Even with the significant growth in unified communications, a study just released by research firm Vanson-Bourne and KelCor, Inc, which looked at responses from over 2,500 individuals across the globe and found some surprising results:

• Communications inefficiencies amounted to more than an hour per day per employee in an average 40-hour workweek.  Respondents reported that, on average, 13% of their day was wasted by ineffective communications, and this costs businesses over $10,000 per employee per year.
• An overwhelming majority (Three out of four respondents) believed better communications and collaboration tools would improve personal productivity.
• Respondents estimated that over 50% of their day was spent in communications and collaboration efforts.
• 47% of survey respondents indicated they experienced friction between other employees or corporate departments due to ineffective communications and collaboration, showing that lost productivity is not the only negative result of inferior communications technology.
• Internal communications were not the only negative impact felt by respondents.  Nearly ¼ (24%) of responders stated that they had seen a negative impact on customer satisfaction as a result of inefficient communications.

Lack of Training and Employee Resistance to Change are Holding Unified Communications Adoption Back

Another surprising result of the Vanson-Bourne survey was that despite the strong push by newer generations of workers, employees are a potent inhibitor to the adoption of more advanced communications and collaboration solutions.  The survey found that employees still prefer to “use what they know.”

• Voice and email communications technologies are still dominating as the most used communications tools, with 97% each.  Face-to-face, however, is still considered the most effective way to collaborate with 53%.
• However, as more users adopt a mobile and remote work strategy, survey respondents expect that the use of shared workspaces (45%), chat or messaging services (51%), and video collaboration tools (39%) will become more popular in the near future.

Unified Communications and Collaborations is the Communications Tool of the Future

By utilizing Hosted Unified Communications or Unified-Communications-as-a-Service technologies, you can enable employees to work where, how, and when they want with true mobile work solutions.  And not only will you save in terms of wasted dollars from communications inefficiencies, but subscription-based solutions like UCaaS, moves your communications solutions from CapEX to OpEX, further reducing the expense of your communications needs.  Take a moment to watch this short video and learn more about how Unified Communications can go to work for you.