The end of communications as we know it

[news release] New research by Dimension Data shows that e-mail has overtaken telephony as a communication tool in the workplace. Other electronic communication tools are also reaching high adoption levels.Rob Lopez, Managing Director, Solutions at Dimension Data says, “In today’s corporate environment there is a myriad of communications tools available including desktop telephony, mobile telephony and email, among others. However, our research indicates that end-users prefer to communicate using electronic media rather than voice services such as telephony.”The research reveals that e-mail and telephony is most widely offered by organisations, and just as popular among users. 100% of the end-users surveyed use e-mail, followed by fixed-line telephony (80%), mobile telephony (76%) and instant messaging (66%).But, says Lopez the increase in e-mail usage is widening the personal communication gap. In other words, people would rather e-mail than speak to each other on the telephone.”This raises questions about how effective and meaningful e-mail communication is when dealing with problem resolution and discussing complex issues. Also, e-mail communication can be considered less secure. This could have a negative impact on productivity as end-users struggle to deal with growing volumes of emails.”Interestingly, the research points out, the three most ubiquitous technologies increase productivity the most. Over 70% of the end-users surveyed say e-mail impacts positively on their productivity, followed by conventional fixed-line telephony (53%) and mobile telephony (52%). From a productivity point-of-view, the research shows that instant messaging, blogs and softphones are considered most disruptive, and could negatively impact productivity if not managed properly.Dimension Data commissioned Datamonitor to study user requirements and decision-maker plans in the areas of unified communications. Unified communications ensure richer interaction by integrating most forms of communication (voice, e-mail, fax, instant messaging, video) through a single interface. The research surveyed 390 IT managers and 524 enterprise users across 13 countries in the United States, Asia Pacific and Europe, Middle East and Africa.Other key findings in the Dimension Data survey include: unified communications is a vibrant and developing market; security is a concern rather than an issue; unified communications technologies are more likely to be outsourced or externally managed than other technologies; and unified communications mindshares are dominated by alpha brands within each market.For the news release on Dimension Data website, see http://www.dimensiondata.com/NR/rdonlyres/1FF223E4-ADCC-4CC3-A332-7D2983605C44/7616/THEENDOFCOMMUNICATIONSASWEKNOWIT1.pdf