A busylight is an innovative indicator used to alert co-workers when you are occupied with a call or other important task. This is a great tool for open offices where frequent interruptions can impair the quality of an employee’s work.
Many organisations opt for open –plan offices in the belief that they will boost collaboration, creativity and productivity. Unfortunately in practice it rarely works this way, mostly due to the fact that employees are working individually behind a computer screen.
While the open office does help foster a more open and friendly work culture, it comes at the price of constant distractions and interruptions. Studies have suggested that people are interrupted at work on average once every 8 minutes. This can have huge effects on workplace productivity and employee wellbeing, focus and motivation.
How the Busylight works
The glowing LED indicator can be fixed to the top of an employee’s computer monitor or cubicle wall, where it is then synced to business software such as Skype, or phone lines. The beacon will then automatically change colour depending on your status in the program, or whether or not you are on a call. So when you are occupied with a call, the Busylight will turn red, and when you are off the call, it will turn green.
Its benefits
Minimises interruptions and boosts productivity
While overhearing stories about your co-worker’s sick dog or getting offered a free donut can sometimes be a welcome distraction from your work, too many of these incidents can lead to a marked loss of productivity and hinder the quality of your outputs.
The Busylight allows you to relax in knowing that you are unlikely to be interrupted in the middle of an important phone call. By visually telling your co-workers that you are occupied, you can reduce pesky distractions and feel confident knowing that you will get your tasks done before the end of the day.
Improve communication between colleagues
In workplaces such as call centres where employees are often wearing a headset, it can be challenging to decide whether or not to talk to your co-worker and determine whether or not they are occupied. A Busylight makes your colleague’s status obvious – if they are on a call, their beacon will be red. If not, it will be green. This makes it easier to determine when to speak with your colleagues and when to keep quiet.
Boosted client satisfaction
The beacon can also help provide an improved client experience and boost overall client satisfaction. Being interrupted on a phone call by another staff member can cause the client to feel disrespected and undervalued, thus increasing the likelihood of them opting out of your service. This can tarnish your relationships with your clients and affect business productivity.
By using the Busylight to let co-workers know when you are occupied, you can minimise the chance of this happening and help make sure you are fully focused on the client at hand.
Better accessibility
The beacon is also useful for employees who have sight or hearing impairments due to its use of simple, block colours and clear sound effects.
Call alerts
Colours and sound effects can also be set to give employees call alerts, letting you know when a call or message is incoming or has been missed. This allows you to better keep track of incoming communications and ensure that all clients are responded to in a timely manner.
Conclusion
The Busylight is an ideal solution for those working in an open-plan office as it improves accessibility, focus and productivity.