“Most workers rely on communications technology during their working day and the ability to access information remotely has an obvious appeal,” said Ian Groves, director, Unified Communications Applications, Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Avaya. “Multiple communication technologies can result in too many messages in too many places. It can be a virtual chaos. Our survey reveals that smartphone users – and particularly senior level employees – are taking advantage of Unified Communications to ensure business opportunities aren’t missed, while enjoying the benefits of flexible working”.
The survey of 2,200 managers across the US, UK and Australia, revealed that senior managers are embracing a more relaxed style of working and smartphone workers communicate more readily and often than traditional mobile phone users. 44 per cent of CEO or equivalent level respondents admitted they would not want others to see them on a video conference because they are often at home wearing pyjamas, compared with only 9 per cent of more junior managers. Smartphone users are twice as likely to take a call from a toilet as traditional mobile users and 51 per cent have participated in a conference call wearing only a bathrobe – or less.
Smartphone users owned up to keeping communication going during meetings with 63 per cent admitting to emailing on their phone or PDA under the desk. They are also more likely to log-on at personal events. The survey revealed that twice as many smartphone users have checked email or text messages during a wedding or funeral than non-smartphone users.
But it is not all work and no play. The survey also revealed that senior vice presidents are more likely to nap during conference calls with 17 per cent admitting to doing so versus 5 per cent for all other job titles.
“With access to the same communications environment, regardless of location or device, employees can prioritise and rapidly respond to business events wherever they are” continued Groves. “At Avaya we have been talking about Unified Communications for a number of years and today I can say that we have managed to successfully integrate a number of applications including telephony, email, voice mail, instant messaging, video and collaboration across a variety of interfaces be it the PC or web based clients, telephones and mobile devices, or speech truly unifying communications and simplifying people’s working environment” concluded Groves.