The Challenge

Messaging and data can now be stored and delivered via many different media – making it possible for everyone to be fully in touch with the information they need, instantly, wherever they are. But as ever with IT, the key question is will people use the technology available to them? As Block has found in its consultancy and infrastructure design work, understanding user behaviour is central to the success of any IT investment. Availability of virtual systems, mobile communications and automated processes has never been more real for everyone. But is it being used and is it helping productivity?

The Solution

The history of unified communications is one of the capabilities of the IT being way ahead of the understanding of the user. The benefits make sense on paper – better use of time, better collaboration, productivity on the move, better customer knowledge, reduced customer service errors. The list is long – but so is the list of excuses for not using it. The gap between the technology and how users work is one of understanding. How will unified communications help them do the things they do better and quicker? Show a user an immediate pay off – for example does it help me avoid making a mistake, will it help me meet my targets, will it prepare me better for a meeting or can it help me seal a deal? These are valid user questions before you ask them to adopt yet another smart device or application.

The Benefit

Block’s strength lies in our detailed understanding of what today’s unified communications can actually do and many years’ experience studying how our customers’ users behave in the workplace. Knowing the culture of the business, its strategic drivers and the pressures people face in their daily role, gives us an insight into how to bridge the gap between IT capability and the capability of people to use it effectively. So in unified communications technology the user experience is not so much critical, as fundamental. Without understanding how people work there will be little take up and less benefit.