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Sustainable communications might sound like an unusual concept. Simply talking to another member of staff isn’t something we think will have a negative impact on the planet. However, the reality is that everything we do contributes to our environmental footprint. It’s not just driving to the office, or travelling overseas for meetings that elevates your carbon footprint in 2024.
Using commons type of communication software and hardware effects the environment too. In fact, by 2040, experts predict that the information and communications sector will account for about 14% of the world’s carbon footprint – an increase of just 1.5% from 2007.
This means if your digital transformation initiative includes investing in communications technology, from webcams and phones, to UCaaS and CCaaS software, it’s important to ensure your investment strategy aligns with your sustainability goals.
The Environmental Impact of Communications Technology
It’s easy to overlook the impact that communications technology has on the environment. While moving your communications strategy to the cloud can help reduce your carbon footprint, by enabling remote and hybrid work, and minimizing the need for travel, each piece of hardware and software deployed by your business has an environmental cost.
The very development of communications software, from collaborative apps like Microsoft Teams, to AI solutions that support remote workers and customer service, can be energy intensive. For instance, training a single neural network, like the ones used by ChatGPT, and countless other companies for communications-enhancing software, can emit as much carbon as five cars over their entire lifetime.
Using cloud storage system to collect, analyze and manage communications data, means taking advantage of comprehensive servers, which require significant energy to run. According to McKinsey, storing 50 terabytes of data in the cloud will only cost around $1,500 per year. However, it equates to a carbon cost of almost 1.3 metric tons per year of usage.
On top of this, there’s the environmental impact of communications hardware to consider. Laptops, computers, smartphones, headsets, microphones, and cameras all contribute to huge amounts of “electronic waste”. This is particularly true as companies continue to throw away old devices in favor of new, more advanced solutions.
Studies show that electronic waste is one of the most dangerous substances on the planet, harming our ecosystems and atmosphere. Yet in 2021, every person on the planet produced an average of 7.6 kg of electronic waste. As companies invest in new communication tech, from high-quality cameras to extended reality devices, the volume of e-waste we produce will continue to grow.
How to Create a Sustainable Communications Strategy
The first step to developing a sustainable communications strategy is awareness. Once companies can see that the software, hardware, and processes they use have an impact on the planet, they can begin to build their digital transformation initiatives with a focus on “eco-friendly” practices.
If you know your communications technology plays a part in your quest for a sustainable approach to IT, you can make more intelligent decisions about which tools and systems to implement.
Here are some top tips for creating a more sustainable communications strategy in 2024.
1. Choose the Right Cloud Communications Providers
Moving your communications strategy into the cloud with a UCaaS or CCaaS vendor is an excellent way to reduce your carbon footprint. It can help you to reduce the number of devices you need to purchase (and minimize electronic waste) by allowing your teams to use softphones for communication.
It also reduces the need for travel to the office, allowing employees to work remotely, and reducing carbon emissions from cars and vehicles on the road. According to Accenture, simply migrating to the public cloud can reduce corporate CO2 emissions by up to 59 million tons per year. That’s the same as taking 22 million cars off the road.
But the cloud still has an environmental impact. That’s why it’s important to ensure you’re choosing cloud communications providers who align with your sustainability goals. These are the innovators who invest in using green data centers and storage solutions, experiment with renewable energy sources, and look for comprehensive ways to give back to the environment.
The good news is that there are plenty of technology leaders already investing in sustainable communications. Microsoft has its own dedicated CSR team, and is committed to becoming carbon-negative by 2030. Google is pursuing net-zero emissions across its value chain, producing more sustainable software, hardware, bots, and systems.
Even Cisco is working with companies to minimize their carbon emissions, help them track their energy usage, and ensuring they make the most of their storage systems. Finding a communications technology provider with a strong focus on ESG could be the best way to guarantee your new technology supports your eco-friendly approach to communications.
2. Update Your Communications Hardware
As mentioned above, throwing away old communications technology, from your desk phones, to old laptops, has a negative impact on the environment. However, sticking with legacy solutions that consume more power than their energy-efficient counterparts can be just as problematic.
The key to success when updating your communications hardware, is carefully examining, and discovering where it makes sense to “replace” old systems, such as energy-intensive older phones and computers, and where it makes more sense to update and “reuse” your technology.
In situations where you need to get rid of old hardware entirely, work with industry professionals on sustainable IT disposal initiatives. This ensures the old equipment you get rid of will be recycled, donated, or destroyed in a way that protects the environment.
For the tech that still has value in your business, such as laptops and computers, smartphones, or headsets, look for ways you can upgrade and “recycle” solutions internally. For instance, Google has its “ChromeOS Flex” solution, which allows companies to update old devices with a new operating system, suitable for more up-to-date communications software.
Some companies like Cisco will even allow you to trade in old technology when purchasing new equipment, so you can save money on your future investments, and avoid contributing to the e-waste issue that’s growing around the world.
