This is a fast-growing trend among small and medium businesses in NYC that is only growing stronger due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak - this trend is drastically increasing productivity, cutting costs, creating happier employees, and driving more profit to the bottom line. Is it a new management style or marketing trend? No - it’s telecommuting, which is a $5 word for allowing your staff to work from home or while on the road.
What Is Telecommuting And How Is It Going To Help Your Business?
Telecommuting is a fancy word for allowing employees to work from home, in remote offices, or while on the road. While this is not a new concept, recent advancements in remote access technology and security have made it very affordable and easy for even micro business owners. This creates opportunities for better work-life balance (as an ideal many in the millennial generation are seeking), as well as expanding the geographic talent pool for your business. And in this unfortunate virus outbreak, it is becoming necessary option for you to provide to your employees.
If you have ever spoken to Laura or Manuel when calling our office, you may be surprised to know that they are based out of Colombia! They can integrate seamlessly with our US-based team due to the technology we have in place with our phone system, Microsoft Teams, and Remote Desktop connections [all of which we can setup for our clients!].
Technology Needed To Allow for Telecommuting
PHONE SYSTEM – Our phones operate over the internet, as opposed to the traditional land-lines. This creates the possibility to connect offices across various geographies. When you call our main number with a Queens, NY area code (718) and dial extension 0 for operator, Laura will most likely be the one to greet you! If you’re an IT client dialing extension 4 to reach support desk, Manuel will be someone that helps you out. Other team members that are working remotely have the ability to be connected to our phone system via an app on their cell phone, or by forwarding their extensions to their cell phones.
SECURE REMOTE DESKTOP CONNECTION – While many programs you utilize day to day may be available via the cloud (for example, we use Salesforce for our CRM, which is accessed via an internet browser), there are some programs and files that are tied to your internal network. To reach them, you must be operating a computer that is within your office network. We have set up secure Remote Desktop connections, allowing employees that are not in the office, to use their home computers to access their computers that are in the office – this allows them to get to the information and programs they need to serve our clients.
MICROSOFT TEAMS – This is collaboration software that comes as part of a Microsoft 365 business package (which also provides you with e-mail and common Microsoft software such as Word, Excel & PowerPoint). It used to be Skype for Business but has now been transformed to not only provide the ability to chat with team members, but also host video meetings, collaborate on documents, and create an internal message board for your company. We moved to Teams back in July and are still just tapping into its potential, as we learn more how to use it as a tool to create better collaboration between the members of our company, we plan to share our experiences with our client community.
To learn more about Telecommuting technology visit www.thirtysecondcommute.com or click below to schedule a Remote Access Consultation with one of our IT Experts.