"SMBs are relying on mobile tools to better serve customers and reduce capex," said Joanie Wexler, an independent networking analyst and editor in Silicon Valley. "However, employees are struggling with inconsistent access experiences when inside and outside the office, which can be a productivity-buster. Companies with highly mobile-centric employees that invest in solutions enabling consistent access can recoup a lot of worker time, and this study shows that cloud/hosted services are emerging as a primary way of achieving those goals."
Additional details from the report revealed:
- Real-time presence as well as corporate directory and calendar access are favored Unified Communications (UC) capabilities
- Contact center functionality, including customer escalation, skills-based routing and queue management are an increasingly high priority
- Wi-Fi connectivity is a preferred method to preserve mobile plan minutes
As a call-to-action, the study states that mobile workers who spend hours of their day in the field experience difficulty accessing critical business applications, which in turn, burns productivity. This productivity loss is up to six hours per week of wasted time per SMB employee. By providing the same business communications experience inside and outside the office, an average firm consisting of 137 employees with 67 mobile workers can recoup up to $700,000 annually in measurable staff productivity gains, or more than $10,000 per mobile employee.
"This study reveals that the mobile workforces of today’s growing businesses have been artificially inhibited by legacy technologies," said Wes Durow, chief marketing officer, Fonality. "SMBs now have access to cloud-based Unified Communications and contact center features that fully enable remote workers in a simple and affordable manner."
To access the complete "State-of-the-Market 2011 Report: Mobility Trends in SMBs," visit: www.fonality.com/content/smb-mobility-study.
Designed for SMBs, Fonality offers VoIP, UC and contact center desktop and mobile solutions that are simple to use, easy to manage and affordable to deploy. The company’s cloud-based model provides the same services of traditional IP systems without costly hardware, infrastructure or lengthy implementation cycles. Total cost of ownership is dramatically reduced by 50 percent, or more, while users enjoy access to powerful communications services usually reserved for the largest of companies. To learn more about the company’s mobile solutions, visit www.fonality.com/hud.
