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magazine
22
Samsung Survey
What is the future of
office communications?
Estimates
suggest that
40% to 60%
of all calls in
the office are
made on a
mobile...
Once the preserve of early adopters, the
smartphone is now the device of choice
for a majority of UK mobile phone users,
with 51.3% choosing a smartphone as
their primary device (source: comScore).
Usage is rising amongst businesses, too,
as employers recognise the value of
enabling workers to access corporate
email systems and business reporting
tools from a mobile device.
In their choice of smartphone, businesses
are increasingly swayed by employees’ own
hopes and expectations and frequently
specify popular consumer models that staff
will be happy to use outside the office,
sometimes also as their personal device
with their own choice of apps.
A survey by IDC (
IDC IT Trends in
Ireland, September 2011)
found that
already 60% of businesses support
Blackberries, 57% support iPhones and 47%
support Android devices, with a further
23%, 20% and 19% respectively evaluating
the provision of support for these devices.
Figures for tablet devices are also high
(34% and 31% respectively).
The use of consumer devices to
interact with corporate applications or
access corporate data for use with the
user’s own choice of app is a relatively
new challenge for IT departments, but it
has been on the radar of phone system
providers for many years.
The persistent use of mobile phones
in the office – estimates suggest that
40% to 60% of all calls in the office are
made on a mobile – gave early warning
that people will almost always choose the
most convenient communications device
rather than the one recommended or
provided by the employer. Even though
corporate mobile phones are provided for
use away from the workplace, the fact
that they give easy access to call and
contact lists and are always to hand mean
that it is often easier to make a call on a
mobile when in the office regardless of
the extra costs involved.
PBX manufacturers have addressed this
problem by developing mobile extensions
(Mobex) to the phone system that allows
calls made on a mobile phone to be routed
through the PBX rather than across the
GSM network; and by enabling calls to ring
simultaneously on a number of devices
such as a deskphone and mobile phone.
Such solutions go part of the way
to satisfying employees’ preference for
smartphones, while meeting the need for
employers to control costs and monitor
phone use. But are they good enough for
today’s users?
Falling short
The one thing that our surveys show
clearly is that people will not tolerate
anything that interferes with the way
they communicate or that makes them do
things differently. In this respect, existing
Mobex solutions that require users to input
an access code on their smartphone in
order to route a call through the PBX or
use a different dialling application to make
a VoIP call over the corporateWiFi network
fall short of users’ expectations. Another
common complaint is that an inbound
GSM call will over-ride a VoIP call being
made on a smartphone.
Nor do today’s solutions provide the
seamless integration between fixed line
and mobile communications that is needed
if users are to enjoy the benefits of mobile
telephony and the fixed line office phone
system. For example, it is still cumbersome
When it comes to office communications, the words convergence, seamless
and automatic are greatly over-used, serving to raise
expectations without delivering what they promise.
At last, that could all be about to change.
to transfer a call in mid-conversation from
a mobile device to a desk phone.
This matters because despite talk
of the death of the office phone, fixed
line handsets still have a place: they are
more comfortable than mobile devices
(especially for long conversations); they
make note-taking easier; they offer better
speech quality; they can be used with
high quality business headsets; and they
provide access to advanced functionality,
such as desktop CTI, which offers screen
popping, the ability to dial numbers from a
PC-based contact list, presence information
and access to corporate directories. There
are also desk based functions better
served by the use of a fixed phone such
as reception desk, contact centre agent,
telephone sales staff etc.
So what, then, can be done to
improve the experience of today’s
phone users and meet the heightened
expectations of smartphone users, whilst
also enabling employers to maintain
control over business communications
and telephony costs?
Greater synchronisation
At Samsung, research and development
teams have been exploring how to marry
the flexibility of mobile communications
and the benefits of fixed line
communications.
Our expertise in mobile telephony
and office phone systems gives us a
big advantage in this area and we have
already developed solutions that deliver
greater synchronisation between the two,
including the seamless transfer of calls
between mobile handsets and deskphones;
automatic routing of calls over WiFi or
GSM depending on whether the user is
within range of aWiFi network; and access
to presence and corporate phone lists from
a smartphone. Importantly, all these are
achieved without the user having to learn
new skills or routines.
And we are not stopping there.We are
also developing unified call logs so users
can see on their smartphone any calls that
have been missed on the deskphone and
visa versa; docking stations that allow a
mobile device to control a deskphone; call
recording from a mobile; integration of
mobiles with presence; and apps that bill
personal and work calls separately.
At Samsung, we have a very clear vision
of the future of office communications.
But what do you think?What features
and functions do you think would improve
the way you communicate?We would
be fascinated to find out. Please let us
know by completing the survey opposite.
If you’re lucky, you might even win a
Samsung Netbook.
01932 455000
www.samsungbusiness.com