Anyone who’s had the pleasure of attending CES — or even better, having their company take care of the travel bill — knows that today’s consumer-facing technology landscape is nothing short of amazing. Indeed, whether we’re talking about IoT-connected refrigerators that know when to send “you’re running low on milk” text messages, or baby monitors that use Big Data Analytics to tell exhausted parents precisely when they should (and should not) send their beloved little one to dreamland, this is a great time to be an extreme geek!
However, it’s not just consumers who are enjoying leading edge innovations. Organizations are also getting in on the high-tech action to improve everything from worker engagement to product development. Here’s a look at four technologies that are transforming the world of work:
1. Chatbots
Organizations are using chatbots to drive effective and impressive on-demand customer engagement. In addition to being significantly less expensive than hiring more staff, chat bots leverage machine learning to get smarter and more useful.
2. VoIP
A growing number of organizations are implementing business VoIP to save money and support a remote or distributed workforce. For example, many hospitals and health networks use VoIP to cost-effectively and conveniently connect physicians with patients via web conference instead of an in-person meeting. There are many benefits of VoIP for the healthcare industry, along with other sectors and fields such as legal, education, retail, recruiting, and the list goes on.
3. Gamification
While the idea of gamification certainly isn’t new, many organizations are using it to effectively — and of course, enjoyably — motivate and optimize their workforce. For example, employees or teams can earn points based on customer survey feedback. Gamification is also being applied in staff training and development programs, and generating outstanding results.
4. Self-Serve Employee Benefits Portals
Instead of bogging down HR personnel with an endless stream of benefit-related requests — adding a dependent, adjusting a deductible, swapping a plan, and so on — smart organizations are implementing self-serve employee benefits portals. From anywhere (including their homes or favorite Starbucks), employees can do everything from see what benefits are available to them, check the status of submitted claims, make changes, and interact with HR staff through secure messaging.
The Bottom Line
Technology is transforming the work environment, and creating new possibilities — and yes, in some cases, new challenges. However, regardless of what bumps in the road (or the cloud!) are ahead, the future of work is bright for extreme geeks!
