Breaking the chain

If you’ve ever tripped over your laptop’s power cable, sending the whole lot flying, you’ll have an instinctive grasp of the benefits of cordless technology. But the creators of cordless office workstations have ambitions that go way beyond rescuing the accident-prone.

At the British Council for Offices conference last month, the latest version of BT’s cordless office trial – Futurespace – received one of a number of recent public outings. Essentially Futurespace consists of a mobile workstation with cordless peripherals and the capacity to access the company’s intranet, the internet and telephone networks via a mix of infra red, radio and digitally enhanced cordless telephony (DECT) technologies.

But there is one big difference to earlier versions of the Futurespace package, which needed a power cable for the computer and its peripherals. Now, two rechargeable fuel cells supply enough power to run the computer and desk top technology for two days, making the unit truly cordless – and the user truly mobile.

The system is the brainchild of valuation surveyor turned office IT strategist Stephen Cherry, now head of workplace technology for BT Property. Trials draw from work carried out by BT research and consulting teams to develop cordless and space efficient solutions for London’s stock market dealing rooms. After completion, with the project about to be mothballed, Cherry pushed for similar technologies to be trialled in BT’s own, more generic, offices. This led to two test sites – at Edinburgh and Croydon. ‘We aimed to trial all the cutting edge technology available,’ explains Cherry, but ‘the real aim was to see how it could enable different ways of working.’

Essentially, BT replaced the conventional workstation monitor with a flat screen and tucked away the computer box in a specially designed mobile pedestal. The desk was replaced by a series of lightweight height-adjustable tables to which the user can simply ‘pull up’ as and when required.

‘Home working is a complex option. Normally you would have to fit out the home office. But this way there is greater flexibility’

Stephen Cherry, BT

The inclusion of radio, DECT and infra-red technologies for voice and data communications made the unit fully mobile bar one thing – power. In April, BT announced the addition of the specially designed batteries to keep the workstation functioning for a full two days without recharging, completely untying it from the floor plate of the building.

‘In one fell swoop, you can either reduce space, or use it for different uses,’ says Cherry, who points out that unassigned units can easily be stored. ‘People can also use the worksta-tion in the way they want. Desks can be pulled together for project work for example, saving a huge amount of work for the facilities or IT manager in configuring the workstation.’

Perhaps one of the most interesting potential applications of cordless technology – and about to go on trial at BT – is home working. In theory all that one of BT’s office workers need do is transfer the pedestal unit to their home where they would continue to access exactly the same applications as in the office. ‘This would give managers and their teams the ability to be more experimental,’ says Cherry. ‘Home working is a complex option. Normally you would have to fit out the home office, and there would be pressure on the individual to stick with it. But this way there is greater flexibility.’

Aside from this, Cherry expects the technology to be particularly applicable to period buildings, where it is almost impossible in some cases to put in cables. Equally, what Cherry calls the ‘more tired of modern office buildings’ – ie those close to the end of their life or lease where the investment in cabling does not add up – are ripe for the technology, he believes. But he also says he has had interest from the new office market where cordless technology could remove the need for raised floors.

Will this kind of technology really catch on? Jane Fogg, managing director of advisor GL Hearn FMS, thinks so. ‘For many clients, it is all about manpower per square metre and this kind of technology gives us the tools to implement that.’