5 Tools You Need To Support Remote Working
The coronavirus has caused many businesses to send their workers home, and if you are in this boat or if you want to facilitate a remote working environment for other reasons, you may be wondering which tools you need.
To support communication and to keep your team on track, you may want to look into the following types of tools and technology.
1. Call Forwarding
If you have a landline at your office, you don't want the phones ringing off the hook and the voicemails to pile up while you are out of the office. To prevent this from happening, you may want to install call forwarding.
Then, when someone calls your office, the call gets routed to a different number such as your workers' mobile or home phones.
2. Voice Over Internet Provider
In lieu of using your current business phone set up, you may want to make the leap to a voice over internet provider (VoIP). These phone systems can let you choose numbers from a variety of area codes, and in some cases, you may be able to keep your existing business number.
But you set up the phone so that the calls get routed to other places. For instance, someone may call your main number, but then, the call gets routed to your administrative assistant's cell phone. After they answer the call, they can transfer it to the phones of other employees.
3. Teleconferencing Tools
Your team needs to have meetings, and conferencing tools are essential. To safeguard sound quality, have everyone keep their mics on mute unless they are talking.
If someone doesn't have ample internet bandwidth to support a teleconferencing app, you may want to look for an app that offers call-in features. They just call a number and get connected to the call.
4. Collaboration Applications
Collaboration apps help you keep projects on track. You can make to-do lists, and employees can make notes on what they are doing. You also have conversations about certain projects right in the app, and you can see the updates made by others in real time.
5. Time Tracking Tools
When people aren't coming to the office and clocking in, you may need to get creative about how you track their hours. Depending on your objectives, you may want them to manually track their hours or sign in and out on an app that works like a basic time clock.
Alternatively, you may want to use an app that tracks the time spent on certain computer applications. For instance, if your employee is in a spreadsheet or using a productivity app for a set amount of time, you can see those details using this type of app. In addition to tracking general work hours, you can also find apps that track the time spent on certain projects.
To learn more, contact a company that offers remote work solutions.