Workforce Productivity and Collaboration in 2022 and Beyond

451 Research Report Shows How Communication Technology Will Reshape Frontline Operations

March 2020 and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic upended traditional workforce productivity and collaboration. The resulting pressures on operations propelled the frontline technology industry forward much faster than previously predicted. In their recent report “2022 Trends in Workforce Productivity & Collaboration,” 451 Research states, “There has perhaps never been such a compressed period of significant change.”

So what should we expect for this year and beyond? Frontline worker technology has been underinvested in for far too long. 451 Research predicts that “real-time communications for the frontline workforce will transition into the full digitization of frontline operations.”

We think it’s about time. Automated workflows, artificial intelligence, and intelligence amplification are ubiquitous for knowledge workers. Advancing the productivity of the frontline workforce requires the same powerful innovations, but triggered by voice so workers can stay heads-up, applied to on-the-go or point-of-work technology.

Orion embraces this future with Push-to-Talk 2.0 (PTT 2.0).

Orion’s PTT 2.0 platform provides the frontline workforce with the benefits of modern, intelligent communication to improve productivity, safety, and customer satisfaction. In addition to multimedia sharing, mapping, and real-time location information, PTT 2.0 relies on AI Voice Bots and platform integrations to voice-automate routine work and radically improve productivity.

This long-overdue modernization will be increasingly important to companies with frontline workforces in retail, physical security, hospitality, transportation and logistics, and more. Read on for our biggest takeaways from 451 Research’s report and its implications for frontline operations.

No.1: Integrations Will Grow Increasingly Important to Frontline Workforce Productivity

Workforce productivity for Security - OrionToday’s push-to-talk and collaboration platforms must support integrations to be relevant for frontline teams. Enterprise technology often siloes frontline workers and knowledge workers and creates inefficiencies. Integrations erase these divisions and enable data to flow efficiently between disparate sources — no matter where workers operate in an organization.

Orion’s PTT 2.0 platform supports frontline workers with critical knowledge at their point of work, whether they are helping guests, dispersed across an office park, providing executive protection in a dynamic environment, or delivering goods across a metroplex.

Integrations help amplify team member knowledge with real-time intelligence by connecting them with corporate systems and third-party services. Frontline workers gain unprecedented, voice-first access to operational functions like language translation or situational intelligence. They can also access best-practice manuals, guides, retail inventory software, routing software, hotel management systems, and more. The real-time, edge-delivered information required to optimally perform their roles.

Learn more about the Orion Platform and Integrations.

No. 2: Collaboration and PTT Technology Must Support The Frontline Workforce at the Point of Work

451 Research predicts that “a new era of more immersive productivity will emerge” in 2022. The end-user experience is a critical component of supporting greater productivity. As 451 Research notes, workers burdened with complicated technology are hindered in their ability to complete their tasks effectively and efficiently.

Innovative technology must certainly be easy to use and support productivity. For frontline workers, this must go one step further: intuitive technology accessible from the point of work. Frontline workers are on the go, often without access to the traditional technology that supports desked knowledge workers. The Orion PTT 2.0 Platform with AI Voice Bots is designed to solve this issue for frontline workers, making them more productive and safer.

Workforce productivity for Pulic Transportation - Orion

Security guards patrol campuses and facilities. Hotel staff serve guests across a variety of functions including housekeeping, maintenance and engineering, food and beverage, security, events, recreation and activities, and concierge teams. Retail workers migrate across the stock room, store floor, and, increasingly, the parking lot as services like buy online, pickup at curbside (BOPAC) take off. Drivers operate dynamically and dispersed across vast areas.

Orion supports each of these workers with an easily accessible, voice-first communication platform that connects them to their teams no matter where they are.

Learn more about Orion’s Collaboration Platform for the Frontline Workforce.

No. 3: Push-to-Talk Technology With AI Voice Bots That Supports Employee Engagement Efforts Is More Important Than Ever

Workforce productivity for Hospitality - OrionGallup estimates that only 35% of the U.S. workforce is engaged at work, and 13% of the workforce is actively disengaged at work. These actively disengaged employees cost the U.S. economy up to $605 billion annually in productivity.

As 451 Research notes, “Businesses will need to take the time to carefully understand this to both remediate the factors driving disengagement and lay the foundation for a more comprehensive, long-term understanding of operational culture going forward.”

Frontline team communication and collaboration are significant components of building an engaging operational culture. Engaged workers are critical to business success, especially in customer service industries like hospitality and retail. Voice-first collaboration platforms like Orion engage these employees by providing intuitive technology with automation and integrations in addition to the critical, instant communication that frontline teams need.

Learn more about how Orion’s PTT 2.0 Platform supports employee engagement.

No. 4: End-to-End Encryption is Non-Negotiable for Frontline Communications

As 451 Research notes, “privacy, security, and compliance will emerge as increasingly critical requirements for digital communications.”

Digital transformation initiatives require that organizations evaluate software based on its ability to provide confidentiality and data integrity now and in the future.

End-to-end encryption (E2EE) is critical to protect communications and sensitive or proprietary information. E2EE is a core pillar of Orion’s software, governing how all transmissions and content are sent. Every message, from voice, text, photo, or file, is encrypted at the point of origin and can only be decrypted by users authorized to receive the messages.

Learn more about the Orion Platform’s End-to-End Encryption.

The Transformative Power of Voice-First Communication Technology With AI Voice Bots for Frontline Workforce Productivity

Technology built with the frontline workforce in mind is crucial to improving operational productivity, especially as the pandemic reshapes deskless work and the economy. The frontline workforce needs comprehensive voice-first solutions that support heads-up operations at the point of work, employee engagement, integrations, data security, and more.

Frontline solutions must push the boundaries of what is possible today and offer flexible enterprise systems that support the same levels of AI and integrations that back-office solutions provide. For frontline communications, this means that simple push-to-talk technology no longer meets the expectations of digital transformation initiatives.

To be truly transformative, organizations need to embrace PTT 2.0 with Voice Bots and integrations that are fundamental to frontline collaboration — in addition to the critical, instant communication that a PTT platform must deliver. Then and only then will the frontline workforce have the support they need to be more productive.

Learn More About Orion’s PTT 2.0