78% of Businesses now have a Remote Working Policy in place

Market research carried out by Blueface reveals that remote working is becoming more and more popular. The research report titled “Business Communications Technology (BCT) Insight Report 2018” found that 78% of businesses surveyed have a remote working policy in place, which allows employees greater flexibility in choosing where they want to work.

This is now possible due in large part to the rise of communications technologies such as VoIP. The use of VoIP technology has increased in workplaces, with 35% of businesses utilising VoIP and 25% of those surveyed without a VoIP line intending to switch to one. The Insight report also found that 60% of startups surveyed intend to choose VoIP as their next provider.

While older communications practices such as faxing and voicemail are still regularly in use, with 45% and 75% of subjects respectively still using them on a regular basis, The Insight report shows that Irish businesses have for the most part taken progressive steps forward in the utilisation of communications technology.

Senior Vice President of Blueface in EMEA, Brian Martin, who officially announced the survey results at the Marker Hotel, Dublin this morning said: “This survey demonstrates the rapid changes that are being experienced by Irish businesses. Employees are expecting more flexible work arrangements, customers are demanding more responsiveness from companies and the challenge is now for CEO’s to embrace the change required within their organisations to address these needs.”

Key Findings

The Insight report also revealed that 57% of large enterprises (companies with 200+ employees) have endured malicious hacking or phishing attempts in the last 12 months. The research report titled “Business Communications Technology (BCT) Insight Report 2018” also found that 38% of all businesses surveyed, including large enterprises, small and medium-sized enterprises and startups, have endured an attempted hack in the last year.

69% of companies surveyed have introduced a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy into the workplace, allowing employees to use personal devices to access business materials. However, 31% still prohibit this on the grounds of data protection and security.

Other highlights include:

–          The continued reliance on automation and the rise of new technology has left 25% of people surveyed fearing for their future job security.

–          The biggest drain on employees’ time was found to be meetings, with 81% of respondents listing it as the most disruptive activity in their work day

–          Voice communication is by far the most popular means of communications in business, with 65.5% preferring it due to its allowance for better context and flow in conversations

Predictions

As Irish businesses continue to grow in the ways they utilise communications technology, so too do the companies that provide telecommunications services. The BCT Insight Report predicts that there will be an increase in Mergers and Acquisitions amongst telecommunication companies, as companies continue to expand and consolidate the services they offer, building portfolios of new technologies.

The BCT Insight Report also predicts that by 2025, VoIP and mobile data will become the primary medium for mobile voice services, overtaking cellular technology.

Due to the rapid growth of remote working policies in Irish workplaces, remote working policies will rival the popularity of fixed office locations by 2025.

The report also predicts that voice recognition technologies such as automated speech recognition will become more and more popular and will help to unlock next generation connectivity.

The full Business Communications Technology Insight Report 2018 is available to download here