3. Reduce Your Reliance on Communications Hardware
Another strategy is to reduce your need for communications hardware in the first place. The less hardware you need to purchase, the less you’ll need to dispose of. Additionally, fewer devices operating in your business environment at any given time means you’re using less energy, reducing your overall carbon footprint on a day-to-day basis.
Moving to the cloud is a good way to reduce your reliance on hardware. Many UCaaS and CCaaS solutions come with “softphone” applications which allow you to convert any device (smartphone, tablet, or computer) into a business phone. This means you only need a SIP trunk provider and a stable internet connection to start making calls.
Implementing a BYOD strategy, where employees can use their own equipment in the office further builds on this benefit, ensuring you don’t have to invest in extensive technology for your teams. This both saves your business money, and reduces your environmental impact at the same time.
If you do need to invest in hardware for your teams, you can also look for ways to consolidate multiple forms of hardware into one solution. An all-in-one tablet that supports video conferencing (with a built-in camera or microphone), calls, and day-to-day employee tasks has a smaller environmental footprint than purchasing laptops, cameras, microphones, and headsets separately.
One again, purchasing all-in-one solutions allows you to access various business benefits of sustainability, from reduced emissions, to lower costs, and even improved productivity.
4. Consider Your Strategy for Storing Communications Data
One of the reasons even a cloud-based communications strategy can be unsustainable, is that it still requires the use of data centers for storage and data management. Studies show that data centers are currently responsible for around 3% of our global electricity usage, and that number will only continue to grow, as we continue to produce more data.
A business communications strategy generates huge volumes of data that needs to be stored for compliance, training, and analytical purposes. While you can’t eliminate the need for data storage entirely, you can take a sustainable approach to data management.
For instance, you can:
- Reduce storage waste: Work with data center providers to ensure you’re accessing only the exact amount of storage capacity you need, and nothing more. Leverage strategies like data compression, deduplication, and thin provisioning to reduce your storage needs.
- Look for suppliers with efficient data centers: Some leading companies in the communication landscape are investing in data centers powered by green electricity. There are countless solutions out there that rely on solar power, wind power, and other sustainable strategies to enable access to consistent power.
- Master workload management: Monitor the carbon emissions created by your data strategy, and look for ways to adapt your workflow to be more eco-friendly. For instance, Google has a carbon-intelligent platform that allows companies to automatically shift non-urgent tasks to times of the day when solar and wind energy are in high supply.
5. Implement Sustainable Communications Policies
One of the simplest ways to ensure your communications strategy is eco-friendly, is to update your policies and processes with a focus on reducing carbon emissions. Evaluate your current communications strategy, and look for areas where you could be creating unnecessary waste, or increasing your carbon footprint. For instance, you can:
- Reduce waste by digitizing processes: Rather than sending physical letters or memos to employees, or printing out documents for a presentation, use digital technologies. Take advantage of emails and messaging tools. Use video apps for virtual presentations, and create virtual whiteboards instead of brainstorming in-person. Store documents in a cloud environment, rather than filling your office with filing cabinets.
- Turn off unused devices: Ensure communications technology is switched off when it’s not in use. With today’s plug-and-play meeting room kits and communication systems, you don’t have to have displays, cameras, and other technology running at all hours of the day. You can access the technology you need as and when you need it.
- Reduce travel: Allow employees to work from home, or adopt a hybrid working strategy to prevent people from travelling to the office for in-person conversations. Adopt solutions for multi-media communications across chat, email, video, and online audio systems, to ensure collaboration thrives, but carbon emissions remain low.
6. Experiment with Innovative Opportunities
Finally, when looking for ways to optimize and improve your sustainable communication strategies, focus on innovations that support your eco-friendly initiatives. For instance, instead of buying numerous dedicated computers and devices for remote employees, use “Desktop as a Service” technology to ensure remote workers can access the tools they need wherever they are.
If you’re running servers, use server virtualization to allow multiple virtual machines to operate through a single server, reducing your space requirements, heat generation, energy consumption and carbon emissions. You could even look into the world of extended reality, and use the virtual world or metaverse for the creation of product prototypes, collaboration, and brainstorming sessions.
This reduces the need for employee travel, and it ensures you’re not wasting crucial resources, by allowing you to experiment with digital twins instead of physical products. Even innovations in AI and automation can help to optimize your communications sustainability. AI solutions can boost data center efficiency with intelligent load balancing and cooling optimization.
IoT systems can help you track your energy usage through different parts of the business, and offer insights into where you can reduce costs (and carbon emissions).
Investing in Sustainable Communication
In today’s evolving workplace, countless companies need to invest in communication technologies to improve internal collaboration, preserve productivity, and even serve customers. However, the wrong strategy could mean that you not only face greater expenses, but you also fail to reach your ESG goals and eco-friendly targets.
If you’re upgrading your communications strategy this year, use the tips above to ensure that you’re taking a sustainable approach. Additionally, you can reach out to SaaSCom for help choosing eco-friendly suppliers, and reducing your carbon footprint, with our sustainable approach to digital transformation.
