What’s the top communication device in the workplace? Laptop? Tablet? Desk phone?

Actually, it’s none of the above. It’s the smartphone, and it has officially dethroned the desk phone. Smartphones rank #1 in communications, while desk phones come in at #5, only ahead of the feature phone (a.k.a. any mobile phone that’s not a smartphone).

As our reliance on smartphones increases, the use of traditional desk phones decreases. Over 70% of employees believe desk phones will eventually be replaced by mobile phones, although they disagree on the timeframe (most think it’ll take more than two years). One in two business professionals prefer to use their personal smartphone for work, even when sitting next to a desk phone.

This statistic makes sense, given that mobile phones are a lot more flexible than desk phones. According to research from Ovum, 57% of employees use a personal device for professional activities. One-third of salespeople have even closed a deal via text.

The use of personal phones in the workplace is commonly referred to as bring-your-own-device or BYOD (this extends to laptops, tablets, etc.) The BYOD trend really hit its stride around the time the first iPhone was introduced in 2007. Ever since then, it’s been an up-and-coming form of business communication; today, over 44% of organizations allow BYOD in the workplace. Gartner predicts that 50% of companies will make it a requirement by 2017.

Over 70% of employees find their desk phones lacking, but that’s not a problem they’ll have with smartphones, which offer voice, text, email and app capabilities. Personal devices are also way ahead of business devices like the BlackBerry, whose use continues to dwindle. When employees are using more advanced technology (that they actually own), they can get things done a lot faster.

Additionally, almost 90% of corporate employees work on their personal phones outside of business hours, going beyond the typical four-walled, eight-hour workday. Today’s employees, especially millennials, are used to being connected 24/7 and expect increased mobility in the workplace. Being able to work outside of “work” lets employees do more than they ever could in a traditional setting, regardless of time or place.

As the workplace becomes increasingly mobilized, companies need to be able to adapt and change in response.

Luckily, OneReach is there to help them out.