Avaya Technology at Work Survey Reveals Singapore Employers Need To Provide More Technology Support for Mobile Employees

Results highlight gaps and opportunities to embed unified communications into the applications and browsers that employees “live in” every day

SINGAPORE, 2017 – A nationwide survey commissioned by Avaya, conducted by research firm YouGov, reveals that employers in Singapore are not providing the right tools for employees to effectively collaborate and communicate internally across the organization, as well as externally with customers. The results, based on interviews with 507 employees, highlight that the communications and collaboration tools their workplaces provide are not mobile-friendly and are not embedded into the applications and browsers that employees “live in” every day. Nearly one quarter (24%¹) of employees say their employers do not provide the right technology tools for effective communication.

The survey focuses on three key areas of concern as companies seek more collaborative communications tools in the workplace: being able to work seamlessly across any device of their choice, having access to emails, shared files and tele or video-conferencing facilities to manage work related calls, and finally easy access to collaboration tools.

The Gaps
As technology reshapes the workforce, employees are relying on a patchwork of mobile and cloud-based collaboration applications to keep up with the changing work environment. Nearly two in five of office workers (39%¹) spend an average of 8 working days away from their desks in a typical month and need easy access to tele- or video-conferencing facilities to manage work related calls, as well as access to emails and shared files on the go. 

Office workers want independent access to email on their mobile phones (37%), calling and mobile data packages (43%), and remote access to file servers and databases (43%) from their mobile devices or outside the company network. Further, less than one in three have access to third-party conference calling solutions (32%), video conference facilities (27%) and desktop conference facilities (23%).

¹ 24% feel their employer does not provide them with the right technology tools to communicate and collaborate most effectively.

² 39% are away from their desk less than 40% of the time in a month.

Employees also want to be able to work effectively and seamlessly on device of their choice – desktop, laptop, mobile, or tablet. Only 30% of full time employees in Singapore are currently able to. In fact, more than 41% of office workers say they would want a hot desk facility to work effectively from any location.

While office workers rely on technology to keep track of and manage their work, from scheduling meetings, to sharing digital, video and audio content, to recording meetings and sharing notes afterward, many do not have easy access to collaboration technologies outside of work – only 35% have calendar access on mobile.  

Further, 70% of employees in Singapore are using personal social messaging applications such as WhatsApp and WeChat for business communications without oversight from IT teams, exposing organizations to data breaches and security risks. These applications also do not integrate with other enterprise tools such as email, work calendar and file storage services.     

The Opportunities
More than half (53%) surveyed would build communication and collaboration abilities into existing enterprise apps (click-to-call through email; join conference call through calendar, etc.) and an overwhelming 71% said that a technology-assisted environment can help employees to be more productive.

“Digital transformation can be described as a way of helping companies reduce complexity of customer interactions. Employees are internal customers and the employee experience is the future of work. The survey results clearly show employees are looking for simple, easy to use mobile friendly collaboration tools that fit within their workflow. Avaya Equinox is the industry’s first real unified communications solution that enables employees to seamlessly use communication and collaboration tools within their workflow,” said Sami Ammous, Sales Engineering Director, APAC, Avaya.

Realizing the Vision of Unified Communications with Avaya Equinox
Avaya Equinox consolidates various applications and interfaces into one experience, liberating employees and IT departments from disjointed communications that hinder productivity and increase stress. Equinox delivers streamlined, mobile-first communications within the applications and browsers employees depend on for their work. Now, companies and employees within any vertical, and within any geography, can experience the benefits of one-click, contextual interaction, collaboration and conferencing from any browser or device using this totally streamlined, completely customizable communications solution.

About the data 
The Technology@Work Report is a quantitative study based on online interviews with respondents aged 21 and older who are currently employed. These respondents included residents of the UK, UAE, Singapore, Australia, KSA and France. The total number of interviews conducted was 3,050 and these were done in partnership with YouGov. Interviews were conducted between January and February 2017.

About Avaya
Avaya enables the mission critical, real-time communication applications of the world’s most important operations. As the global leader in delivering superior communications experiences, Avaya provides the most complete portfolio of software and services for contact center and unified communications with integrated, secure networking— offered on premises, in the cloud, or a hybrid. Today’s digital world requires some form of communications enablement, and no other company is better positioned to do this than Avaya. For more information, please visit www.avaya.com. 

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