The days of punching time clocks and sitting at a desk all day are becoming a thing of the past, and for good reason. According to a survey from Indeed, the majority of surveyed employees who work remotely feel a flexible work environment has improved their work-life balance (75 percent), reduced stress (57 percent), reduced absences (56 percent) and improved morale (54 percent). 40 percent would even consider a pay cut to have the option to work remotely.
Employers are on board with remote working, too. Among employers with remote work policies, 72 percent said it makes employees more productive. Employers also say the ability to work remotely has also resulted in improved morale (57 percent), less turnover (52 percent), reduced absences (50 percent) and lower operational costs (50 percent).
But there’s a downside. 37 percent of employees said working from home makes them less visible and makes leadership less accessible. A separate study from Future Workplace found that two-thirds of employees who work remotely “always” or “very often” tend to feel disengaged. As a result, remote workers are much more likely to quit their jobs than those who work in the office.
Why do remote workers tend to feel disconnected?
- They rely completely on their mobile phones. They miss calls to their desk phone and are slow to respond to messages, which leads to missed opportunities.
- They use different tools for different communication channels (voice, email, text, instant message, video, etc.), none of which are fully integrated. They waste time bouncing back and forth between tools, entering the same contacts and information multiple times.
- This complexity not only makes collaboration more difficult, but also creates a far less secure work environment.
The good news is, these are all fixable problems. You don’t have to force employees back to the office or eliminate your bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policy. BYOD is here to stay anyway. Implementing the right collaborative tools can help remote employees feel less isolated and improve communication.
For most small to medium sized businesses (SMBs), Unified Communications-as-a-Service (UCaaS) is the ideal cloud collaboration solution. UCaaS provides your entire team with the same, unified interface for all communication channels so you don’t waste time juggling multiple platforms. VoIP service offers real-time collaboration that is simple and seamless, making it easy for remote workers to stay engaged and connected. You have a single version of the truth, which eliminates redundant work and data inconsistency.
Regardless of where employees are working – the office, home, the airport, a coffee shop or a branch office – everyone has access to the same platform. This is how UCaaS allows you to maximize the gains in productivity and collaboration that working remotely can deliver.
Ancero’s Utility VoIP cloud collaboration platform is designed to provide SMBs with a simple yet powerful communication and collaboration tool that overcomes the challenges traditionally faced by remote workers. Utility VoIP is comprised of the “Power Couple” – the Utility VoIP Mobile Application and the UC Client interface.
The Utility VoIP Mobile Application is essentially a desk phone in your pocket. You have one number for all devices. With mobile VoIP calls to your desk phone are automatically routed to your mobile phone so no calls are missed. You can make business calls without exposing your personal mobile number, while voice-to-text transcribed voicemails make it easy to retrieve messages.
The Utility VoIP UC Client interface allows you to make and take calls from your laptop through a built-in softphone or communicate via chat. Contacts, voicemail and call history can be accessed, sorted and managed remotely. The UC Client also makes it possible to hold video meetings so you get the face time that most remote workers crave.
Ask yourself these questions. If your employees work remotely, is it more difficult for them to access the tools, resources and data they need to do their job? Is it more difficult for customers to get in touch with them? Is collaboration more complicated? Do they feel disconnected from their team?
If the answer to any of these questions is “yes”, it’s time to consider a new approach. Watch this video to learn more about how Utility VoIP powers productivity, and contact us to schedule a demo.