AT&T Audio Conferencing

Technology is changing the way America's leading corporations communicate with their employees, with a dozen different electronic and video systems beginning to replace print media for many employee communications, according to a survey of employee communicators at Fortune 100 corporations.

The impact of these technologies on communications has been a significant reduction in the time it takes to get information to and from employees and a reduction in the cost of providing these communications. The survey of nearly 100 employee communications vice presidents, directors, managers and supervisors at primarily Fortune 100 corporations was cosponsored by Cognitive Communications, Inc. and The Document Company Xerox.

Almost nine out of 10 corporations (87 percent) are currently using electronic mail for person-to-person communications. About two thirds (67 percent) are using electronic mail for publication dissemination and more than half (54 percent) are using electronic mail on-line bulletin boards. Among other technologies, 53 percent are utilizing video conferencing, 51 percent are using audio conferencing and 50 percent are using broadcast voice mail.

Available technologies that have not yet proliferated employee communications are CD-ROM, being used by three percent of those surveyed, and desktop video, being used by two percent.

Electronic and Print Media Reaching Parity

The employee communicators surveyed predict that in three years they will be using electronic and print media equally for internal communications. Respondents say 42 percent of their employee communications will be print and 41 percent will be electronic. The remaining communications vehicles will be At&t Audio Conferencing (21 percent) and face-to-face (21 percent). Today, 57 percent is print, 20 percent is electronic, 22 percent is video and 18 percent is face-to-face.

While electronic mail is now the trail-blazing technology that is starting to revolutionize the way information moves within a corporation, before the beginning of the new century employee communicators believe information distributed electronically will become the norm. This is a remarkable prediction, given the fact that the employee communicators surveyed said they used electronic media for just 10 percent of their communications only three years ago.

The impact of these technologies on communication effectiveness and even the corporate bottom-line has been significant, according to the survey. Nearly all respondents (96 percent) say technology shortens the communication cycle time. Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) say it reduces communications costs. More than half (53 percent) say it has increased distribution.

The new technology for employee communications will fundamentally alter the culture of American corporations, enabling employees to become aware of, to understand and to act on the many changes and strategic initiatives taking place within their corporations.