Business Info - issue 147

businessinfomag.uk magazine 26 COVER STORY Amazon’s decision to extend the date when employees are expected to return to the office from September 2021 to January 2022, following similar delays from Google, Facebook, Twitter and other tech companies, highlights continuing uncertainty around the return to work. This is not just a US phenomenon. It is prevalent in the UK, too, where the lifting of Covid restrictions has forced employers to consider where and when they want employees to work and the extent to which they can force workers, who might be anxious about the risk of infection, to travel into the office. Mixed messages from the Government and flip-flopping by large enterprises and public sector organisations like the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), which recently delayed the introduction of rules stipulating how much time employees should spend in the office, underline what a difficult problem employers face. Re-opening offices is not merely a health and safety issue. After 18 months of home-working, it is a major HR challenge, as a new survey conducted by headset specialist EPOS for its Understanding Sound Experience report makes clear. This reveals a pronounced divergence between the wishes of employers and employees, with 53% of bosses expecting employees to spend more time in the office, compared to just 26% of workers. No wonder commentators talk about ‘the Great Resignation’ – the phenomenon of mass resignations by workers unhappy with a return to old working practices. Now and beyond For business leaders looking to advance their organisations’ digital transformation and put their IT infrastructure on a more solid, secure and future-proof footing after a year and a half of ad hoc, often emergency procurement, the confusion and lack of clarity over future working practices (and locations) is equally problematic. How can they make the necessary investments in technology if their workplace strategy is still uncertain and where and when people work is still a topic for debate? The answer for many is to invest in solutions that have the flexibility to accommodate any future requirement. The cloud is an obvious example, with easy access from anywhere and the ability to scale up and down on demand. With more and more technology vendors integrating their devices with cloud services, the cloud can also future- proof essential investment in hardware devices like multifunction printers, scanners and franking machines. Quadient’s new iX Series mailing system with S.M.A.R.T. software is a case in point, as Anthony Coo, Head Of Product Marketing, Quadient UK explains. “Connectivity is nothing new to franking machines. From the recharging of postage over phone lines to network connectivity, they have always been much more than purely standalone devices. The iX Series takes this to a new level by harnessing the power of the cloud to provide sophisticated services that can be updated, enhanced and expanded to meet changing needs, now and in the future. Integration with cloud-based S.M.A.R.T. modules effectively converts the iX series from a hardware device into an intelligent platform that offer benefits to users throughout a business, from mailroom operatives to desk-based employees and even to remote workers.” Constant evolution As a customer communications specialist with a 97-year heritage in automating time-consuming manual processes, Quadient has proved adept at meeting customers’ changing needs, arguably never more so than in the last decade when organisations have increasingly adopted multi-channel customer communications strategies embracing both digital and printed communications. Quadient has supported this transition by enabling organisations to automate the distribution of communications by email, post, SMS and web portal, according to each customer’s preference, while also giving them the flexibility to centralise the processing of communications at a corporate facility or outsourced provider, bringing cost savings and greater efficiencies to organisations with branch offices and remote workers. By combining efficient hardware and versatile software, Quadient gives customers confidence that any investment they make in technology will continue to meet their needs well into the future. Future-proof design The Quadient iX Series mailing system is a product of this culture, as its marketing slogan ‘Now and Beyond’ attests. In this context, Beyond isn’t just a question of time, but also of place, as organisations adopt different organisational structures, often based on smaller corporate offices, more regional work hubs and home working. Beyond also refers to the ongoing transition to integrated multi-channel communications and the changing position of postal communications in The Quadient iX Series mailing system provides a future-proof platform for smarter communications Quadient iX Series ISSUE 147