Despite IT being vital to 70 per cent of advisers and nearly half of those regularly working remotely while on the road, 80 per cent of advisers say access to fast and reliable public Wi-Fi is their biggest concern.
A further 57 per cent say poor mobile phone reception and unexplained disconnections are major problems, with 49 per cent of advisers being frustrated at having to pay for sub-standard Wi-Fi.
These are the major findings of a survey of advisers by network support company Lifeline IT. Commenting, Daniel Mitchell, co-founder and director of Lifeline IT, said: “We weren’t surprised by these findings. We know from working with our own clients that businesses are becoming increasingly frustrated by network connections that are way below standard. It’s particularly frustrating for businesses when they see such vast improvements in other parts of Europe, where efficient, free public Wi-Fi is commonplace.
“Although there have been huge developments in the range of devices now available so employees don’t have to be desk-bound, the infrastructure needed to service these state-of-the-art smartphones and tablets does not always match up.”
Three-quarters of the advisers contacted called for improved, safer and free Wi-Fi to be widely available in the UK, and 44 per cent want to see an increase in 4G coverage (fourth generation of mobile telecommunications technology). Four out of ten also want to see greater online and mobile security, with widespread use of biometric passwords, such as fingerprints, palmprints and voice recognition.
Adviser view:
Mel Kenny, adviser at City-based financial planners Radcliffe & Newlands, said: “In becoming increasingly reliant on IT, the expectations that we have are for things to appear instantly. In those circumstances, even the slightest breakdown can quickly turn into a major catastrophe, and you will wish you had not thrown away your Scottish Life diary.”
