Month in Numbers
If your telephone
has stopped
ringing at work,
you won’t be the
only one. Research
by Magnetic North shows that just 7%
of 16-24 year olds will call a business
even in connection with a high value
sales query. Overall, just 12% of people
aged 16-55 cite the telephone as their
preferred method of communication
(source:
The new rules of the inbound
contact centre,
Magnetic North).
Real wages in the UK have fallen by
10.4% in the last eight years, the
sharpest fall of any leading economy,
claims the TUC. Over the same period,
real wages grew by 23% in Poland, by
14% in Germany and by 11% in France.
In the first quarter of 2016, the UK once
again had the world’s fastest average
mobile connection speed (29.7Mbps).
However, it was ranked only 16th for
broadband, with just 36% of connections
achieving speeds of more than 15Mbps
(source:
Q1 2016 State of the Internet
Report
, Akamai).
Over a quarter (29%) of respondents
to a survey by global online reviews
platform Trustpilot say brands that are
active on social media are more ‘human’.
Almost one third (31%) say brands
that have online conversations with
customers are more trustworthy.
The proportion of people who say they
have experienced mental health issues
while in employment has climbed from
26% to 31% over the last five years.
Research by the CIPD shows that of
those, 42% have experienced a problem
in the past 12 months.
Windows 10 is now live in 39% of EMEA
organisations, according to a study by
Spiceworks, the professional network
for IT. The highest adoption rates are
in companies with more than 250
employees (51%) and in the software,
manufacturing, and energy industries.
Chat bots are seen as key to immediacy
and convenience in online services by
46% of consumers surveyed by myclever
Agency. Overall, chat bots were the
second most preferred channel for
communicating with service providers
(67%), after face-to-face (80%). Chat
bots are thought to enable 24-
hour service (68%), quick answers
to simple questions (64%) and
instant responses (51%).
Only 54% of IT professionals believe
cyber-security is a priority for their
CEOs (source: Spiceworks). Less than
one third (29%) of organisations
have a cyber-security expert in the IT
department. More than half (55%) don’t
have access to any security expert.
Identity fraud increased by 57% last year.
According to fraud prevention service
Cifas, the number of victims rose to
148,000 in 2015, up from 94,500 in 2014.
More than 85% of frauds were carried out
online.
Companies and individuals are leaving
themselves open to data and identity
theft, warns Blancco Technology Group. Its
analysis shows that 67% of used hard disk
drives and solid state drives sold on eBay
and Craigslist hold personally identifiable
data; 11% contain sensitive corporate
data. Blancco was able to recover company
email from 9% of the 200 used drives
tested.
More than two thirds (69%) of Britons
don’t trust businesses to keep their personal
details confidential, claims business
facilities provider Direct365. Young people
are the most trusting, with 47% saying
they are not concerned about companies
keeping hold of their information.
Facebook continues to be the top social
platform for consumer brand engagement,
with 90% of users saying they use it
to follow and interact with brands. This
compares to 59% of Instagram users who
use the platform for that purpose, 53% of
Twitter users, 42% of Pinterest users and
35% of Snapchat users (source:
Europe
Best of the Best 2015 Report,
Adobe).
The Month in Numbers
Faced with a choice of two similar jobs,
92% of SME employees surveyed by
Regus said they would choose the one
that offered flexible working. A third of
respondents (33%) said they would have
stayed longer in their previous job if
flexibility had been offered.
The annual salary that budding
entrepreneurs would need to be paid to
stop dreaming about setting up on their
own, according to Nectar Business Small
Business Awards 2016. Flexibility (29%),
a better work/life balance (22%)
and turning a hobby into a job
(21%) are the main reasons people
choose to start their own business.
Firebrand Training has launched premium
cyber security training courses costing
between £165,000 and £200,000 for
a 22-28 day programme. The luxury
courses include a helicopter flight, 5-star
accommodation and one-on-one expert
instruction.
The proportion of households in Great
Britain with an internet connection has
risen by 4% since 2015 to 89% (23.7
million households). ONS figures show
that 82% of adults use the internet every
day, or almost every day, up from 78% in
2015. In 2006, the figure was just 35%.
The British public has spent £3.1 billion
fixing or replacing broken gadgets in
the last five years, claims TSB Insurance.
Mobile phones are the items most likely
to get broken, with 8 million damaged in
the last five years.Water damage is the
greatest phone-killer, accounting for 23%
of mobile phone claims.
Cyber security breaches cost UK
companies £34.1 billion last year, a
survey by business ISP Beaming shows.
Bills for managing incidents of malware
and data theft came to £7.5 billion and
£6.2 billion respectively.
7
10.4
27.9
29
31
39
46
92
54
57
67
69
90
66,739
200,000
23.7 million
3.1 billion
34.1 billion
businessinfomag.uk
magazine
42
Sonia Blizzard,
managing director,
Beaming
