Cellphones Have Now Officially Replaced Landlines in the Office

It was bound to happen someday, and now according to results in the Workplace Connectivity Survey from Zinwave, mobile phone use now formally exceeds the old tried-and-true desk phone in popularity.The survey shows an increasing trend in the dependence of cellphones for business, with strong emphasis placed to strengths in on-the-go work communications and access to unlimited data.

The most striking finding from the study stated that with the increasing use of cell phones at work, 11.7% of respondents never use their desk phones for in-office communications, adding that in some cases employers have stopped providing desk phones altogether.

Also notable, the survey found that text messaging is now a highly used tool for communication at work, with over half of all respondents admitting to texting colleagues and other internal contacts, and 51.7% of respondents using SMS services to text clients, vendors, partners and other external contacts.

Not just a trend for millennials, over 60% of Generation X respondents admitted to using their cellphones for work more than they did last year. Millennials still are leading the way in cellular phone usage, and as a group are 68% more likely to complain about cellular coverage in the workplace than their older coworkers.

“The incoming millennial workforce has spoken, and they have made it clear that they want to use their mobile devices at work,” said Scott Willis, President and CEO of Zinwave. “The results of the Workplace Connectivity Survey confirm that employers need to support mobile technologies in the office.”

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