We have the technology – but no access to it

Only one in five of knowledge workers in believe they have access to the technology they need to perform their jobs successfully

Nine out of ten knowledge workers surveyed in the UK and Ireland believe that communicating and collaborating with others is increasingly important to their ability to perform in their work. Almost as many (85%) believe integrated communication technologies would increase productivity and engagement.

Yet nearly half of those surveyed (43%) believe they waste more than 30 minutes each day experiencing difficulty in accessing the information they need. On top of this, over half (53%) experience network delays or poor application performance each week, and 70% are frustrated by difficulty in reaching people, difficulty in accessing or sharing information or wasting time on inefficient conference calls.

The research is based on respondents from the UK and Ireland as part of two global research studies conducted by Alcatel-Lucent which invited responses from medium-to-large organisations across 51 countries. When asked about supporting technology, 79% of UC users said it has improved their level of engagement at work; of the 69% who had not used UC, a full 100% believed that having UC technology available to them would increase their productivity.

Key study findings include:

• Almost half of knowledge workers believe they waste over 30 minutes each day trying to access the information they need
• Yet just under 90% believe communication is key to their ability to perform
• And improved technology is the answer: 79% of unified communications users say it has improved their levels of engagement at work. 

Manish Sablok, Head of Marketing, North Europe, Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise said: "More and more people expect to use the rich variety of communications channels in their work that they are used to in their personal life. This research helps to supplement the business case for the deployment of a unified communications and collaboration system on the basis of the significant benefits which advanced UC technology can bring to the workforce.

"Nearly 80% of respondents who already use well-integrated UC suites believe that UC has improved their level of engagement at work. As well as improving engagement, the research shows that UC also increases worker productivity, knowledge accessibility at the right time and via the right device, and improves overall business processes."