How collaborative technology is transforming commerce
Gone are the days of face to face meetings and sales reps travelling miles in their cars to visit clients. Technology is changing the way businesses work, as it has done in our personal lives, for the better.
What is collaborative technology?
Collaborative technologies come in a number of guises, from cloud CRM systems which allow staff to access live data about their clients remotely, to video conferencing which allows employees, clients and suppliers to take part in meetings from anywhere in the world.
But collaborative technologies aren’t a new thing. As far back as 2014 Computer Weekly wrote about the benefits that could be gained from changing from email to other, more modern and collaborative, forms of communication.
What are the benefits of collaborative technology?
The overarching benefit is one of a reduction in costs, whether that be in terms of time spent travelling to and from meetings and client visits or the cost of hiring physical space for meetings to take place in. The ability to get the whole team together quickly without the need to travel and work round diaries has also brought about a reduction in the time it takes to get decisions made. Many companies offer some great rates too, particularly if you’re buying a number of technologies from them, and companies such as https://www.idtexpress.com offer packages which include VOIP wholesale rates.
It’s estimated that many small to medium sized enterprises are saving between £5,000 and £100,000 a year by adopting collaborative technologies.
Because these technologies allow much more flexible working for employees it, in turn, allows employers greater reach when they’re looking for new staff. No longer does your PA or sales executive need to be local to the company, as they aren’t going to need to be in the office every day, or at all, in some cases.
However, while it’s easy to see the benefits that might be gained, there is at least one downside. Although millennials, those born in the late twentieth century, are very tech-savvy and adopting these new technologies is a walk in the park for them, there can be some reluctance on the part of baby boomers, those born in the post–World War II years from 1946 to 1964, to accept and adapt to a change to more technology-driven processes.
