8el
VoIP and Data Solutions
Home → News → Industry News → The future's bright for flexible office technology
The future's bright for flexible office technology
It might seem strange to some that at the height of the economic gloom brought about by the credit crunch, IT experts are persistently lauding the benefits of new office technology and flexible working opportunities it will bring.
But there are numerous justifiable reasons for this. Firstly, new internet-based applications like VoIP, hosted email and unified communications tools are cheaper for firms at a time when cost savings are a priority.
Secondly, they fit in with the growing adoption of home working by firms, which opens the door to further cost-cutting through the use of virtual offices, cloud hosting and software-as-a-service applications. Finally, all of these technologies suit green IT enthusiasts down to the ground.
The fifth annual enterprise VoIP survey, recently carried out by IDC and InfoWorld, revealed that 79 per cent of firms all shared a common definition of unified communications solutions.
They should allow a desktop or mobile solution capable of combining a host of services including VoIP, video conferencing, instant messaging, fax, voicemail and hosted email, the study said.
Enterprise Networks senior analyst Nora Freedman commented: "End users have become more sophisticated about their understanding of unified communications, as well as having higher expectations about what solutions providers should be able to offer."
In the UK, some 47 per cent of small to medium-sized businesses are already planning to adopt cloud technology and software-as-a-service applications within the next five years, a recent industry survey revealed.
As for why, cost-cutting was the main benefit cited by 35.2 per cent of respondents, closely followed by the increased opportunities for mobile or home working most favoured by 34 per cent of firms.
Hosted email is also predicted to increase by over 40 per cent during the next four years, according to the Radicati Group.
Office designers are now anticipating the trends of virtualisation and mobile working to be a big hit with businesses of all sizes.
CNN this week reported that mobile meeting rooms and portable work stations could be a future trend following the mergence of a Wi-Fi and BlackBerry-dominated culture.
Unified communications solutions also have the potential to broaden firms' horizons regarding the scope and potential of the internet in their business strategies.
The rise of social networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace has brought new opportunities and ideas for emarketing strategies.
Media search engine Technorati's State of the Blogosphere 2008 report revealed that there are close to one million blogs posted online every day, with personal, professional and corporate bloggers using the social medium.
Overall, so long as business needs and technological developments are so well entwined, a host of multi-site, mobile, and flexible working solutions appear likely to battle for the attention of firms in the future - and could emerge just in time to help them recover from a potential global recession.
If you would like more information about 8el and our business communications solutions, please call our sales team on 0118 338 3062 or email info@8el.com.
About Us