ALMOST a quarter of UK office staff say that the battery life of devices such as laptops, smartphones and tablets is the biggest obstacle to working.

The details are revealed in a survey for Firstsource Solutions survey carried out by YouGov.

Battery life was closely followed by lack of internet access (20%) as the biggest obstacle to working on the move.

Lack of access to files was a factor for 16% of respondents alongside other irritations such as nowhere quiet to work (6%), not enough space (6%) and lack of electrical sockets (5%).

The survey also found that the majority of workers use their smartphone (21%) or laptop (19%) to work on the move.

But surprisingly, workers still prefer using traditional pen and paper (12%) to tablet devices (4%).

According to the findings, 29% of UK office workers need to access the internet ‘on the move’ at least once a day for work purposes during the working week.

However, only a third (32%) of UK office workers are actually satisfied with the internet on the move.

Iain Regan, Global Head of Sales & Marketing, Firstsource Solutions, said:

“As the traditional working environment evolves away from the office and working hours are extended to facilitate global communications, people are increasingly using their mobile devices to work whilst on the move.

“This new mobile world of work requires handset and computer manufacturers, as well as internet providers to step up their game and improve their services.

“Not only do the devices need to be more reliable to enable people to use them in various locations, but also internet access needs to be more robust.

“These survey findings indicate that 4G will be welcomed and could improve the ability to work any time, anywhere, using any device. But this extended use of mobile devices will create more pressure to provide the right level of customer services to support workers on the move.

“Specialist outsource partners will be vital to ensure that customer service solutions are available whenever required.”