Make Work From Anywhere Possible With Unified Communications
Remote, hybrid, work from anywhere, and telecommuting have all become familiar terms in the modern business world. Many organizations — both big and small — offer some form of remote work or telecommuting to accommodate varying situations.
Businesses need the right tools to support employees when working remotely, on the go, or in hybrid settings. This is where cloud-based, unified communications solutions can help. Read on to learn more.
The Shift to Working From Anywhere
The shift toward more flexible work environments began as a necessity during the pandemic, but has since remained and grown in popularity during the years that followed. According to the Stanford Institute of Economic Policy Research, there was a 40% increase in U.S. employees working from home from 2019 to 2023. A recent report by McKinsey & Company also uncovered that 87% of workers surveyed, when offered at least some remote work, embrace the opportunity and spend an average of three days a week working from home.
What might be driving this high response? Generally, factors like better work-life balance and saving commuting costs are benefits that workers in remote and hybrid environments experience.
How Can Unified Communications Help?
Imagine enabling employees to work from their kitchen tables, home offices, or local coffee shops. A cloud-based, unified communications software with desktop and mobile apps provides this flexibility. Equipped with these tools, employees can work from virtually anywhere with an internet connection, easily accessing their full phone systems as they would in an office space.
For example, employees can screen calls while in a meeting and forward to a relevant coworker, while messaging them to expect the incoming call. Consider a traveling employee using a phone app to call an airline company to change bookings for a canceled leg of a connecting flight itinerary. This real-time communication is critical and can all be done from an app on a computer, tablet, or smartphone with a cloud business phone system.
What To Look For in Cloud Communications Systems
When considering cloud-based communications systems, it's important to identify core capabilities that deliver real business value while untethering your employees from cubicles and desk phones.
Important features typically offered include:
Sending and receiving SMS to and from customers
Messaging between coworkers and among groups
Video conferencing with others inside and outside of the company
Saving business contacts and then calling, messaging, or video chatting them with one click
Technologies like unified communications software and collaboration tools are enabling more and more businesses to embrace flexible work environments for employees.
Enhance Collaboration
Cloud-based unified communications can help enhance collaboration. Look for solutions that allow your employees to use a mobile app or desktop app with tools that enable them to work together in creative ways. These applications should provide workers with the following capabilities:
Make real-time video calls and share your screen to present materials or brainstorm with participants
Forward calls to colleagues and review or share voicemail transcripts from virtually anywhere
Communicate with team members privately or in group conversations through messaging
Share attachments with team members across business accounts
Integrate with business applications, like CRMs and office productivity tools
Additionally, cloud communications can positively impact management techniques. You can create regular video meetings with screen sharing to streamline collaboration, reestablish bonds among teams and departments, and align workflows to company goals.
Business Benefits
Remote or hybrid work options also benefit businesses. It allows for decreased overhead spending on office space and utilities, devices, and resources needed for IT maintenance and training. Cloud communications also improves business operations by streamlining call response processes, unveiling trends in customer interactions, and identifying security threats through audit logs.
Plan a Successful Work From Anywhere Program
With these agile capabilities, companies can build quality programs to offer employees flexibility and extra support to be productive wherever they're working.
Before getting started, it’s important to set up a program plan. Put a formal policy in place to lay out working conditions, benefits, tools, and expectations. To maximize the benefits of these programs, organizations should consider and ensure five key factors:
Effective communications infrastructure
Proper security and data protection measures
Alignment on established work hours
Scheduled training and team meetings
Clear performance and productivity KPIs
Getting Started
Want to learn more about unified communications desktop and mobile apps? Vonage can help. Visit us online to explore our solutions or schedule a call with a Vonage expert.
