Almost all industries and sectors from retail to the arts have benefited from modern communication technology in some form or other. Trends in communication, as in any type of technology, continue, sometimes at a faster pace than people can keep up with. Here are some of the most recent trends that have cropped up recently, and how they can benefit your business:
- Death of the Inbox
Inc.com reported that the founders of clothing company Life is Good, a business worth $100 million, increased their productivity and sales by completely getting rid of their e-mail accounts. They are amongst a growing number of entrepreneurs who are doing the same thing. Their argument is that responding to e-mail takes too much time out of each day and increases workplace stress. Instead, they have opted to use a video conferencing solution to make regular progress updates with the rest of their team. While it does still involve being contacted from anywhere, even while on vacation, it is still much more flexible and takes considerably less time than e-mail does. This approach may not be possible or ideal for everyone, but many people do find it makes their working life easier.
- No Minutes on the Agenda
For decades, somebody had to record the minutes of a meeting and send them out through e-mail so that anybody who missed the meeting could catch up. It also meant that the beginning of each subsequent meeting had to be spent going over the minutes from the previous meeting, rather than discussing more pressing matters. It’s no wonder that most people nodded off during meetings. This isn’t necessary any longer as it is possible to record meetings, including any videos or presentations screened during the meeting, save them to cloud storage, and make them sharable to other users. There are even options to upload them to video sharing sites such as Youtube, either as public or private videos. While it is still unavoidable that not everybody can make every meeting, they can still catch up on the meeting in their own time, meaning that everybody on the team is always up to speed and meetings can progress without unnecessary items on the agenda.
- The End of Landlines
Cell phones haven’t only overtaken landline phones for the use of calls, they can also be used to communicate through video chat, check e-mail, or perform any number of tasks. This is why many people have stopped paying for landline phones in their own homes, since it is cheaper to use their cell phones instead. Businesses can do the same thing. EnterpriseAppsTech says that so many employees are carrying their smartphones into work anyway and almost all modern communication systems are based online, their bosses may as well use them as a primary communication method. They may not even have to pay for a company cell phone. E-mail or video chat can also be used to reach customers more efficiently and at a lower cost, since internet security has evolved to the point where people generally aren’t concerned for the safety of their information any longer. This saves another expense from the company budget, which is all too important today, which can be re-invested into other areas of the business. Additionally, since online meetings can be held between several people at once rather than just as a one-on-one communication, they make the sharing of information easier. For instance, rather than contacting each person individually, they can be reached all at once either by a group e-mail or a group meeting.
- Increased Internet Bandwidth
Most cloud based conferencing systems require only a stable internet connection to function properly. However, their growth in popularity means that more companies, and even homeowners, are upgrading their broadband packages and equipment to accommodate higher bandwidth and make better quality calls. This is good news not only for people who make regular online conferences who no longer need to worry about dropped audio, video glitches, or being disconnected from meetings. It also means that they have a better internet connection for other tasks, and even for leisure activities such as streaming movies or online gaming. With more and more modern work practises relying upon advanced technology that requires a faster connection speed, this means that companies which upgrade will be much more adapt to keep up with changes than their competitors. They are making an investment that will pay off for many years down the road.
Trends such as these may mean the end of several common work practises, but they will be replaced by better ones and be of great benefit for businesses, individuals, and private sectors. Staying on top of these trends and paying attention to the latest tech news and adapting accordingly will allow them to benefit your own personal life and business too.
