How Will Digital Innovations Change the Office in 2020

Technical innovations will have a profound impact on how things are run in traditional offices and other workplaces in 2020. From the power and speed of 5G to voice-enabled tech that makes Siri blush in shame, the coming year promises to be a wild ride. Let’s peel back the calendar for a sneak peek at what’s to come.

The Year of 5G

2020 will be a massive slam dunk for companies that adopt 5G technology. AT&T, Qualcomm, Nokia, Verizon, Huawei, and other providers are deploying 5G at a rapid rate. 5G phones are already hitting the markets and when it’s widespread enough to become common in the workplace, faster broadband and a more reliable mobile network may convince more companies to go wireless — assuming security concerns are addressed.

5G has widespread applications that may make our cities and vehicles smarter. Manufacturing facilities are already incorporating IoT and IIoT — increasing the speed at which devices can communicate will speed up production lines, improve quality and help manufactures pull ahead of their competitors.

This disruptive technology can make communication in the workplace more efficient as well. This may well be the technology that defines 2020 and several years to come.

Applications are Getting Smarter

Oracle EBS now does a lot of its own maintenance, saving DBAs time and effort. Many other applications are becoming more intelligent too. This vastly improves the user experience and helps companies streamline complicated workflows.

According to Forbes, a large energy provider has improved its infrastructure using intelligent applications. Thanks to machine learning, the technicians are alerted to small changes in throughput, which prompts them to check on the associated pylon. This improves safety and productivity. Drones sent out to the pylon help workers identify problems quickly and safely.

Ultrathin Apps

Skinned down apps are helping users incorporate just the functionality they need. This makes it easier to use the apps on various devices. For example, expense workflows usually come encapsulated in complex solutions requiring significant computing power. Companies like Sapho have simplified these apps for mobile devices. Using Microsoft’s Flow with PowerApps, some functions can be completed with a single click on your phone.

While applications are becoming more capable all the time, to fully utilize them, you need a partner that specializes in transforming the digital experience to help you truly revolutionize how your employees complete their tasks.

Even Your Workplace Is Going to Be Smarter

Some forward-thinking business owners are transforming the workplace itself. This is a great way to differentiate your brand. Smart spaces, such as Allan Gray’s smart buildings, integrate the environment and are designed around the processes that people perform to boost productivity.

A holistic approach means that HR, facilities, finance, IT and the lines of business need to form a cohesive strategy and rich culture. Tearing down the silos and getting people to interact and get to know one another leads to a more collaborative and dynamic work product.

Holistic smart buildings can also lead to energy savings as smart buildings provide feedback on building occupancy, and heating and cooling trends.

Improving Space Utilization

Growing businesses need to look for ways to use every inch of office space without sacrificing employee comfort. One of the toughest nuts to crack is how to utilize the mostly empty space in conference rooms without sacrificing meeting areas. Using room-booking apps, Wi-Fi sensors and other tools, designers can build collaboration hubs that take up less room than traditional meeting rooms.

By analyzing where and why your employees are meeting, you may discover that several small “huddle rooms” meet the needs of the organization better than massive videoconference rooms that are barely used.

Data Authenticity is Key to Business Growth

Machine learning will help verify workplace data. Unverified data is a danger to all corporations since business leaders often base their decisions on inaccurate or stale information. One of the major areas of innovation in the coming year will be how to validate the accuracy of data provided to company leaders and customers.

Data validation has previously been left up to analytics professionals that prepare or audit systems reports. If these individuals don’t cross-check data points, then erroneous data could end up in the final work product. Machine learning simplifies data verification across systems and improves the accuracy of your companies reporting as a whole.

This is especially true in budgeting and forecasting of any kind since the forecast is only as accurate as the information collected and the value of a prediction degrades quickly over time. Machine learning data is compared to manually entered information from the company’s CRMs. The machine learning values come close to the manually input numbers and can become more accurate than them over time.

Conversational AI: Goodbye, Siri?

You might be her biggest fan, but most users have to admit that Siri kind of sucks. Voice-to-text utilities are buggy and inaccurate, forcing you to repeat the same phrases multiple times and garbling the results anyway.

However, strides will be made in conversational AI in 2002. Applications like Microsoft Conversational AI is expected to interpret complex conversational language — including emotional nuances. Chipsets and SOCs designed for smart devices are getting good at honing in on the human voice even in noisy environments. Machines are also getting better at interpreting natural language on the fly. In 2020, the foundation for next-gen conversational AI will be laid.

These innovations will transform how we communicate with one another in and out of the office and even how we give commands to our IoT, wearable tech and smart devices.

2020 is bound to bring change, don’t let your IT expenses get in the way.

Let us manage TEM while y
ou do the rest.

About the Author: Jeff Poirior

Jeff brings 25 years of telecommunications and information technology management experience in voice and data networking, server support, and telephony and security; with a significant emphasis on customer service. Prior to joining Valicom, he was chief of the infrastructure support section for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Jeff was the vice president of operations for CC&N, overseeing telecommunications, help desk, data and desk side support services. Prior to that, he served as the associate director of technical resources for Covance, responsible for managing systems and network operations supporting 1700 users in Wisconsin and Virginia. He has also led data center operations at Magnetek Electric, supporting mainframe systems, client/server applications, telephony systems, and computer-aided design. Jeff holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Cardinal Stritch University and a master’s degree in business administration from University of Phoenix. In addition, Jeff is a past board member of the Wisconsin Telecommunication Association.