How will be the office of the future?

Are back stiffness and immobility leaving the desk, chair and desktop; the office of the future is already here, it is a flexible mobile office, which is where you are. In 2020, half of the global workforce will be remote, it will be possible thanks to the integration of new technologies in enterprises.

The proliferation of mobile devices or communications solutions in the cloud allow employees to remain “always on”” and accessed anywhere and anytime to applications they need to work. The office of the future is already a growing reality, and today we will see how technology is facilitating this gigantic digital transformation for both workers and organizations.  

Mobility and telecommuting

The office is adapting to the new ways of working so natural for millennials, the generation of people who is around thirty years and have grown at the same pace of new technologies and mobility, integrating them fully in their daily lives.  Everything has been transformed into the office of the future is already a reality. Archaic offices filled permanent jobs and rigid schedules have given way to concepts such as mobility, teleworking, flexible hours or collaborative work. All this has led to the Office 3.0. Now the worker does not go to the office is the office that accompanies it, something made possible by the introduction of new technologies in organizations: a smartphone or tablet, a few apps and a provider of communication services in the cloud enough so that employees can access the company information , make and receive business calls, hold video conferences, participate in collaborative projects in real time and ultimately carry out each and every one of its tasks regardless of location where they are, without carrying multiple devices, and respecting their working hours.

At the Office 3.0 the worker does not go to the office, the office is going to work thanks to new technologies and communication services in the cloud.”

But also the physical office spaces themselves have been altered, predominating now places smaller, with especially designed to encourage creativity and personal contact, and without forgetting the corners of relaxation more informal and open spaces. Office 3.0 is a nice place, which facilitates communication, interaction, it is much more productive and the worker wishes to remain.  

Flexiworking

If we talk about the office of the future, Office 3.0, and how technology favors and makes it possible, we cannot ignore a key concept: flexiworking.  As follows from this anglicized, flexiworking is nothing that “flexible working hours” which, combined with teleworking , allow and encourage not only reconcile work and personal life of the worker , but also increase productivity. The flexiworking is an upward trend, closely linked to BYOD.

In the UK, 95% of companies have already implemented this “philosophy” while in Germany is 30%; Spain has come to later but is already present in 13% of companies. The final objective is to increase worker satisfaction and thus their commitment to the company and consequently its performance, so that labor flexibility has been confirmed as a factor of enormous importance and impact on the increase productivity.

Technologies and tools for mobility and work flexibility

The worker is now more mobile than ever and computer and business communications systems need to adapt to this new reality with flexible strategies and the implementation of solutions cloud, BYOD programs, the deployment of technologies of Internet communications, or commitment remote collaboration tools. Carrying and communications systems to the cloud  Cloud Computing is because the driving force of enterprise mobility, the key that allows employees of a company to carry out their tasks without being present in the physical office, thanks to solutions and applications accessible from anywhere and from any device , because information and services necessary for it no longer found in a corner of the office, if not in the cloud.  

Cloud Computing is the driving force of business mobility through solutions such as BYOD or BizPhone , as the information and services necessary for it no longer found in a corner of the office , if not in the cloud. “

Thus, given its significant benefits, digitization cloud is already a prevailing reality in more than half of current business, it is estimated that by 2019, 89 % of companies have migrated any of their systems to the cloud, and one of each four have moved their PBXs or telephony systems to the cloud.  

BYOD implementation of programs

BYOD literally means “”Bring Your Own Device” allowing the worker to use his own mobile phone to work tasks effectively and safely. A good example is telephony services in the cloud as BizPhone that, through an application, provides that the worker can have your telephone extension of the corporate PBX on their mobile device, while maintaining the privacy of your personal number safe, and without assuming the cost of business calls. Thus, business calls are never lost, and the employee does not need to carry two devices in your pocket.  

New Internet communication technologies

Another option is the use of technology or Internet communication protocols such as WebRTC or “Web Real-Time Communication”, capable of transforming the browser of a tablet computer or a worker in a complete phone perfectly integrated with the system. The extension of the corporate PBX is integrated in this case, in the browser of the portable device itself, bringing mobility and efficiency at its best.  

Remote collaboration tools

If the Office 3.0, as mentioned before, is aimed at promoting interaction and collaborative work among workers when the distance separating them, the technology approaches them. This is the case of the teleconference, a tool that enables communication of audio and / or video between two or more geographically separate persons, and that in turn leads saddled other services useful for remote collaborative work as screen sharing.

Advantages for companies and employees

Solutions that promote enterprise mobility offer advantages in cost savings and investments for organizations. Moreover, from the perspective of the worker, it is shown that this feels more satisfied in the company increases its commitment and performance and ultimately significantly increases productivity. A recent report by The Economist concludes that those companies seen by workers as “pioneers” in the implementation of mobile technology, have seen their employees by 16%.