We’re more connected today than we’ve ever been. Not just in the consumer world, but in the enterprise environment too. Never before have we had so many ways to connect with each other on projects and tasks, from digital whiteboards that record every doodle, to video conferencing and instant messaging apps that allow us to communicate in seconds.
As technology continues to evolve, it seems certain that the workplace of the future is built around the freedom of conversation, and the way that we can use communication to bring teams together. It’s no wonder then, that the unified communications and collaboration market is expected to reach a value of $96 billion by 2023.
What is the Conversational Workspace?
The “conversational workspace” is just one term used to describe this new era of UC, where collaboration has become a more natural part of the daily office environment. Team members in a business are no longer siloed into their own individual departments and cubicles. Instead, marketing can connect with sales on plans for the next big business campaign, by sharing an interactive whiteboard. Executives can communicate with partners through video conferencing in technology-rich huddle rooms, brimming with HD audio and video.
The conversational flow delivered by UC technology has become the heart of business success, helping people to complete tasks in a more innovative, focused way. Even artificial intelligence has been used to support the current environment, with machine learning solutions helping contact centre agents and CEOs to make decisions based on contextual information about conversations. Everything in today’s business world comes down to communication.
Finding Your Space in the Conversational Workplace
The rise of the conversational workforce is both a good and bad thing for communication companies. On the one hand, new start-ups and innovators around the world are finding their opportunity to have an impact on the marketplace with disruptive technology. On the other hand, countless collaboration and UC giants are battling for the top spot, in a marketplace that’s growing more saturated by the day. For instance, in terms of workplace collaboration, we’ve got dozens of competitors, including Slack, Microsoft Teams, Workplace by Facebook, Cisco Spark, RingCentral Glip, Google Hangouts, and more.
On top of that, it’s not just competition that companies taking advantage of the conversational workforce need to think about. Security is also emerging as a common concern, with issues regarding privacy, and data safety at the top of many IT leader’s minds. Brands need to think about how they can implement new conversational solutions into the workforce, without compromising on data security, or compliance.
User Adoption is Key to Success
Ultimately, it’s the company that makes the conversational workplace more of a realistic opportunity for business that will succeed in this new marketplace. As with any new technology, adoption is key to success, and if something feels natural to your workforce, then they’re far more likely to embrace it. In other words, if you want to really achieve something in today’s collaborative environment, then you need to produce a tool that’s not only innovative, but intuitive, and capable of responding to business user needs.
Collaboration apps need to support the natural communication that’s already happening in the workplace, giving people the freedom to choose which strategy they want to use to connect with co-workers. At the heart of everything, the power of the conversational workspace is people. The brands that put people first are the ones that will come out on top in this war for relevance.
