Viva La Revolution!
What's New In The Office Of The Future
by Yvette Aubusson-Foley 
 In the 19th century the Industrial Revolution changed the way people worked on a profound scale. The rumble of change – powered by new inventions like electricity, cast iron and steam engines – pushed working conditions to new heights – and lows – but the common crank that turned the wheels of progress across many industries was technology of the day.
Fast forward to the 21 st century. The wheel is about to turn again. It's more ring tone than rumble, powered by inventions like Blue-ray optical disk drives, NAND flash memory, light-emitting silicon and microprocessors. Communication technology's current evolution heralds a revolution for the office environment.
Seamless mobility is the heart beat of office technology research and development. Of course ‘office' can mean: airport lounge, taxi cab, train station, hotel room, kitchen table or café.
The flexibility and freedoms that are emerging with new technologies like 3G, online computing and VoIP are big news for regional cities, which could find more tree changers moving to town, bringing their metropolitan-based jobs done just as effectively from regional centres.
Solomon Trujillo, Chief Executive Officer, Telstra Corporation Limited recently said the way we work has already fundamentally changed and the challenge for the ICT industry is to ensure that the users of the technology have the skills and capacity to manage the vast quantity of incoming communication.”
“10 years ago there was no email. 5 years ago people complained there was too much email and it was “interfering” with their work. Now email is the way we work,” he said.
DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT
Brad Ives, IT business analyst team leader, Print Solutions Australia agrees. “The percentage of what we print is reducing but the information we receive is increasing exponentionally. We used to print all the emails we got, for example. Now we only print 10 per cent of emails because we get so many.”
“In the past, the p reference for sharing information was for the sender to print information out and then distribute it via fax or post. Today the sender distributes it (via email) and then the receiver prints it out. With a Multifunction device (fax, scan, print, copy) you can do it all from your desktop,” said Ives.
How businesses back up their data is also changing. “A lot of businesses have … no real disaster recovery plans for unstructured data such as paper files, contracts, orders and notes.”
One solution is Canon's imageREAL, a document management solution which automatically sorts and stores electronic copies of every invoice and POD printed.
Bartter Enterprises, one of Australia 's largest poultry producers, has been physically storing pieces of paper in archive sheds at 10 distribution sites.
Using imageREAL, delivery drivers now get customers to sign a POD, which are scanned at the distribution centres. An electronic copy is automatically sorted and stored.
"Even now, with a task like sending invoices to our customers - we can email it, whereas before it was always a matter of sticking an A3 invoice onto a photocopier, shrinking it down to A4 and then faxing it across," said Steven Hepple, Bartter Enterprises IT Manager.
MOBILITY
Where we still might access information from behind our firewalls or face-to-face we increasingly do it from practically anywhere using online computing or mobile devices, like the Blackberry.
Online computing is an emerging practice which puts data onto a central database, and can be accessed from anywhere that has internet. Depending on the provider, it has features for work including appointments and email.
There is also an increased usage of online backups which use centrally located providers – who in theory can be anywhere in the world. This raises issues of trust – are they secure, reliable, reputable and financial?
Trusting staff with workplace mobility can also be a leap of faith. Are your mobile staff at home with their feet up on the coffee table watching a movie? Their results will speak for themselves and in the future its results, not time, that will matter.
On a more positive note, “Regional business can benefit from the mobility technology provides. Now we don't have to be in a central location to be responsive to customers and personal life. The ability to do quick exchange allows better feeling for customers,” said Paul Osmond, Director of RIM, APAC.
Bill Murdoch, Manager of TV and antenna installation company Jim's Antennas uses RIM's Blackberry device in this way.
“I am the only one who answers all the emails, so productivity and time management is affected when I have to drive out to a site, drive back to the office, drive out again, then back to the office etc.”
Bill now receives his email on the road, without effort. Messages are delivered automatically to the BlackBerry device without having to do anything to request them. With his BlackBerry device, Bill now has phone, email and diary included in a convenient, all-in-one package.
Bill is a living example of how measures of performance have changed. Traditionally, it was done by the hours logged. In the future, our performance will be measured by the results we achieve.
3G
3G technology will help us achieve those results. The current CDMA network in Australia will be changed to 3G in the near future. 3G technology provides a bridge between internet services and mobile devices, meaning remote users can send and receive voice, video and high speed data via their mobile handset or laptop.
“ The CDMA Network is still the best coverage in Australia and people should still utilise it. …[Telstra] customers are basically going to get a free handset to migrate across to the 3G network,” said Chris Taylor, area general manager, Telstra Countrywide, NSW Western Region.
“The CDMA network will not be decommissioned until the coverage patterns are the same or better. The coverage under 3G will be the same if not better. The only difference is the mobile phone handset is going to have a lot more functionality in terms of being able to stream off internet and data integration. They're not just going to be voice handsets,” he said.
