British companies need to learn to work "more cleverly" and introduce practices, such as enabling staff to operate from their homes, if the country is to maintain its international competitiveness, it has been claimed.

An agreement reached between the North American telecoms company Nortel and the unified collaborative communications group Polycom will aim to develop technologies that enhance the effectiveness of a dispersed and mobile workforce, it has been announced.

Many of the 460 million or so journey’s made annually by contact centre staff heading to work in the UK and the subsequent carbon dioxide outputs would be reduced if remote operating became more widespread, a new report has highlighted.

Enabling employees to work outside of the office base has become a mainstream practice that is becoming an increasingly important part of running any kind of business, according to a recent study.