Almost half UK workforce 'out of office'.

Sirenic have revealed the results of a survey carried out, which suggests that almost half of the UK workforce depends upon the 'out of office' function to deliver an automated response to emails received in their absence.

Of the 49% of respondents that rely on this email function, 57% said that they switch their 'out of office' on when they're on holiday, 37% when they take a day off, and 5% when they're out to lunch.

Comment:

The 'out of office' function should not be seen as a long term solution or substitute to a prompt and personalised email response. Given that the role of email in communications has become as important as the telephone, if not more so, and that businesses are increasingly demanding in terms of response times and contact levels, it is essential that a more appropriate solution be adopted.

'In order to maintain an appropriate work/life balance, which avoids workers feeling stressed about returning to the office to deal with a massive backlog of emails, HR departments should investigate mobile email solutions, such as that offered by MobilePA, as a way to enable greater flexibility for workers whilst maintaining the highest standards in business communications.'

With industry research* predicting that about 40% of people with a business mobile phone (about 21 million in Europe) will use mobile email by 2008, it is clearly time to put the 'out of the office' function in the recycle bin!

*Taken from an Analysys report 'Western European Mobile Forecasts and Analysis 2003-2008', published March 2004.

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