expressed interest in working as part of a team.

These survey results probably don’t come as a big surprise. However, looking at trends in this way just scratches the surface of what’s happening within businesses.

Each business is being impacted by the changing workforce, true. But each business is also unique.

Jackson suggests that businesses can get a better understanding of communications usage by their workers via technology adoption reports. That way, they can make the most of their existing investments in communications technology and most effectively plan for their communications needs in the future.