The desk phone as we know it is slowly but surely disappearing as more employees carry out their tasks outside of the office. The confluence of several different technologies, including mobile, social and cloud has liberated employees from the limitations and restrictions of a traditional workplace environment. And a new report published by Dialpad and Lab 42 Research, titled, "Rise of the Anywhere Worker" has revealed the continuing trend of remote work is responsible for making the desk phone obsolete.
The survey which was conducted online in June of this year, questioned 1,014 professionals from a diverse set of demographics to explore their working habits, communication styles, technological preferences and more.
In addressing the change that is taking place in today's workforce, Frost & Sullivan Unified Communications (News - Alert) & Collaboration VP Melanie Turek, said, "With more than half of all employees routinely working outside of a traditional corporate office, IT and business managers must re-evaluate the tools they use to support remote communications, encourage collaboration, and drive productivity. Frost & Sullivan (News - Alert) research shows that mobile technologies, conferencing & collaboration apps, and social media are top-of-mind for most organizations."
Some of the data points from the survey revealed 84 percent of responding companies already have remote workers, with 67 percent indicating their employees are allowed to work from home. The trend looks to grow as 83 percent said they will increase their reliance on a remote workforce in the next three to five years.
Across all sectors, enterprise, SMBs and midmarket, 42 percent have a workforce that is 50 to 100 percent remote. And the report goes on to say both corporate and remote workers are away from the desk with increasing frequency, with 65 percent saying they have a "desk phone optional" work environment. The workers in the survey group believe the desktop will be obsolete in 2 to 3 years.
"Our survey reveals that while the slow and painful death of the desk phone has clearly begun, it cannot happen fast enough for many workers," said Craig Walker (News - Alert), CEO of Dialpad. "The anywhere worker movement is now evident in every segment of every industry. This significant trend will only accelerate over the next few years."
The survey concluded modern business communication is shaping how organizations are working today and companies have to make the change by removing outdated technologies. At the same time, they have to start offering new solutions to address the needs of their mobile workforce so they can use text, group messaging, voice calls, video calls, conferencing or a combination to make them more effective and attract the right talent.
Edited by Stefania Viscusi