E-mail Emerges as Number One Business Communication Tool(email this article)

REDWOOD SHORES, Calif., Sept. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - E-mail has replaced the telephone as the most frequently used business communication tool, according to a new study sponsored by Oracle (Company Profile, Past Stories, Case Studies) Corp. (Nasdaq: ORCL - News) and conducted by KRC Research. The study also indicates that this shift has challenged employees to maintain high levels of productivity, inside and outside of the office.

The research found that 56 percent of professionals said they could not live without e-mail, and 44 percent said they use e-mail almost twice as much as they use the telephone.

The prevalent use of e-mail, coupled with the mobility of today's workforce and the growing demand for responsiveness and accessibility, increases the need for employees to stay connected when away from the office. Two-thirds of survey respondents said it is either very or somewhat important for them to stay in touch, while 53 percent agree that their productivity decreases when they are away from their computers and cannot access e-mail.

To stay connected, professionals are required to use a variety of devices -- cell phone, computer, fax machine -- to respectively access voice mail, e-mail and fax messages, complicating the need to efficiently retrieve and respond to messages. In fact, 65 percent of respondents agree that being able to access their e-mail, voice mail and faxes from a telephone would be very useful. Similarly, nearly seven in ten, or 69 percent, agree that their office would be more productive if they could share and edit documents real time.

"The global demand for secure anytime, anywhere access to e-mail, voice mail and electronic documents is driving the early success of Oracle Collaboration Suite," said Steve Levine, vice president of marketing, Oracle Corp. "Being out of the office no longer means being less productive."

Oracle® Collaboration Suite Redefines What it Means to Stay Connected

Oracle Collaboration Suite gives professionals the ability to access e-mail, calendar appointments and files from a cell phone or PDA; retrieve and share voice mails via e- mail; and share and edit documents real-time from any location. Oracle Collaboration Suite provides one in-box for all messages, streamlining the ability to access all types of messages -- e-mail, voice mail, faxes and electronic documents -- from multiple devices. As a result, employees are empowered to maintain high productivity levels whether out of the office for a meeting or traveling on business.

Additionally, Oracle Web Conferencing, included in the latest version of Oracle Collaboration Suite, enables participants to simultaneously review and edit documents or share ideas on a virtual white board -- all in one online meeting.

Research Methodology

One thousand professionals in the United States and Canada were polled by telephone to better understand how employees are communicating in today's business environment. Full survey results may be viewed at http://www.oracle.com/ip/deploy/cs/theme_pages/user_research.pdf.

About Oracle Collaboration Suite

More than 500 companies and organizations have purchased Oracle Collaboration Suite since it was made available in September 2002. For more information, customers may contact Oracle Direct at 1-800-633-0541, their Oracle sales representative or visit the Oracle Web site at http://www.oracle.com.

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