A third of UK office workers face tech issues when working remotely

A third of UK office workers have experienced problems with their workplace technology while operating remotely and it can take over three days, on average, for kit to be replaced.

The research from smart locker provider Velocity Smart Technology also finds that despite the challenges IT departments have been subjected to over the last two years, 37 percent of UK workers say that support from their IT department has improved.

Getting replacement hardware though often still requires some face to face interaction with IT consultants to access new or replacement hardware. Over half (52 percent) report that they have to collect it themselves from the IT department, or a member of the IT support team delivers it by hand. Having skilled staff acting as couriers isn't good for overall productivity.

Anthony Lamoureux, CEO of Velocity Smart Technology, says, "Minimizing employee downtime due to an IT failure was a constant challenge when the majority of the workforce was office based, now it has become an almost impossible conundrum as the workforce can be spread over 100s, sometimes 1000s of miles."

She study shows 19 percent of employees say they would prefer to collect hardware from a smart locker, while 74 percent of UK employees are positive about the idea of using smart lockers for replacement IT equipment.

Lamoureux concludes:

Smart lockers are not only the logical extension of the trend towards self-service access to IT services but with flexible working here to stay, companies need to adapt still further to support the extended workforce.

Employees can access the new kit within 45 minutes -- rather than three days -- minimizing downtime and the impact on productivity. There is also a significant saving in time for support staff. It is more efficient on all fronts --- yet to find out just one percent UK companies are offering this option is baffling. Now is the time for businesses to invest in more robust technology to support remote teams in the long term.

You can find out more on the Velocity Smart site.

Image credit: AndrewLozovyi/depositphotos.com