Organisations failing to roll out mobile videoconferencing, Polycom survey finds
Few organisations are fully implementing videoconferencing among their staff using mobile devices, despite high proportions of younger workers in particular favouring mobile video, according to a new global survey commissioned by Polycom. More than 90% of those who regularly use video to collaborate experience higher productivity, better teamwork, financial savings and reduced travel expenses, the survey finds. More than 80% also find they are making faster business decisions and improving employees' work/life balance. However barriers still exist to broad adoption of video collaboration, the survey found. Most organisations have limited availability of video to larger conference rooms and only very few have broadly rolled out video to desktop and mobile users, it found. Notwithstanding this, 45% of end users surveyed frequently use their mobile devices such as tablets, laptops and mobile phones to join a video conference, and 35% of workers who are 25 years or younger use video frequently and from anywhere. Travel cost savings are cited as the number one benefit for video use in Europe, with 98% of survey respondents listing them as medium to high priority. In a statement Polycom offered Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust as an example of how video adoption in the public sector. The trust has implemented telehealth video services, developed in partnership with Polycom reseller Imerja, in areas such as stroke care, speech and language therapy, renal home care and cancer care, the company said. Results have shown the solution helps reduce the need for hospital visits for patients, leading to improved outcomes and cost savings, it said.
Pictured: A videoconferencing system in use, by Polycom.
Polycom: www.polycom.com
Office for National Statistics to change measures for digital economy
Changes to the way the Office for National Statistics publishes data and statistics on the UK digital economy have been unveiled following a consultation on how people use the data; preferences for frequency and formats; and what new digital economy statistics might be helpful. Changes proposed include publishing estimates of adults who have ever or never used the Internet in a separate new bulletin in May, rather than within an existing annual "Internet Access - Households and Individuals" release in August. The agency is also set to expand the coverage of the 2014 E-commerce and ICT survey - to be published in January 2015 - to include businesses with fewer than 10 employees. This will be on an experimental basis and the long term viability of including these businesses beyond the 2014 survey will be assessed in 2015, ONS says. A 'Measuring the digital economy' user group will be established early in 2015 to help review and prioritise digital economy data needs from now on.
ONS Consultation on Measuring the Digital Economy: www.ons.gov.uk/ons/about-ons/get-involved/consultations-and-user-surveys/open-consultations/2014/consultation-on-measuring-the-digital-economy/index.html
