Cisco Study: Mobile Access Creating Big Productivity Gains

A study commissioned by Cisco Systems and released Wednesday claims that the use of mobile data services led to an average productivity gain of 13.4 percent per worker in 2003.

In addition, the study claimed that use of mobile data services led to a 1.9 percent increase in the Gross Domestic Product of the U.S. in 2003. That productivity increase was the equivalent of $10.4 trillion, according to Cisco.

The study was conducted for Cisco by OMNI Consulting Group and measured total factor productivity (TFP), which is a method of determining how well businesses use capital, labor technology to produce goods and services.

The study found particularly strong productivity gains in specific industries. For instance, it found that insurance claims adjusters could handle 7.4 more claims per week by using mobile devices and wireless networks. Similarly, sales representatives in the healthcare and pharmaceutical field were able to conduct 8.3 more physician briefings each week because of mobile data and voice access.

The study also found that hotel guests were far more likely to select a hotel with broadband connectivity and would spend almost seven per cent more for hotel rooms with connectivity."This study shows that with mobile data services, workers are not only more productive, but they also develop new business processes that yield increased customer and job satisfaction as well as competitive advantage," Steve Hoch, Cisco's director of service provider mobility, said in a statement. "This research shows businesses that the rewards of investing in mobile data services are real and compelling."

"The scope of this research breaks new ground in quantifying the net impact of mobility and its associated productivity gains by examining business and worker performance under many different scenarios," Frank J. Bernhard, technology economist and managing principal with OMNI Consulting Group, said in a statement.