The vast majority of businesses questioned as part of a new Comcast study believe that wireless internet access has a positive impact on their workforce’s productivity, eweek.com reports.
After questioning entrepreneurs and IT decision-makers from across the US, the cable giant found that 93 per cent think highly of the impact that Wi-Fi has on working efficiency, with almost half (49 per cent) saying they use the technology to access corporate resources.
Inventory tracking (36 per cent) and hosting conferences with customers and partners (35 per cent) were other popular reasons for use.
The study, which was conducted in partnership with Bredin Research, also focused on the way in which businesses use Wi-Fi to keep customers happy. According to the results, the technology is more effective than other common conveniences such as water, reading materials and complimentary sweets.
Comcast president Bill Stemper was quoted by channelpartnersonline.com as saying: “Main Street businesses and entrepreneurs of all types recognise that wireless internet access is a must for their patrons, and that providing free Wi-Fi can give them a competitive edge.
“More and more, we are seeing that if a business provides Wi-Fi now to its employees for business purposes, extending access to its customers is a logical next step that is a way to keep them coming back in the future.”
What’s more, 55 per cent of the survey’s respondents believe that offering free Wi-Fi helps them to attract new customers.
