Employee engagement has long been linked to productivity. Yet while office-based staff often enjoy workplace practices and advanced tools that foster collaboration and engagement, many organizations overlook their largest workforce segment – the 80% of workers who are deskless. This includes the frontline staff of the business, like employees on the road and meeting with customers.
“In most organizations, deskless employees form the operational backbone,” says Lee Essex, SVP Global Sales & Marketing at Tango Networks. “But too often, they’re equipped with communication tools never designed for their environment.”
The result is that the deskless frontline workers can feel disconnected from colleagues and workplace activity.
A recent Workvivo study shows that 66% of frontline employees are frustrated by their company’s communication technology. That frustration usually isn’t due to unrealistic expectations; it stems from a lack of effort to provide the same intuitive, easy-to-use tools in the field as those used in the office.
When Disconnection Becomes a Business Problem
If daily tasks are slowed by poor communication tools, even routine duties become frustrating. Over time, these challenges erode motivation, weaken performance, and drive turnover. “Frontline teams want to feel connected,” Essex says. “When tools slow them down, it signals their needs are secondary.”
The Workvivo study found nearly half of deskless employees believe their tools were designed mainly for office staff. As a result, out-of-office employees often rely on clunky business apps, and 69% of those surveyed admitted to turning to consumer messaging platforms like WhatsApp to get work done.
This kind of workaround pushes critical exchanges off official channels, exposing companies to serious communications retention compliance and data risks. But this isn’t their intention, as Essex emphasizes:
“Frontline workers aren't trying to bypass the system. They're trying to get their jobs done.”
Companies need to find ways to provide communication tools that work for field conditions, not just the office. Deskless workers need tools that blend usability, compliance, and reliability into a seamless experience.
A Seamless Solution for the Deskless Workforce
The ideal approach to ensure that frontline teams have seamless access to company communication channels is to integrate mobile connectivity directly into the mobile devices they already use.
