For Women, Work Goes Social, Fonality Survey Reveals

•   - Men keep it short and snappy with instant messaging
•   - Almost one quarter of Gen Y & X access work email on their mobiles

SYDNEY – February 17, 2011 – Men have a greater preference for Instant Messaging (IM), whereas women prefer social media for work communications, a recent survey commissioned by Fonality revealed. Fonality (fonality.com.au) is a leading provider of cloud-based business phone and unified communication solutions.

25% of men versus 18% of women stated they would use IM for work. Women, however, had a greater tendency to use social media to stay in touch with colleagues, partners and customers (21% versus 16% of men).

The survey results also showed almost one quarter (22%) of Gen Y (18 – 24) and X (25 – 34) access work emails on their mobiles. Only 6% of 55-64 year olds do them same. On average, 15% Australians use their mobile phone for work email.

"The survey results demonstrate how office communications has evolved beyond traditional fixed line phone and email. There are clear generational and gender preferences businesses have to cater for if they want to maximise their workforce productivity," said Marc Englaro, managing director of Fonality Australia.

"Typically, employees spend about 30 minutes everyday looking for information or trying to contact others. With Unified Communications (UC), businesses can connect various modes of communications and across various user devices. This enables employees to access information and be contactable on a single number anywhere and at any time irrespective of the communication tools they use," Englaro added.

The survey findings underlined the shift away from the traditional fixed line to a mobile-only generation. While 33% of 55-64 year olds were mostly likely to use their fixed lines for work-related phone calls from home, 18-34 year olds preferred their mobiles for this purpose (74%).

But even in the younger age bracket there were differences. Tech savvy Gen Y were the most avid users of Instant Messaging (IM) and video conferencing with 46% and 15% respectively. Gen X were most comfortable using social media such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook for work with 23%.

"Small to medium sized businesses benefit from a cost-effective solution that allows employees to use communication channels such as email, mobile, VoIP, and instant messaging regardless of their location. While enabling greater work-life balance with support for telecommuters and remote workers, UC will help businesses compete more effectively and professionally," Englaro added.

"With many young Australians going mobile only, support for smartphones also presents a way to attract and retain talent in today’s competitive labour market."

Fonality launched HUD for Connect earlier this month. Fonality Heads Up Display (HUD) is a dynamic user-friendly Unified Communications dashboard that connects phones, desktop and important business applications into a single, unified, easy to use interface.

Methodology

The Fonality Working from Home survey was conducted by Pure Profile in December 2010, querying 1,000 Australians between the ages 18 and 64.

About Fonality

Fonality is Australia’s fastest growing business communications company and the only provider of cloud-based, open source VoIP phone and Unified Communications solutions for small and mid-sized businesses. With a unique software model approach, Fonality provides all the features of legacy providers without the cost or complexity. Founded in the US in 2004, Fonality has delivered more than two billion phone calls across the cloud while enabling more than one million users of open-standards based communications software.

Fonality entered the Australian market through the acquisition of the leading SugarCRM integrator, Insightful Solutions, in 2007. From its regional headquarters in Sydney, Fonality today services more than 700 small to medium sized businesses in Australia. For more information please visit: http://www.fonality.com.au