The #1 comms platform for the global enterprise, Fuze is designed for the way today’s engaged employees work.
The platform powers business communication through a secure, robust global platform that unifies voice, video and messaging into one cloud application and it enables teams to work wherever they are, at any time, on any device.
So that’s the promo out of the way and it’s onto business. Every year they release the Fuze Communications Index, a report detailing how technology improves collaboration and communication processes that enable…
- Companies to more easily identify and enact solutions for long-standing productivity and engagement hurdles
- An expansion of the remote and distributed workforce, in line with the future of work trends
- A strengthened company culture that takes into account the various differences in cultural communication preferences across a number of different factors
What Are They Saying?
Well, we all know the headline facts – advances in technology, from device capabilities to internet speed, are dramatically improving workforce communications and collaboration and that the global view of communication and collaboration – disparate office locations, cross-border trading and remote working for example – is transforming the ways in which people work.
The report looks at the different communities that are making these transformations happen and by having a deeper understanding of these differences, companies ‘can empower their employees with a collaborative environment and implement solutions to assist in those collaboration efforts.’
It’s Stats Time
Working On A Global Scale It’s more than just physical distance that impacts international working. For today’s forward-thinking businesses, it’s important to understand the unique preferences and communication patterns of colleagues, customers and suppliers in different countries, including cultural nuances, time zones, the proximity to international hubs and infrastructure investment. Video and screen sharing is one of the most popular ways in which people communicate when they’re not sitting across the table from each other.
Video (V) & Screen Share (SS) % Usage By Country
UK – 20% (V) 15% (SS)
Canada – 15% (V) 16% (SS)
USA – 16% (V) 17% (SS)
Denmark – 48% (V) 17% (SS)
Netherlands – 49% (V) 16% (SS)
France – 28% (V) 18% (SS)
Switzerland – 59% (V) 11% (SS)
Germany – 27% (V) 21% (SS)
Spain – 23% (V) 20% (SS)
The Germans have the highest usage of screen sharing while the Swiss have the highest usage of video calls so you know what to do if you’re in touch with either.
Average Meeting Times By Country
Sweden – 48.3 minutes
France – 44.9 minutes
India – 42.2 minutes
Australia – 41.4 minutes
Canada – 39 minutes
Switzerland – 38.8 minutes
Germany – 38.7 minutes
Spain – 36.1 minutes
UK – 36.3 minutes
None of the meetings are over 60 minutes but when we plan them we always default to 30 or 60 minute durations. To improve efficiency, try setting them to 25 or 50 minute durations. That way it will increase the likelihood of meetings starting and finishing on time.
Top Device Usage Per Country
Desktop applications and internet browsers remain by far and away the most popular choice to access international meetings but there are noticeable differences in the use of smartphones, landlines and tablets…
Key: Laptop (L), Mobile (M), Landline (LL), Tablet (T)
Australia – 74% (L), 15% (M), 3% (LL), 8% (T)
Canada – 89% (L), 6% (M), 5% (LL), 1% (T)
USA – 85% (L), 7% (M), 8% (LL), 0% (T)
Germany – 91% (L), 7% (M), 2% (LL), 0% (T)
UK – 82% (L), 5% (M), 13% (LL), 0% (T)
India – 93% (L), 6% (M), 0% (LL), 0% (T)
Italy – 90% (L), 8% (M), 3% (LL), 0% (T)
‘The quality, flexibility, and cost-savings of internet-based calling have made the laptop our device of choice for business communications. Future workers (age 15–18) rate their mobile phones as their preferred work tool, over the laptop, signalling to leaders that you need to make sure your communications tools are mobile ready for the shift on the horizon to mobile as the preferred meeting device in your organisation.’
Age It won’t come as a massive surprise that there are differences in the technical aptitude of people of different ages but despite these differences, there are no statistically significant changes in the likelihood of people using video or screen sharing –
Percentage Of Meeting Attendance By Age
15-24: 82%
25-34: 80%
35-44: 79%
45-54: 80%
55+: 75%
The average call length is pretty consistent for all age groups and sits between 3.6 and 4.0 minutes. The difference comes with older employees (55+) where the average call length goes down to 2.7 minutes.
In Conclusion
The full report is here and the majority of the statistics are US-centric but they do give us a good feel for what the future of communication and collaboration looks like.
There’s no doubting that preferences for communication vary from country to country in terms of demographics, engagement techniques, technologies, modes of communication, age, device type, meeting format and call length and why it’s ‘important to understand the unique patterns across these teams, it’s equally important to provide an effective means for employees and partners to seamlessly collaborate.’
‘To achieve the benefits of a global workforce, communication and collaboration across teams should be viewed as an asset, not a hindrance.’
As a modern thriving business regardless of the sector you’re in, international communication is not only more and more important but it’s become more and more of a regular occurrence. It’s up to you to provide your staff – the most valuable asset you have – with a comprehensive and extensible communications platform that supports increasingly varied methods of interaction which allow for a more fluid and flexible way of doing business based on cultural differences and individual preferences.
Contact us today on info@koncisesolutions.com or call 020 7078 0789 and we’ll talk cloud security, communications platforms, cutting-edge IT solutions or what sauce you should have in a bacon sandwich – brown or red.
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