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RESEARCH, ANALYSIS & TRENDS

In addition to smartphones, tablets and the like, which In everyday business, however, there are often use
have long since established themselves as the stand- cases in which the whereabouts of the users change
ard for messaging apps, smart devices with new user dynamically, and knowledge of the real-time locations
interfaces will conquer the market. Smartwatches have or live locations can be of great importance for col-
developed rapidly and are widespread in recent years. leagues and business partners. Typical scenarios are
They are light, robust and are particularly suitable for the deployment of public order offices, police and res-
mobile emergency services such as police officers and cue services, production employees as well as
rescue workers. But data glasses, so-called smart transport and delivery service trips. There will be the
glasses, are already in the starting blocks. In combina- next stages of innovation here to further improve the
tion with messenger apps, they can offer remarkable geo-referenced coordination, such as progressive map
advantages. For example, you enable doctors to easily applications or the provision of application-relevant lo-
view patient files together with colleagues during an cation information through artificial intelligence are con-
examination and to communicate at the same time, ceivable.
while keeping both hands free. Smartglasses also sup-
port logistics employees in locating stored goods and Trend 6:
exchanging information about the transport. It is con- Messenger with maximum data sovereignty
ceivable that the position of the goods to be loaded, with simultaneous networking
including directions for a larger warehouse, can be Data sovereignty and security are two issues that are
called up and colleagues can be requested for support becoming increasingly important for companies. In lock-
step with the continuously developing messenger func-
while the employee is on the move with the forklift. In
this way, new smart devices make it easier and faster tionalities and technical possibilities, the threat from
cyberattacks is also growing. Federated servers in-
to implement use cases.
crease the reliability against hacker attacks – after all,
Trend 4: in the worst case only the attacked server fails. The
Even more sophisticated messenger functions federation is also a significant step forward in improving
Sending documents, photos and videos, sharing loca- data sovereignty. For security reasons, in addition to
tions, making VoIP and video calls are all part of the secure containers on the end device, functions for ho-
standard repertoire of a good business messenger, and listic data and access management are becoming in-
the peak in terms of innovative functions is still far from creasingly relevant. Further strengthening encryption
being reached. Messaging apps integrate more and algorithms for communication and establishing addition-
more functionalities to cover all use cases across in- al security functions are also among the central devel-
dustries and to make the exchange of information even opments in business messaging. Compliance and au-
easier: diting-proof archiving will be an important topic for all
companies and industries in 2022. It is now clear that
• alerts to ensure direct emergency communication messaging is part of business communication, and
and coordination using acknowledgment options therefore falls under the documentation obligations un-
and alarm reports, der commercial, professional and data protection law.
Companies can easily implement their compliance and
• surveys to easily create surveys and simplify data protection requirements with leading business
scheduling, and messengers – a key advantage over American cloud
solutions.
• image processing to anonymize data and make
faces unrecognizable. Professional communication will continue to change,
and new technologies will accompany this change and
In 2022, the variety of functions will continue to in- drive it forward. Business messengers are already mak-
crease, and individual functions will be refined – individ- ing device, time and location-independent collaboration
ually tailored to industries.
within a team and between several teams possible –
even from other organizations. However, their potential
Trend 5:
Geo-referencing in Messenger – live location is far from being exhausted, which is illustrated by the
functions reach a new level expected trends. Business messaging is ready for the
Sharing locations in messengers is a popular feature, future. ◊
since it is ideal for sharing your current whereabouts,
giving directions, and arranging meeting points. By MediaBUZZ

January 2022: Digital Media Trends & Predictions 7