Growing use of digital network communications in place of traditional phone and face-to-face interaction continues in the U.S. workplace. Email remains the centerpiece of office communications between co-workers, while use of other, more recently introduced forms of digital network communications, such as instant messaging applications, is on the rise, according to new market research about business use of instant messaging from ReportLinker.
Half the U.S. workers surveyed by ReportLinker said email was their primary means of communicating with their co-workers, the market research provider highlights. In addition, 43 percent said they used newer communications tools, such as instant messaging applications, at work.
That rises to 62 percent of employees in international companies, and higher, to 71 percent of employees in the tech industry.
In contrast, just 1 in 5 respondents said they prefer using traditional communications – either face-to-face or phone conversations – when interacting with co-workers. More specifically, 19 percent said face-to-face interaction – in person or in meetings – was their primary means of communicating with colleagues. That said, 64 percent mentioned face-to-face interactions as one of the other communications tools they use.
Similarly, just 18 percent said they rely on phone conversations (voice) as their primary workplace communications tool. Seventy-two percent mentioned it as one of multiple workplace communications tools they use.
Email was by far the most popular means of communicating with co-workers. Fifty percent said email was their primary communications tool while at work, and 68 percent said it was one of the other communications tools they use.
Eight percent of respondents said private, group or chat software applications were their primary workplace communications tool. Twenty-eight percent said it was one of the other means of communicating with colleagues.
Video conferencing was the primary communications tool for two percent. Twenty-three percent mentioned it as one of the other communications tools they use while at work.
Business Use of Instant Messaging
Digging deeper, ReportLinker found that 57 percent of respondents said instant messaging (private or group chat) software applications were not available in the workplace. Forty-three percent said they were.
Instant messaging (private or group chat) software is more prevalent among international (62%) and tech companies (71%). Furthermore, employees said they used instant messaging applications for work communications 28 percent of the time.
Among individual applications, 29 percent of respondents said they used Skype. Facebook Messenger followed at 22 percent. Microsoft Lync was available and mentioned by respondents 19 percent of the time, and Slack group messaging by five percent.
The popularity of Facebook Messenger bodes well for use of recently launched Facebook at Work, ReportLinker notes, adding that the application is especially popular among those working in small companies. Forty-one percent of respondents working in companies with fewer than 50 employees said they use it to interact at work.
In more than half the companies covered, IT departments make the call when it comes to choosing, as well as maintaining, what communications technology is available. Communications departments are involved in just three percent of businesses when it comes to choosing an instant messaging application.
Turning to devices, desktop computers (75% of mentions) and phones (71%) continue to serve as the predominant communications tools in the U.S. workplace. That said, companies are also providing mobile devices and technology to employees.
Respondents mentioned laptop computers 63 percent of the time, smartphones 56 percent of the time, and tablets 36 percent of the time. Furthermore, businesses that provided employees with access to instant messaging applications were more likely to provide mobile devices, such as laptops (75%) and tablets (47%) as well.
