Whether out of necessity or to meet personal preferences, there will be plenty of times when your users need to work remotely. When they do, being able to tackle tasks without interruptions and delays will keep your company operational. The Covid-19 Pandemic changed the way we all do business. The way we work will never be the same. It’s important to realize that your temporary IT fix needs to evolve into a permanent work anywhere strategy. While there’s no way to predict where, when or how your business might be impacted by a Pandemic or other event in the future, it is possible to prepare.
Here are 5 of the most important tools you need to support a remote workforce:
1.Remote Desktops
With a cloud based solution users will have the freedom and flexibility to work on their devices and networks, while you manage everything in one secure central console. Even organizations without a virtualization solution in place can use Remote PC capabilities to provide fast access to corporate resources, without having to build out the backend infrastructure needed for full-fledged VDI.
2. Meet
Most businesses need a way to manage their teams and meet with customers. Video conferencing integrated with your phone system allows you to Instantly go from group chat to video conference with the touch of a button. Teams of 2 or 10,000 can meet in one place, no matter how many places they’re in. GotoConnect and RingCentral both offer great products to accomplish video conferencing.
3. Chat
With a remote workforce there is no longer the convenience of walking over to a managers desk or consulting with an engineer in the next cubicle. Having the ability to informally chat and send instant messages while collaborating becomes an essential tool. The right VoIP solution will allow you to do this from the same interface you make calls from.
4. Call
The ability to communicate with customers is the most critical piece of technology to any business despite the lack of glamour and attention it receives. Most businesses could not function without phones. During the pandemic if you were stuck in an on premise PBX it became quite frustrating to figure out how to set up remote workers. But if you are using a hosted VoIP solution for voice communications it’s a simple as sending the phone home with an employee or downloading an app on their cell phone.
5. Collaborate
Easily find, share, and edit files in real time using familiar apps like Word, PowerPoint, and Excel in Teams.
The last piece that needs to be considered is security and keeping your company data secure. With traditional security strategies already pushed to the breaking point, the need for a modern solution is even more important when your attack surface swells. A startling 68% of surveyed organizations have already been victims of successful endpoint attacks. Those risks increase exponentially during disruptions, when corporate data is regularly accessed from people’s homes and on personal devices. With that in mind remote desktops and cloud services such as Microsoft 365 can provide a secure way for employees to engage company resources. You can use a Remote Desktop client to connect to a remote PC and your work resources from almost anywhere using just about any device. You can connect to your work PC and have access to all of your apps, files, and network resources as if you were sitting at your desk.
Consolidating your communications tools now can bring huge cost-savings, IT management efficiencies, and security benefits in the future. Choosing a single vendor that can make it simple to meet each employee’s unique collaboration needs will set companies up for success. Whether it’s connecting from different devices with a unified calling solution, sharing documents, co-authoring files, hosting video meetings, streamlining workflows Agility Communications can help you get the tools you need.
