Zinwave, a leading global provider of Distributed Antenna System (DAS) solutions for in-building wireless, released the results of its Workplace Connectivity Survey. The study revealed prevalent use of cellphones in the workplace over desk phones, especially among millennials. The results indicate an increasing shift in dependence on mobile devices for work. This reinforces the need for employers to provide fast and reliable wireless signals at the workplace.
“The incoming millennial workforce has spoken, and they have made it clear that they want to use their mobile devices at work,” said Scott Willis, president and CEO, Zinwave. “The results of the Workplace Connectivity Survey confirm that employers need to support mobile technologies in the office.”
The Workplace Connectivity Survey questioned 1,021 offices, industrial and healthcare workers on their preferred tools for internal and external communications at the workplace. Respondents were asked about their use of a cellphone or tablet for data access.
What were some of the key findings?
A major key finding revealed that with the increasing use of cell phones at work, 11.7 percent of respondents never use their desk phones for in-office communications.
Because of this fact, some employers have stopped providing desk phones altogether.
Do millennial use text messaging to conduct their work? The survey found an increase in text messaging as a tool for communication at work. 52.5 percent of surveyed workers text their colleagues and other internal contacts. Also 51.7 percent of the surveyed employees send work related texts to their clients, vendors, partners and other external contacts.
The study also found more interesting information. 62.6 percent of respondents said they used cell phones on a daily basis for external communications and 56.8 percent for internal communications; 85.3 percent said they used cell phones on a weekly basis; 55.7 percent of workers use their cellphone or tablet every day for data access; 20.7 percent use their cellphone or tablet for data on a weekly basis.
In industrial settings, 71.3 percent of respondents used their cell phones daily for external communications and 64.8 percent for internal communications.
What about the healthcare profession? 62.4 percent used their cell phones for external communications and 61.8 percent for internal communications. Email slightly led cell phones as the primary tool of communication at work, with 68.2 percent of respondents using email for external communications daily and 67.6 percent using it for internal communications daily. Desk phones ranked fourth in terms of workers increasing their use, falling behind email, cellphones and text but outranking IM, video call apps, online meetings and social media.
Zinwave suggests that employers consider DAS options to facilitate their workforces’ preferences for communication. Zinwave’s 3F advantage, which is fiber based, full spectrum and future ready, offers the most effective solution to providing in-building coverage.
