How are mobile trends changing the workplace?

The typical office of today is not the same as it was 10 or 15 years ago. Fax machines are increasingly sparse, and pagers and answering machines are all but extinct. As technology has developed and new trends have taken hold, the workplace has seen some sweeping changes.

Mobile technology is one of the most significant catalysts of change in the modern office. Employees are constantly walking around the office -- rather than tethered to their desks -- holding a conversation on a smartphone or pulling up information on a tablet computer.

Not only are people more mobile inside the office, they are afforded these advantages outside as well. The tablet and the laptop computer, combined with WiFi or cellular networks, have made it possible for employees to work from virtually anywhere, whether it's on a jobsite, in the airport or from the side of the road.

Thanks to mobile technology, some people don't even have to come into the office anymore. Instead, they can work from wherever they are most efficient or comfortable, like the home or a cafe.

According to a May 2011 study from enterprise mobility services provider iPass, 41 percent of mobile workers own tablet computers and 94 percent own smartphones. As both of these technologies continue to grow, tomorrow's workplace may look drastically different than today's.