Working in the public sector is all about delivering a fast and efficient service, and Vodafone claims this can be better achieved with access to 4G. Vodafone – a company that is at the forefront of Unified Communications with Vodafone One Net – made these comments after the results of a YouGov survey were revealed. It seems that only eight per cent of frontline workers, including social workers district nurses and police officers, have access to 4G devices.
The survey commissioned by Vodafone questioned 1,404 ‘decision makers’ from the public sector, provided an in-depth insight into why there has been a slow uptake in this area of the technology. Just over 40 per cent of the people surveyed said that it was a lack of knowledge, while 30 per cent said it was a misconception with costing.
Vodafone stressed how useful this technology was at making ‘life easier’ in the field, by reducing administration time, and thus improving services to the public. Talking about 4G, a spokesman for Vodafone, Mick Wayman, said: “As public sector organisations face continued budget cuts, delivering quality services to citizens is an increasing challenge.”
“Armed with cost-effective mobile devices and 4G connectivity, frontline workers can access and update centralised records such as medical and criminal history while they are out in the field. They can reinvest time and resource where they’re needed most, whether that’s visiting a patient in their own home, on the beat, or elsewhere in the community. In frontline services such as the police where every second counts, 4G really can make a big difference.”
The report established that there is a lot of work still to do to make the public sector meet its 4G potential. Vodafone is helping not only the public sector but also private companies to understand how technology can bring better business efficiency across the board.