WORKERS CALLING TIME ON ‘DUMB PHONES’

WhatsApp and WeChat groups are now used by an average of (39%) of all employees for work purposes without the knowledge of IT, administrative or management teams, exposing companies to security risks.

Traditional technology, like the call-only desktop handset, is now less significant than mobile and cloud-based tools, according to office workers, who consider data packages (37%) for their mobile to be more important that traditional phone and email access (26%). Employees say they also want independent access to work emails from their smart phones (35%) and remote access to file servers and databases from their mobiles or other devices outside the company network (34%).

More than a third of workers (37%ⁱⁱ) spend an average of eight working days away from their desks during a typical month, meaning they rely less on traditional hardware and more on a patchwork of mobile and cloud-based collaboration software to keep up with their busy schedules.

Ioan MacRae, UK Managing Director at Avaya, says: “Businesses, especially mid-sized companies, must recognize that workers in every field are becoming more nomadic. Mobility and the internet of things are key contributing factors to a macrotrend in how we all live and communicate. Left to their own devices, employees will use whatever tools they have in their pockets so they can work and stay in touch easily.

“Companies that fail to address this trend have no visibility into how their employees are communicating and sharing data. But if you set up a controllable environment with a unified cloud-based service, you can protect yourself from data breaches and cyber attacks. The UC EXPO is a great opportunity for us to discuss these issues with companies of all sizes, to help them build robust and effective cloud communication services. Our research shows that communications technology needs to be just as versatile and scalable as our day-to-day jobs.”

Two in five employees (38%) say they want a joined-up IT service from their employer with collaboration tools built into existing enterprise applications, like a click-to-call through email or an option to join conference calls through their calendars.

In addition to this research, Avaya is a keynote speaker and presenting a panel entitled ‘The Future of UC’ while at UC EXPO, the largest Unified Communications and Collaboration event, in Europe on 17-18th May 2017.

About the data

Avaya, in association with YouGov, polled 3,050 professionals in six markets (23rd - 30th January 2017), covering Australia, France, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. The respondents were split 40:60 per cent female and male. 70 per cent were between the ages of 21 and 49, and 30 per cent were older than 50.

The survey sought to gather data from employees on the level of technology support they receive from their employers, respondents were only those who were employed full-time or part time. Students, freelancers, and those currently unemployed were not included. Entrepreneurs were also left out as the findings would then have higher instances of web-based communication and collaboration tools, which are typically not allowed within corporate IT systems.

Result tables

Q7. Which of the following collaboration tools are you able to access independently (without having to request them from your IT department, admin or management)? (Selecting all that apply.)

Q10. To me, a technology-assisted work environment…

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.

ⁱ23.77 per cent say their employer doesn’t provide them with the right technology tools to communicate and collaborate most effectively.

ⁱⁱ36.95 per cent of workers say they are away from their desks less than 40 per cent of the time a month.

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