Breaking away from the office

56 % of Norwegian companies offer data and communication solutions that make it possible for their staff to work from places other than the office. These are the results of a survey conducted on 2,000 executive managers by Perduco on behalf of Telenor Norway.

“The number of companies offering such solutions is about the same as last year, but we are seeing that employees are getting access to an increasing number of tools. It is mainly mobile e-mail and mobile broadband that is increasing,” says Abraham Foss, Head of Business Markets at Telenor Norway.

Of those who facilitate work away from the office, 77 % say that their employees have access to e-mail via mobile phone. This figure was 68 % a year ago. Mobile broadband has seen an increase from 65 to 71 %. Mobile switchboard is also gaining popularity with an increase from 28 to 33 %.

At work?

“This trend makes us less reliant on time and geography. Be it the cafe, tram or bus, you see a great many people tapping away at their phones and tablet computers. A growing number of them are working,” says Foss.

According to the survey, it is the major companies that are leading the way.

“Having divisions at various locations means that interaction has to be effective. Technological facilitation is just as important for small companies too, such as having access to the company’s internal network for the day you have to stay home with your sick child,” says the Head of Business Markets.

77 % of those who facilitate remote offices say that the company provides VPN access.

Online generation

It will become more commonplace to work from places other than the fixed office,” says the head of Microsoft Norway Hege Skryseth.

“This is a trend we are seeing in a number of countries. Rush hour traffic in the major cities is an important motivating factor. The same applies to the need for interaction between companies. Sub-contractors and big companies are often working in different time zones,” says Skryseth.

A company of Microsoft’s size has operating hours outside the Norwegian business hours of 08 – 16.

Microsoft recently published a survey that indicates that eight of ten people consider flexible working conditions an important factor when applying for a job. Four of ten say that it would feature in the decision on whether or not to accept a job offer.

“If we are to be perceived as an attractive employer to the young talent out there, management has to understand that we are dealing with a high-tech generation who are used to having all the information and contacts at their fingertips,” Skryseth says.

“The online generation also expects a certain level of freedom to choose when and where they will work. Not all companies are mentally and technologically prepared for this right now.”

New costs

About a third of the business leaders who are facilitating this, state that employees have the possibility to connect to video conferencing.

“Norwegian employees want to see more solutions that integrate the telephone, video conferencing, chat and screen-sharing in unified solutions. Almost all of business is thinking about how they can best harmonise communication. The benefits are efficient work processes, major savings in terms of both time and money, and not least, flexibility for the employees,” says Abraham Foss of Telenor Norway.

Not surprisingly, Telenor takes a major lead in this advancement. 31,000 Telenor employees have their own profile on the Microsoft client, Lync. With just a few keystrokes on your PC you can call a colleague who is free to decide whether or not they want to take the call on the PC or by telephone.

“Another benefit is that you gain a good overview of who is available and who is busy. This makes clarifying things faster. Colleagues are just a keystroke away, for calls, video conferencing, attending meetings and sharing documents,” says Foss.

Companies that facilitate work outside the office offer employees these data and communication solutions:

Mobile phone: 95 % (93 % last year)

Notebooks: 94 % (93 % last year)

Access to company’s network from home, VPN: 77 % (76 % last year)

E-mail on mobile phone: 77 % (68 % last year)

Wireless broadband: 77 % (73 % last year)

Broadband at home: 76 % (74 % last year)

Mobile broadband: 71 % (65 % last year)

Mobilt Sentralbord: 33 % (28 % last year)

Solutions to virtually attend meetings/video conferencing: 30 % (not measured last year)