EFFICIENCY
This new way of working has both positive and negative outcomes. Phillippa Carnemolla, Resident Industrial Designer, CSM Office Furniture Solutions and design lecturer, Industrial Design faculty, UNSW believes technology helps us to be very efficient at completing our tasks.
“Unfortunately any little bit of time we save we fill back up with more work! So our work pace just gets faster and faster. But being chained to a desk is a thing of the past. … our colleagues may not even be aware that you are working from home or a coffee shop, or a hotel in Dubai !” she said.
PRESENTATIONS
Efficiency can be measured in other ways too. Powerpoint and similar software, digital projectors, electronic whiteboards, screens and laptops mean preparing and giving presentations is streamlining.
For example, the ebeam by CSM allows you to create an interactive whiteboard on any flat surface using your PC and your digital projector that communicate with a wireless connection. You can also write on your screen with the Evernote's ritePen HWR feature and print out what you've done.
TEAM WORK
Nokia predicts that strict hierarchies in the workplace will evolve in the future into worldwide virtual teams that form as needed, to address specific initiatives. Boardroom meetings can be held in a virtual space using temporary physical locations across many geographies.
Yes you can be in two places at once!
Video conferencing for example can recreate face-to-face interaction without people physically having to be in a room together.
For conference calls involving small groups of people, expect more gadgets like the Polycom Communicator which allows business to take advantage of low cost internet- based telephony solutions such as Skype.
Skype is a free program that lets people talk to each other over the internet. You can talk with any other Skype user for free, or use the optional SkypeOut service to call traditional landline or mobile phones.
“Calling anywhere in the world where there is an internet connection for free is going to be very appealing to this internet generation,” said James Anderson, Polycom Country Manager, Australia and New Zealand . “I would say the days of paying for a fixed line telephone call in the future are limited.”
VoIP
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a technology that allows you to make telephone calls using a broadband Internet connection instead of a regular (or analog) phone line.
Tony Bonnano, Director, VDV Communications, believes that VoIP will become the predominant telecommunications vehicle of all business within the next few years and the application of VoIP to regional areas is vital because it can save so much money on overheads.
He says VoIP has now matured into an essential tool for any business wanting to cut costs and improve the management of its workforce.
LIFESTYLE
Balancing lifestyle and work is a big plus for many, particularly when lifestyle includes children. “One of the great benefits new technology has brought is the ability for less mobile people to remain in the workplace - be they young mothers, carers or people with disabilities,” said Phillippa Carnemolla, CSM.
RIM's Paul Osmand agrees. “A lot of people I work with thank RIM for the ability to go see kids play football, never knowing when the next contact is going to come that leads to a better deal.”
THE FUTURE
While workplace technology's function can currently be predicted there are still many people in business who are technophobic. Tony Fransos, Computer Troubleshooters, Dubbo says there is apprehension among older users of technology.
“It's a bit frightening to some people especially older people who haven't grown up with the technology. They think they won't understand it and it could wreck their lives if they make a mistake with it, so people are little nervous, especially when it could impact on their income,” he said.
“Sometimes the IT industry doesn't help because ironically it doesn't always communicate. Computer jargon can be confusing and not always user-friendly,” said Fransos.
No matter which way you look at it though, these technologies are here to stay.
“Who knows what the next 10 years will bring – a lot more biometrics supported software I am sure - voice recognition for fast dictation, eye/finger scanning for security etc,” said Carnemolla.
“As for nanotechnology - who needs a lunch break? Just log onto the cafe's website and order one of those fabulous ham rolls they do - pay with your credit card then press send - go off to your 3D printer and there is lunch!!! This might be a little far fetched - but 3D printers are not far from being in our offices - print a pen, a pair of sunglasses you forgot!,” she said .
For now, the immediate future is as Solomon Trujillo, Chief Executive Officer, Telstra Corporation Limited describes it: “Telework increases access to information for remote communities, creates jobs in regional areas, enhances opportunities for the self-employed, allows people to find a better work-life balance and provides new hope for those with disabilities.
“The telecommuting revolution will continue to deliver such benefits as: flexibility for working parents; reduction of pollution by changed commuting patterns; and, a more productive workforce by reduced interruptions.
“The ability for small businesses to return calls using wireless technology whilst commuting; farmers to compare notes between continents on fertiliser, and, scientists to collaborate without distance constraints can only serve to drive innovation and improve productivity,” he said.
THE OFF BUTTON
Of course if you suffer from information overload, the future probably isn't looking too bright. A final word from Paul Osmond, Director of RIM, APAC on the Blackberry handheld – but good advice for any mobile device that is a great working tool, and fun to use: “ Take advantage of opportunities but remember you control the technology, it doesn't control you. Always remember … this thing has an off button.”
Yvette Aubusson-Foley is the Regional Business Magazine editor.
|
