New Dialpad Report Reveals the Rise of the Anywhere Worker, Confirms Death of the Desk Phone

Dialpad surveys 1,014 professionals on business communications adoption by business size, vertical, role and department, revealing key trends in the era of the anywhere worker

SAN FRANCISCO - October 3, 2016 - Dreamforce 2016 - Dialpad, a leader in pure-cloud modern business communications, today released "The Era of the Anywhere Worker," a survey revealing the pervasiveness of the work-from-anywhere trend that explores where and how people prefer to work and the benefits of remote work, including a happier, more creative, and more productive workforce. The study also revealed the business impact for companies that don't support anywhere workers, and the essential cloud tools companies need to support anywhere sales, anywhere marketing, and anywhere service. In a related announcement, Dialpad will be providing seamless integration between Dialpad and Salesforce Lightning, enabling anywhere workers to communicate with customers, partners and colleagues right from their Salesforce application.

Among the often stunning findings in "The Era of the Anywhere Worker" survey: 89.2 percent of respondents from all levels spanning individual contributors to C-level executives, would prefer to work outside of the office at least one full day per week. Further, 75.3 percent prefer a smartphone over a desk phone for business calls, and respondents from every customer-facing department predict the death of the desk phone. "The Era of the Anywhere Worker" is available free from the Dialpad website: http://www.dialpad.com.

"The Work from Anywhere movement is fueled by the advancement of pure-cloud communications technology and productivity platforms — such as Google Apps for Work, Office365, and Salesforce CRM — that enable businesses to connect everyone and get more done," said Morgan Norman, VP of marketing at Dialpad. "The results of 'The Era of the Anywhere Worker' survey reveal enterprises must embrace technology that helps the anywhere worker become more productive no matter where they are or what device they work on."

The survey, led by Altimeter, a Prophet company, and conducted by Dialpad, included 543 professionals in the U.S. across various industries, geographies, generations, and years of experience, with roles in sales, customer service, marketing, and professional services.

"The next big thing in digital and business transformation is designing a more relevant and productive employee experience no matter what device your employees have or where they work from — home, cafe, office, plane, airports," said Brian Solis, a principal analyst at Altimeter, a Prophet company. "Over the next several years, CIOs and IT leaders must focus on adopting technology and processes that meet the needs of this new anywhere worker, what makes them productive and happy and, more so, how to help them work in ways that become a competitive advantage."

Salesforce disrupted CRM and enabled the first wave of anywhere sellers, anywhere marketers, and anywhere service professionals to meet the needs of customers no matter where they are. A massive wave of first-generation cloud apps followed for every industry and role. The second wave of change was driven by cloud-first productivity suites, such as Google Apps for Work and Office365, which enabled employees to collaborate and get more done no matter where they are. Today, a new wave of change is happening with pure-cloud communications, which enables employees to leverage HD voice, HD video, messaging, and online meetings from any device. This ultimately let's workers and businesses cut the cord from the desk phone.

Key Findings of "The Era of the Anywhere Worker"

Anywhere workers are here to stay, and for customer-facing professionals the world is their office.

  • 77.2 percent of respondents currently work outside the office at least a few hours per week.
  • Only 18.8 percent work at a desk 40 or more hours a week, and 35.2 percent work at their desks fewer than 20 hours per week or don't work at a desk at all.
  • 83.6 percent have worked while in transit.
  • 16.4 percent have even worked in bathrooms!

Remote work is essential to creating a productive, modern workplace.

  • 77.8 percent of respondents believe it's important or very important to have the ability to work from anywhere – office, home, café, airport.
  • 82.5 percent believe having workplace flexibility will improve their happiness.
  • 78.6 percent believe having workplace flexibility will improve their creativity.
  • 77.5 percent believe having workplace flexibility will improve their productivity.


Anywhere sales, anywhere marketing, and anywhere service professionals are determining what the future of work will look like.

  • 89.2 percent of respondents would prefer to work outside of the office at least one full day per week.
  • 87.3 percent believe it's very important or important to have technology that allows work from anywhere.
  • 82 percent would make a decision to join a company based on their ability to work from anywhere.


Every customer-facing department predicts the death of the desk phone.

Overall, 53 percent of respondents believe the desk phone is an outdated piece of technology. The departmental breakdown includes:

  • Marketing: 66.7 percent
  • Sales: 61.4 percent
  • Professional Services: 49.6 percent
  • Customer Service: 41.9 percent


Anywhere workers want tools that support mobility. The desk phone doesn't.

  • Email tops the list of essential communication tools.
  • Voice is the second most essential tool when working remotely.
  • 71.3 percent of respondents believe having the ability to collaborate in real time on documents, spreadsheets, or presentations/slides is very essential or essential.
  • 75.3 percent prefer a mobile smartphone over a desk phone for business calls.
  • 88.4 percent believe the desk phone "won't exist" or will be used "only occasionally" in 3-5 years.
  • Only 16.8 percent believe that a desk phone is an essential tool to work remotely.

Offered as a service, Dialpad is the only "pure cloud" modern business communications solution that requires no hardware and is completely desk phone optional. Dialpad can be deployed in minutes, enabling organizations of any size to connect global offices and remote workers. An enterprise-grade solution, Dialpad enables companies to scrap the nearly useless desk phone while retaining full control of employee communications.

Additional Resources

Download The Era of the Anywhere Worker survey
Learn more about Dialpad: http://www.dialpad.com
Learn more about Dialpad UberConference by Dialpad: http://www.uberconference.com
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About Dialpad

Dialpad is one of the top pure-cloud communications solutions for business. Available on any device, Dialpad includes HD voice, HD video, group messaging, SMS, MMS, conferencing, and screen sharing. Dialpad for Salesforce® Lightning brings the most loved business phone system directly inside of your favorite CRM. Join 25,000+ companies who have ditched their desk phones. Connect Everyone. Work Anywhere.

About Altimeter

Altimeter, a Prophet company, is a research and strategy consulting firm that helps companies understand and act on disruption. In July 2015, Prophet acquired Altimeter Group, to bring together forward-thinking digital research and consultancy under one umbrella to help clients unlock digital transformations. Altimeter was founded in 2008 by best-selling author Charlene Li, focusing research in digital transformation, social business and governance, customer experience, big data, and the Internet of Things. Altimeter is based in San Francisco, CA. For more information, visit http://www.altimetergroup.com.

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