Mark Phelps of Node4: Collaboration is the growth engine of the economy

Collaboration is key to attract and keep new workers

Unified communications and collaboration (UC&C) is a hot-button topic, as the office of yesterday gives way to remote working and virtual presence. Studies show that collaboration, done right, enhances productivity and saves both time and money. Done wrong, it means that workers lose their sense of belonging to a team.

"You have to do both [remote working and face-to-face]," says Mark Phelps of Node4, who we interviewed about his thoughts on the topic. Phelps is Node4's collaboration product manager: an ex-Cisco veteran who has been in the communications sector since the '80s. He feels that collaboration is "the growth engine of the UK economy", and wants Node4 to drive best-in-class user experiences that will drive technology adoption.

"How comfortable you are and your own personal preference will dictate how often you have to go into the office," he continues. "I personally don't think anyone should be a hundred per cent remote."

There are some roles, like healthcare, where employees need to be in the office. However, Phelps believes that most roles can be performed just as well from a remote location. As an addendum, however, he also notes the importance of showing your face: "I don't believe that anyone needs to be in the office full-time, but everyone needs to be in the office some of the time." When he joined Node4 earlier this year, Phelps was in the office three of four days a week; he's now cut that to one.

Phelps argued in favour of a Maslowesque hierarchy when it comes to office time: face-to-face interaction at the top, followed by hybrid meetings; immersive telepresence; video conferencing; voice calls; instant messaging; and emails. "You need to think about when and where to use that media," he says. While building a relationship with a new client, meet face-to-face at first; but when it comes to talking to colleagues in other countries, consider telepresence. "The goal has to be to make the transition between content types quick and easy - and you need to be able to change on the fly, as necessary. It's got to be swift, easy and have a high-quality user experience."

Virtual reality seems like a perfect fit for collaboration - we asked Phelps for his view on the technology. It turns out that - at least for now - he is not keen. "As a technology, it's possibly a little embryonic at the moment; mainly because of the devices you have to wear. As they become different in their format, almost like a Star Trek holodeck - that's when it will become absolutely real. I think we should be thinking more about augmented reality."

Moving to a millennial workforce

A recent report by Fuze found a significant difference in the equipment valued by baby boomers (desktop phones and computers - even fax machines) and millennials (smartphones, laptops). We asked Phelps if this age gap was pronounced when it came to willingness and ability to learn to use UC&C tools.

"If you provide the right environment, technology and choices, anyone can use UC&C," Phelps said, even if the types of tools that people use and the speed at which they adopt new ones changes. Baby boomers, he said, are less keen on personal video than Generation Y, who are themselves less keen than millennials; Gen Yers prefer instant messaging like WhatsApp.

"The next types of application - like Cisco Spark and Slack - is one application, but has multiple types of communication; there are choices about how collaboration is used and consumed. The key is showing a personal benefit."

It is absolutely critical to deploy modern solutions like UC&C to attract young workers. A recent survey, said Phelps, showed that as many as 85 per cent of young workers think that the tools that are available in a company are more important than the wages they are offered. The Fuze survey linked above shows that they are also much more willing to work remotely than their more mature colleagues. Phelps nods: "Work should be about what I do, not a place I need to go to."