The holiday season is a great time to evaluate your business communication strategy. Employees will work both remotely and in-person to balance their work and family commitments. The first week of November is World Communications week, meant to educate and bridge gaps in communication between individuals, organizations, and even nations.
This is a great opportunity to upgrade your unified communications and collaboration tools. There are several tools to allow employees to work from home or even send quick responses when away for the holidays. Here’s a rundown of some useful tools to check out to connect your remote or hybrid employees.
VoIP Calling for Remote Employees
One of the most useful tools for business communication is VoIP calling. VoIP stands for Voice Over Internet Protocol, or calls made via an internet connection. This will look like a Microsoft teams call, or calls made via Google Voice.
These types of cloud phone systems will generate personalized phone numbers for each employee. This way, employees can make calls via any device, including a laptop or cell phone.
VoIP phones change digital voice signals to analog signals, so VoIP calls can go to regular phones and analog land line numbers. This allows remote employees to dial into meetings for hands-free calls on the go. A wireless VoIP soft phone can improve your customer service. It allows your employees to be hands-free while using their computer and talking on the phone at the same time.
Video Conference Systems for Seamless Group Collaboration
A major hurdle for businesses is streamlining group video conferencing. When some or all employees are working remotely, it may be confusing to conduct a hybrid video conference.
Video conferencing hardware in the office can make for seamless group meetings. Video conferencing hardware like cameras, microphones, and screens can make it feel like remote workers are in the room with you. Tools like audio tracking focus the video on the sound's source in the room, specifically, the person speaking.
If your business’ laptops have video cameras as many modern devices do, they can remotely call in. Through virtual conference software, collaboration between remote and in-person staff can be simple.
There are more and more online conference platforms to choose from every year. Read more about how to choose a video conferencing system in our blog:
Cloud Instant Messaging for Speedy Responses
Many people still like going to the office because they can talk to their colleagues who work nearby. Efficient communication is a major aspect of day-to-day problem-solving and productivity, after all. This is where instant messaging comes into play.
Many cloud phone systems like Microsoft Teams include chat capabilities between staff. This enables quick replies, easy updates on availability, and efficient file sharing with various integrations. Instant messaging is useful for informal topics that don't need an email or a long answer. It's good for quick, simple solutions.
Cloud Faxing for Security and Out-Of-Office Convenience
Data security is very important for healthcare, finance, and legal firms when managing documents or printing. Traditional faxing poses a big problem for remote workers—it requires staff to be in-office to fax documents. Cloud faxing is a wonderful solution to this, while still offering a secure way to send and receive documents.
With eGOLDFax, users can control digital files and print them when staff instructs through the cloud platform. This prevents documents from being instantly printed because it requires active intervention for staff. This is a benefit for data security as it mitigates the risk of abandoned hard copies. It’s also a great alternative to in-person faxing for remote employees.
To read more about how law firms can benefit from cloud faxing solutions, read our blog:
Cloud Scheduling & Calendars
Collaboration relies on efficient and timely scheduling. Employees have varying availability and constantly changing schedules. The last thing employees want to do is spend unnecessary time emailing colleagues back and forth, proposing times to meet. This is how cloud calendar integration can make everything simpler.
Cloud-based applications can now connect SMS, video conferencing, and employee calendars to email accounts for seamless communication. This way, you can drop in videoconferencing links right into calendar invites. This makes it so attendees don’t have to go digging for the link right before the meeting.
Switching to the Cloud Doesn’t Have to Be Daunting
More businesses are using the cloud for their processes and communications due to its extensive capabilities and added features. The cloud is becoming a key aspect of keeping with the times and remaining productive in the digital age. You don’t have to go at it alone, though. IT professionals receive training on every new application update and cloud feature as they are released.
If you ask a managed IT and unified communications provider, they will be able to clear up any issues with your migration to the cloud. A good provider will assess your tools, needs, and company culture to suggest the best cloud services.
