You're only as important as your furniture. And that's at peak levels of dignity."Corporate victim" Scott Adams, in The Dilbert Principle.For years, an office design meant a bullpen layout. There were the private offices for senior executives and an open space with tables scattered around for the staff.For all its emphasis on functionality, the bullpen layout had a major drawback. It created a hierarchical and physical barrier between employees which was far from being conducive to teamwork.GodrejIn India, the Godrej group thought differently. Its company Office Furniture, the largest manufacturer, supplier and exporter of the open plan office system (OPOS) in the country, has succeeded in creating a product nomenclature - OPOS - for all time. At Godrej, the emphasis is on designing office furniture that dovetails into a particular employee's job requirements.Godrej believes in doing away with physical and hierarchical barriersSays Anil Verma, vice president, Office Furniture: "A typical chair designed at Godrej goes through the requirements of function performed, working style and seating needs before the final product is offered to the market."The various seating systems from the company can broadly be categorised in four classes, beginning with the high-performance seating for senior executives who put in hours of stressful work. There are then the general-purpose chairs for executives, the multi-task chair, specifically designed for office support personnel who are required to perform multiple-job functions and the task-intensive chair that facilitates long hours of correct postural sitting. This is ideal for data entry operators, software professionals and other such sedentary workers. As Verma says, "More and more corporates have realised that the look of an office is not merely for good looks; it is also a statement about the culture of the organisation."AnchorAnchor Electronics has also realised offices must look good. Introduced in 1993, the Roma switches from Anchor have already become the country's No. 1 modular switches and accessories. They come in six vibrant colours besides an unconditional lifetime free replacement guarantee.VideoconThe real objective of business communication is to advance your career."Necktie-wearing" Scott Adams, in The Dilbert Principle.Any B-school professor, while teaching the rudiments of management, has to touch upon the subject of business communication. The objective of communication, he will say, is the clear transfer of communication. That's where companies like India OA Systems from the highly diversified Videocon Group come in.Videocon's multi-media projector harnesses the latest in office automationIndia OA markets office equipment developed by Toshiba of Japan and over the years introduced world-class products that have helped Indian corporates and even small businesses to harness the latest in office automation and information technology. The Toshiba range of multi-media projectors, for example. Says company CEO Naveen Mandhana: "TLP 511 and TLP 411 offer several special features that are unrivalled."Yet another journey into the future has been taken by Gestetner India. Says Managing Director Paul Wilkinson: "Our range of specialised products are all computer literate, meaning they can either be connected directly to a computer, local area network, or are compatible with computers."Its model 3220 is India's first multi-functional six-in-one machine: digital copier, printer, fax, sorter, stapler and communicator. The modern duplicator 4130 prints an amazing 130 pages a minute, with prints at three paise per copy (for 500 copies) and in four colours (red, green, blue and black).MTNLNever answer your phone if you have voice mail. People call because they want you to work for them. That's no way to live. "Idiot" Scott Adams, in The Dilbert Principle.Remember the days when competition snatched business away because the telephone was yet to be installed in your new office in Mumbai and the client could not be reached in time?Relax. As on March 31, 1998, the waiting list in India's financial capital has been brought to nearzero. "Telephones are available now practically on demand," says Ajay Jain, deputy general manager, marketing, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL). The Mumbai system predominantly has the latest technology exchanges. Electromechanical exchanges of C-4 type account for an insignificant 1.73 per cent of the total capacity, while analogue electronic Fetex exchanges are 4.68 per cent. By March 2000, says Jain, the analogue system will be replaced totally by the electronic digital system..preferred-source-banner{ margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:10px;}In addition to the basic telephone, making life easier for corporates are services like paging, e-mail, ISDN (integrated services telephone services), INet, voice mail and a number of phoneplus facilities.The stateowned MTNL is also proposing to enter the cellular, Internet and intelligent network businesses, though the cellular and Internet forays are still being argued in court.One of the most powerful business communication tools offered by MTNL is ISDN, which combines all modes of communication - voice, data and video transmission - over the present telephone line.The service, as Jain points out, brings digital communication directly to the subscriber. Currently, 16 cities and 44 countries can be accessed from Mumbai through the ISDN facility. The services offered on a dual-tie-up basis between any two ISDN subscribers are:Data transfer at 64 kilo bytes per second (KBPS); one can transfer information on a 2 MB floppy in just four minutes;High quality voice transmission at 64 KBPS;Desk top video conferencing at 128 KBPS with a PC and camera mounted on the same, a video conference at 128 KBPS can be set up;High quality video conferencing at 384 KBPS by combining three ISDN lines;G-4 fax transmission; Access to analogue services through terminal adapter: one can talk to Tokyo and simultaneously send a fax to London.With companies like these coming up with better facilities, corporate life will become a lot easier.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Aug 22, 2012--- ENDS ---
