Workers give mobile email thumbs up

Staff would benefit from mobile access to email, survey finds

Most staff would welcome mobile access to email, according to a survey on behalf of mobile email provider Visto. The research suggests that wider access to email via handsets could help staff improve their work-life balance and boost productivity for their employers.

The survey found that over 80 percent of respondents expected mobile email to offer them more flexibility to balance their work and personal life.

The research also revealed that staff wanted mobile access to personal as well as corporate mail accounts, and the ability to disable messaging outside working hours, without having to switch off their handset.

Steve Maynard, Visto's European marketing manager, said his company had wanted to find out if end-users would be against widespread deployment of mobile email inside businesses.

"Our position has always been to enable mass adoption of mobile email, but acceptance is key – you need to make it attractive to workers," said Maynard.

The survey of mobile professionals in the UK, the US and Italy found that many expected mobile email to free them from having to sit in front of an office computer so they could spend more time actually doing their jobs.

It would also give some staff more time to pick up their children from school while remaining in contact with the office, according to Maynard.

Over 70 percent of those in the survey also felt it was important to have access to personal email alongside their work messages. Visto Mobile provides separate inboxes for up to four mail accounts, Maynard said