TELECOMS & MOBILE
Missed calls costing industry millions
25-01-2008
by Emmet Ryan
The Irish economy is losing millions each year due to workers wasting time trying to contact colleagues and clients, according to Damovo Ireland.
In all, a total of EUR693 million is being lost each year as a result of the time wasted by office workers trying and failing to contact customers and colleagues. So says an Empathy Research survey, which was commissioned by communications firm Damovo and Ericsson.
The report, which surveyed 553 workers, found that Irish office workers spend an average of 73 minutes per week leaving voicemails.
"It is remarkable that so much time and money is still being lost by Irish businesses due to inefficient communications. With so many people using online chat and web video tools, such as Skype, to enhance communications in their personal lives, surely it is time to improve real-time collaboration in the workplace too," said John McCabe, managing director of Damovo Ireland.
McCabe said firms need to introduce online tools such as instant messaging to improve communications.
"We are aware of some progressive Irish organisations that have rolled-out instant messaging, video conferencing and shared web applications to the desktops of all employees," he said. "This creates a much more productive work environment, with colleagues and customers working together on the same documents at the same time in different locations. This can also dramatically reduce mileage and travel expenses for many organisations, with a positive knock-on effect for the environment."
In that vein, the survey revealed that 24 percent of respondents are using unified communications and so-called presence technologies (IM and web conferencing) in the office. Of the respondents already using these technologies, 91 percent said they were helping them to work more effectively. Of the respondents that were aware of these technologies but did not have access to them at work, 88 percent believed they would be useful.
However, the Damovo managing director said the private sector will be unable to capitalise on these technologies without better access to broadband. "There will have to be more concerted efforts to make high-speed, low-cost broadband available to businesses and homes throughout the country," said McCabe.
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