Let’s Talk Business – Technology and Improved Communication in the Workplace

We live in a high-tech world. There are few areas of life untouched by modern technology, and its reach extends to the minutiae of the human experience – from ‘Smart’ remote-controlled home appliances to Virtual Reality (VR) technology.

However, innovations within communications technology have had an unparalleled Global impact.

The Need to Communicate

Our need to communicate with others is founded on primal instincts; it is an inextricable part of our social make-up. Technology now enables us to be connected with the whole world. Whilst this is obviously incredibly helpful from a practical point of view, it also keeps us happy at a very fundamental human level. Such technology has ‘shrunk the world’ whilst also enabling direct, real time conversations across continents. However, there is one technology underpinning the majority of our technological communications…

The Internet

The internet has delivered seismic socio-economic benefits the world over. However, the impact on global business cannot be overstated:

• Hundreds of internet-based industries have been created
• The majority of businesses today have an internet presence – this has enabled companies to sell their products and services to the whole world.
• Improved communication methods have been created to help businesses to go about their work efficiently and collaboratively.

The internet is continuing to open up possibilities for enhanced business communications; indeed internet infrastructure has enabled another game-changing technology to positively influence how the world communicates.

VOIP Technologies

VOIP technology has changed the way the business world talks. What is it and why has demand for this particular method of communication seen exponential growth in recent years?

VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) technologies use existing technological infrastructures to deliver a stream of data ‘packets’ – including voice communications and multimedia – across networks. This enables high quality video and audio to be streamed without interruption.

Because VOIP uses existing technological infrastructure, there is no need for hardware to be updated to reap the rewards of the latest innovations; instead software updates ensure the technology is always up to date. VOIP technology fundamentally exists within computer networks, and therefore the technological requirements for end devices (e.g. headsets) are fairly rudimental

VOIP telephony systems allow businesses to reduce costs by enabling free communication across networks. Furthermore, there are no contracts or network costs associated with the use of this technology. This all makes VOIP an attractive option for businesses.

It may surprise you to learn that VOIP technology has actually been in existence since 1995. It is no coincidence that it came into being around the same time that the internet started to be widely used. However until recent years, its implementation has generally been within larger organisations which have been perceived to derive more benefit from its use.

Implementing VOIP

Given the low investment needed, and potential for saving large sums of money – even in the short term – business uptake of VOIP has skyrocketed.

On top of this, an increasing number of legacy telephony systems are coming to the end of their lives; replacing with a future-proof technology makes good business sense.

However, if you choose to implement VOIP within your business, it is important to go ahead with a trusted provider who will tailor the technology to your business’ needs.

The Future?

The internet and VOIP were both designed to be future-proof; neither technology has changed significantly since original implementation over 25 years ago. However, given the genius of modern inventors, and the sheer speed of technological innovation, there is a sense that business communications will be very different in the short-to-medium terms. After all, you may soon be attending a meeting as a 3D hologram!

What changes would you like to see in business communication? How would you feel about attending a virtual meeting?