Working From Home in 2020
“Business as usual” in 2020 has really been anything but. Working from home was already an option for a number of businesses before the arrival of COVID-19, but the ongoing impacts of the pandemic have forced more businesses to adopt a work-from-home model than ever before. As of the time of this writing, many corporate offices remain closed, out of an abundance of caution for the sake of employee health and safety. But even though the buildings themselves may not be open, companies have managed to remain open for business by utilizing a remote workforce. In the process, these companies are learning an important truth – when managed properly, a remote workforce model really does work!
Why Remote Work Makes Sense Beyond the Pandemic
Small and large businesses alike are now reaping the rewards that go along with having their employees work from home. Here are just a few notable benefits:
Business overhead savings
What business wouldn’t love to cut down on its operating expenses? By taking advantage of a remote workforce model, you save money on office utilities, supplies, equipment, space needs, and more.
Boost to both employee morale and productivity
Studies show that employees who are able to work from home, dress comfortably, and help to set their own schedules experience higher levels of morale. That’s good for them! Surprisingly, they also tend to be even more productive. And that’s good for your business!
Ability to broaden your talent pool
Another key advantage to having remote employees is that it opens up wider possibilities for you in terms of recruiting and hiring quality candidates. Your talent pool is no longer limited to your immediate geographic area, and you also have greater opportunity to diversify your workforce.
Remote Work Is Here to Stay
Pandemic or no pandemic, remote work looks to be here to stay. A whopping 98% of those responding to Buffer’s latest State of Remote Work Survey indicated that they’d like to continue being able to work remotely. Forward-thinking businesses who want to continue attracting top talent would be wise to create and implement a framework for leveraging remote employees, or expanding their current remote work policies.
What It Takes to Make Remote Work Really Work: The Right Communication System
But what does it take to make remote work really work? Much of it really boils down to utilizing the right tools for remote management and communication. And one tool that’s absolutely essential is having the right phone system technology in place for your business. An integrated, cloud-based phone system is uniquely equipped to suit the needs of both office workers and remote workers alike:
Office staff and remote staff are connected on a single, unified phone system
By moving your business communications to a cloud-hosted phone system, you can give both office workers and remote workers access to the same full-featured, plug-and-play business desk phones. All that is required is a reliable high-speed internet connection! These VOIP phones provide reliable phone service, but that’s really just the tip of the iceberg. They also provide capabilities for audio conferencing, video conferencing, messaging, screen sharing, call forwarding, online faxing, and much more.
Much greater mobility
Another advantage of moving your PBX phone system out of the main office and into the cloud is that it offers real mobility for your workforce. All of your employees enjoy the same robust phone system features, regardless of where they may be located at any given moment. They’re not tied to having to be in the main office or in their home office, either. An easy-to-use mobile app keeps them connected to your business phone system whenever they’re out on the road, too.
Improved staffing flexibility
A cloud-hosted business phone system allows you more flexibility in how you use your remote workers, and in the specific roles you can assign to them. Thanks to being fully connected, your remote staff can easily provide support to customers, prospects, business partners, coworkers, and more.
Real-time monitoring combined with IT security
Security is always an area of potential concern when it comes to utilizing technology for business. However, you won’t have that concern with a cloud-based telecommunication system. Overseeing security will be easy for your IT folks, and things like call logging and audits are also simple to manage. Your administrators will also be able to gain important insights about how the phone system is being leveraged, and can use this information to help maximize efficiency and performance.
Simplifies billing and saves money
Long-distance calling is essentially free over a VOIP phone, and international calls are considerably cheaper than through traditional phone channels. Billing is also streamlined, as you receive one simplified invoice for your entire company’s phone system each month – no more having to deal with individual bills and tedious expense reports for each line.
VoIP phones, devices, and equipment from IDeACOM NC
IDeACOM offers Voice Over IP solutions for everything from homes to small businesses to medium-sized businesses to enterprise-level corporations. Our team of professionals is ready to help you choose the best phone system to meet both your needs AND your budget. We’re proud to offer many great VoIP phone system options including products from iPECS, Vertical, NEC, Zultys, Plantronics, Polycom, and Avaya.
Choose IDeACOM NC for the Best Comprehensive Business Phone Systems!
IDeACOM NC is the #1 local source for all your business communication and technology solutions. We supply the best residential services, too! From our headquarters in Kernersville, we’re well-poised to serve all of North Carolina, from the beaches to the mountains. We’ll be glad to help you design your own customized phone system which will be perfect for serving all your needs, and we’ll still be here for you if you ever need support down the road, too.
Ready to ramp up your company’s communications capabilities and keep everyone in your organization connected, no matter where they happen to work? Let us put our knowledge and experience to work for you! You can reach out to us at IDeACOMNC, or get the conversation started by giving us a call at 336-854-4455!