The near-future world of work communication

by Eduard du Plessis, MD of EOH Network Solutions Division

Technology has always had a direct impact on the ways in which we work and communicate. From the rotary phone to the touch-tone phone, the fax machine to the modem, technological advances are constantly changing our ways of interacting, collaborating and working.

Coming innovations in technology will make the workplace look very different. So let’s have a look at what the world of work may look like in the very near future.

Driving change in the workplace

The world of work communications is changing faster than ever, with a number of drivers underpinning the key trends for tomorrow. These include mobility, hyperconnectivity, modern forms of collaboration and the “Internet of Everything” (IOE).

Mobility will continue to have a profound effect on the way we work. It is gaining importance for employers and employees alike, especially when coupled with hyperconnectivity. Together they are making the actual work location much less relevant.

To appreciate this, we need to realise that mobility no longer merely means the movement of people, but a wealth of new opportunities and management practices – for instance, talent choosing who they want to work for, rather than work choosing talent.

Mobility inverts the traditional expatriate or remote employee placement process – it also makes it possible to move jobs to where talented people are located.

In this sense, the future office will strongly be affected by the changing nature of work, enabled by communications and other technology.

People will increasingly be employed on short-term contracts with virtual companies or will participate in virtual cooperatives.

The exciting world of the future office

Using just a little imagination we can glimpse of what our workplaces will look like in the near future.

Desks and other flat surfaces will have touch-sensitive displays projected onto them using future screen technology. Every surface will come alive to our touch as we move from one place to another.

As we go about our daily work, the video visors and active contact lenses we will wear will keep us in constant contact with our human and machine colleagues around the world, almost as if we share the same office.

A wide variety of sensors and activators will constantly monitor our environment, adjusting it for comfort and health, checking it for bugs, jamming unauthorised transmissions – and perhaps even sanitising it using UV.

Chips will be ubiquitous, not only in computers, but in all kinds of other appliances and technologies surrounding us. They will allow work tools and appliances to learn and adjust to our preferences, so that each one of us can use them differently, according to what we find most efficient and satisfying.

It’s clearly going to be a very different, almost fantastical place. And it’s closer than you may think.

Your business needs to prepare for this

I’m sure you’re immediately wondering how on earth you can start preparing for this right now.

Thankfully, forward-looking companies and providers are already starting to implement the technologies that will lead to this future world of work.

The upshot is that you won’t have to invest in any of this technology yourself. Cloud computing will allow you to use it all, simply by leasing it from a service provider.

So the best way to future-proof your business is to right now partner with a powerful cloud technology provider that can tailor all this new technology to the precise needs of your business as soon as it emerges.

Your business will be an agile, modern organisation that will gain a competitive edge, attract the best talent – and keep it, and stand out in a customer-centric world.

 

Eduard du Plessis is a telecommunications specialist and has been passionately involved in product development, operations and product marketing in the telecommunications industry since 1997. Eduard was the MD at InfoSat from 1997 to 2002 and in 2003 he founded Ensync Business Solutions. He has driven two successful start-up companies in the mobile data and wireless networking spaces (Ensync and AfricaINX) and is now the MD at EOH Network Solutions in its telecommunications sector.