How Consumerization is Driving Workplace Technology

If you’ve ever spent hours mindlessly scrolling on social media or enjoying a few rounds of video games but groaned when returning to your work apps, you’re probably familiar with the concept of consumerization, even if you’ve never called it that. Consumerization is the influence that consumer-facing technology has on the workplace.

The idea is that consumer technology’s user experience tends to outpace that of business technology. In areas like unified communications, voice command software, and collaboration solutions, workplaces are seeing the consumerization of digital resources. Here’s how:

Unified Communications: With Gen Z set to account for 27% of the workforce by 2025, according to the World Economic Forum, it’s not surprising that their preferences are infiltrating communications. Unified communications solutions support multiple formats for connecting, including text, voice, email, and teleconferencing. And even more user-friendly is that those formats are all interchangeable, so an agent talking over chat with a customer can still see the contents of the voice call that preceded their conversation.

Unified communications also allow employees to work from anywhere with a connection, experiencing a consistent work experience.

Voice Command: Over 60 million households have a smart device that is actively used in the home, according to a recent Oberlo survey. Active use is designated as being utilized at least once each month. Using a natural voice in lieu of a keyboard is becoming more common in the workplace, as voice interaction is used to begin online meetings, check voicemail or for scheduling. It’s used for talk-to-text as well, but it’s expanding far beyond these tools.

Team Collaboration: Video games like Fortnite and Minecraft are built on their team approach, with players communicating through live audio or a messaging function. They can share everything from ammunition to information.

It’s easy to see how this technology can benefit the workplace, allowing geographically dispersed teams to share online workspaces, speed up decision-making and make collaboration easy. It also benefits employers, because they save resources that used to be dedicated to in-person meetings and they are no longer limited to hiring candidates in their immediate region.

Collaboration tools also allow another aspect of consumerization to be tapped for its business potential: gamification. The camaraderie that happens in the office can be difficult to achieve in a remote team, but with collaborative gaming features, teams pursue company goals while building connections.

Is your company looking for ways to bring consumerization technology to your work experience? Whether you are pursuing productivity improvements or talent retention, there are opportunities for emerging technology in your workplace. Contact us at ITBroker.com to learn more.