More Workers to Give Up Desk Phones at the Office

I definitely see a problem in terms of mobile phone sound quality and reception in large offices in big cities. Also, things like putting someone on hold, conferencing, transferring etc are still easier on a landline.

I definitely would. Cell service is great in our building, so that isn't an issue for me. When you travel you often have to transfer your office calls to your cell anyway. Might as well do it permanently!

May be true in countries where mobile local & LD rates are cheap - which is definitely not the case in Canada, where it's a cellular oligopoly.

I suspect that it will take some time before we see folks switching over to mobile-only platforms up here in Canada - landline service will likely continue to be the more practical and efficient method of communication, at least until our mobile service plans catch up to the rest of the modern world.

I already did.. I am using the Sprint Tough pro as my official phone. Everything you need to run the business is in this phone..

Thanks for all the great comments. Eltee and Andy, I had no idea that mobile rates were much higher in Canada. For me the problem is that my iPhone gets too hot when I use it too long, and I'm often on long phone calls at work. Maybe I need a headset.

I have both, and have to say I probably wouldn't give up the land line for the office. While I love the ability to carry around my mail, calendar, to do list, internet access, etc., I still prefer the landline for group calls in my office that require speaker. I agree with the other commenter who noted that the functions like conferencing and on hold are still easier on the land line.

One thing I've noticed over the years is that I receive far fewer phone calls overall as people are tending to lead with emails or text messages to start a dialogue.

Joyce Maroney www.workforceinstitute.org

Interesting comments, Joyce. It seems like it would be a good idea for mobile device manufacturers to make it easier for workers to transfer calls and do conferencing if smart phones are ever to replace our desk phones.

Now that smartphones can have full deskphone functions, IM and Presence from companies like Divitas, I believe we will see continued slow and steady migration for some employees from deskphones to Smartphones with applications like Divitas

Use Skype for your landline. The price is next to nothing. I have the blackberry that I use for the corporate, but skype is the way to go for landline use in either business or residential.

Hi Scott, Skype is a great option but unfortunately lots of corporations are not allowing workers to use Skype because of security issues. It will be interesting to see how companies balance the need to cut costs and phone bills with the fear that Skype will open up security holes in the enterprise.

I think that most of the posts, illustrate very clearly that this is more a people and process change, than technological. The techie pieces to do this have been around for awhile.

The "incentive" and motivation to do it have not. Changing to an all mobile system can complicate internal processes (conference calls, etc) and going pure mobile can also be complex in terms of impact for the user. (The work/life balance, etc)

Hello. I agree with the other commenter who noted that the functions like conferencing and on hold are still easier on the land line. http://www.pspconverter.com