Mobile Unified Communications Featured Article

Survey Finds Growth in Mobile Unified Communications

By Susan J. Campbell, TMCnet Contributing Editor

Mobile unified communications provider, iPass (News - Alert) Inc., recently published its Mobile Workforce Report, a quarterly publication featuring results of a survey of more than 2,300 mobile enterprise employees at 1,100 companies throughout the world. One surprising finding – the iPhone (News - Alert) has knocked the BlackBerry from its leading role as the smartphone of choice.

iPhone now claims 45 percent of the market share, according to survey results, while smartphone usage on the commercial side has increased to 91 percent. Mobile unified communications is also growing throughout the global market as 95 percent of mobile employees now have smartphones, an increase from 85 percent in 2010.

Among these enterprise employees, 91 percent use their smartphone for work, a 26 percent jump compared with smartphone usage in 2010. This growth is due in part to the adoption of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies by enterprises. As 42 percent of mobile employees rely on individually-liable smartphones for work, an increase from 34 percent in 2010, mobile unified communications continues to be an important corporate focus.

The median age of the mobile employee was reduced to 41. iPass suggests this decline indicates a shift in the mobile employee from the business traveler to the standard knowledge worker that also carries a smartphone.

“Today’s mobile employees are critical to the success of every enterprise, contributing 240 more work hours a year than their non-mobile counterparts. Connectivity is essential because work is no longer where you go but what you do,” said Evan Kaplan, president and CEO of iPass, in a statement. “While increasing iPhone usage in the workplace was inevitable, this is the tipping point when the iPhone has overcome the Blackberry on its traditional enterprise turf, and business smartphones are in the hands of nearly every knowledge worker.” 

The saturation of mobile devices has also led to the creation of a hyper-connected workforce. These individuals are relying heavily on mobile unified communications and sacrificing exercise and sleep for their jobs. The survey found that one in three mobile employees get fewer hours of sleep due to work. More than half of these individuals report they exercise erratically, if at all.

Employees leveraging mobile unified communications are also emotionally attached to their smartphones as 59 percent claim they would feel distraught, disoriented or lonely if there were to be without a smartphone for even a week. These same individuals describe themselves as highly proficient with technology use. As a result, most mobile employees will contact IT only as a last resort.

The survey also found that mobile employees leveraging mobile unified communications spend time on work email, technical issues and social media; BlackBerry (News - Alert) market share declined to 32 percent from 35 percent in 2010; Android nearly double its market share year over year to hit 21 percent; and tablet ownership has grown to 44 percent among mobile employees, an increase from 33 percent captured in the second quarter of 2011.

The growth in mobile unified communications will force corporate decision-makers to implement the necessary policies to support BYOD environments and promote productivity mobile employees.


Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMCnet and has also written for eastbiz.com. To read more of Susan’s articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Stefanie Mosca