A survey among office workers across the United Kingdom, published today, is designed to help businesses formulate guidelines on what is and what is not acceptable in the world of modern communications.
The survey, undertaken by Telewest Business, the business communications provider, suggests that almost one-half of UK office workers would consider it rude not to have received a reply to an email within a morning.
And 5% of people would consider it rude if they had not received an email response within five minutes of sending it.
The survey claims that two out of every five people would expect a response to a text message within an hour before considering it rude, and almost a quarter of the people questioned expect a response within five minutes to an instant message.
Stephen Beynon, managing director of Telewest Business, commented: "The British are renowned for their manners, so it is important that as and when these tools become more widely known, businesses give guidelines to their staff on how to use them efficiently.
"If businesses fail to tackle this head-on, they risk damaging relationships with suppliers, partners and clients alike."
The survey found that email was the most highly regarded tool in the office, with 78% of the respondents claiming they could not live without it in the workplace.
Nearly one-third of the respondents said they still use fax and letters every single day.
:: The study, known as Digital Etiquette, was carried out by the research company TNS who surveyed more than 1,400 office workers, aged 16-64 across the United Kingdom in January on behalf of Telewest Business.
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