One of the job titles I use is "Communications Protagonist." It's a fun term with a literary touch (since I write frequently) and highlights my role as a comms supporter and advocate. It suits me because I have a genuine passion for enterprise communications and collaboration, and I love how this sector drives transformational improvements.
Enterprise communications have come a long way over my career. My first cube had analog phones with taped-on voicemail lights. Email still hadn’t penetrated large employers. What was once "enterprise voice" has evolved into a sophisticated ecosystem of collaborative tools. This transformation accelerated during the pandemic, where enterprise communications emerged as the unsung hero, keeping businesses open (and afloat). While first responders got their well-deserved praise, it was the collaboration specialists who kept the world of business open.
Yet, as significant as the pandemic was, it's a drop in the bucket compared to the havoc climate change is already wreaking on our planet.
Climate Change Is The Problem
The planet is heating up, and extreme weather events are becoming more frequent. Powerful storms, wildfires, floods, and economic losses are no longer just headlines – they're changing and reshaping our future. The effects are already here, with 2024 on track to become the hottest year on record. Sea surface temperatures hit their second-highest levels in July, just 0.01 degrees Celsius below the record set in 2023. These warmer seas are fueling stronger storms, as we saw with Hurricane Beryl — the earliest known Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic. Similarly, Hurricane Debby intensified as it drew energy from the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
Climate change is occurring; it’s an immediate crisis. Climate change is disheartening. Resolving it will take huge global efforts, but that coordination and effort isn’t there yet.
Admirable Efforts
Once again, enterprise comms is poised to be the hero in this story by enabling organizations to reduce emissions. The industry is helping in several ways. First, as with the pandemic, modern enterprise comms can facilitate remote and distributed work, reducing the need for commuting and travel.
Some providers are expanding their products to help enterprises measure reduced emissions. Lastly, many of the vendors in the sector have made commitments to reduced emissions. They are accomplishing this in multiple ways, including their own ‘net-zero’ commitments as well as the use of sustainable materials in products and packaging.
These efforts are starting to be recognized, especially in Europe, where there's a broader awareness, acceptance, and institutional push from governments and the European Union. As a result, more governments and enterprises are evaluating sustainability practices of their suppliers.
Here's a small sample of how some leading enterprise communications vendors have incorporated sustainability into their offerings:
- Cisco: Cisco has been a frontrunner in sustainability by adding energy consumption insights for customers in its management platform (Control Hub) and applying circular design to its hardware (eg reducing packaging volume on the Room Bar by 44%.) Additionally, technology from Cisco like Power over Ethernet (PoE) allows for more sustainable and smart offices and has been shown to reduce energy consumption in Cisco's own offices by around 35-40%.
- HP|Poly: The introduction of the new Poly Studio G62 reflects a strong commitment to sustainability. This system, designed for larger meeting spaces, is made of 80% post-consumer recycled plastics and 20% recycled metals, offering a premium experience while prioritizing environmental responsibility. Poly also eliminated large, glossy packaging in favor of using smaller, recycled materials.
- Barco: Barco recently introduced its first videobar product – the ClickShare Bar. They proudly announced the device has been granted the carbon-neutral label by CO2logic, a South Pole company. This makes the ClickShare Bar the first completely carbon-neutral video bar on the market.
- Logitech: Logitech has taken a unique approach by providing “Carbon Impact Labels” directly on its packaging. This transparency allows consumers to make informed decisions and supports Logitech's commitment to reducing environmental impact.
Our Villain
In a prior post, I wrote that our industry often talks about the importance of great customer service even though many businesses disagree on its value. The sector is aspirational… and that’s ok. The same should be true regarding climate change. Positioning enterprise comms and collaboration as part of the soultion has zero or little downside.
I take pride in working in a sector on the right side of this equation. Most sectors are neutral, or worse, they’re actually the villains who directly contribute to the problem. While some don’t think we should vilify the oil and gas industry, it’s clear to me they are the antagonists in this drama.
These companies were slow to admit the massive harm caused by their products and then spent decades publicly denying it, all while acknowledging the truth behind closed doors. Even when forced to face the damage, they made hollow promises to fix it and funneled billions into delaying time-sensitive solutions through advertising, lobbying, campaign contributions, and even public school education materials.
How Enterprise Communications Can Improve Our Future
It’s time to speed things up. The enterprise communications sector has quietly, capably led the way before. Our industry has made remarkable progress that deserves recognition, even to those skeptical about climate change.
It’s hard for any individual to make a difference in this particular topic, but as a sector we can definitely do more. Here are a few a suggestions:
- Stop being so neutral on the topic. Bring it up, talk how distributed teams and remote work can reduce emissions. Many corporations have goals to reduce their carbon footprint, offer them a path.
- Help customers quantify the environmental benefits of the modern UCaaS suite. That’s more than meetings. For example, contact center solutions can scale faster with agents at home, and we by enabling more capable contact centers we can reduce emissions to branches, offices, and stores. We need to help customers modernize their workflows.
- Digitize more events. Events were all online during the pandemic, and many worked well. Cisco, RingCentral, and Zoom have made significant investments in digital events. Most physical events start with online registration, but that’s often where the event software ends. These new digital solutions digitize much more, including Q&A, content distribution, polls, surveys, networking, and more. Some customers are finding they can get 10 times more attendees by digitizing presentations.
- Remind them how awful travel is. The nascent videoconferencing industry tried to take on travel -- and lost. Travel was a PERK back then. It isn’t now. The storms are more severe, the computer systems are older, and the in-flight experience is unpleasant, It’s time for a rematch with the travel industry.
- Embrace work from anywhere. We made it work during the pandemic, but paid for it in terms of comradery, culture development, team building, and more. Let’s get it right now. It doesn’t have to be an all or none proposition this time, let’s figure out where it works and how to make it work.
By embracing sustainability, we not only make our planet healthier but also continue to innovate and strengthen our sector. Now is the time to amplify our impact, for the benefit of everyone.
Dave Michels is a contributing editor and Analyst at TalkingPointz.
