Tag: cloud phone

Everyone needs a solid WFH platform

Fall is here.  Our children are back to school in some form and things just got busier.  For many of us, it has become more complicated to balance work and family life.  Most importantly, our video conferencing “freemiums” are expiring, which is leading many businesses to rethink their communications strategy.  The million dollar question is what everything is going to look like later in the fall or in the dreaded winter.

Flexible working, remote working or work from home (WFH) helps to alleviate the complications of work/life balance.  Many companies like Google are allowing their employees to WFH until next summer to help them manage the challenges of work and life.  More are following suit.

Many of us thought that remote working was temporary, but the impact COVID has had on culture has changed that mindset forever. Companies are now embracing remote workers, which opens boundaries set by geographic limitations of going to an office.  Glassdoor, the job posting site, says its remote job openings are up 28.3% from a year ago, even while overall listings are down 23%.

Since Feb, we’ve seen 3.4% (Flexjobs) knowledge workers working remotely, rise to a whopping 58% (Forbes).

Companies need a solid Unified Communication (UCaaS) platform in place.  Phone, chat, and video all In one platform that’s easy to use, implement and most importantly, supports remote working!!

Remember when cloud communications wasn’t a priority?  It was something that was nice to have.  These trends are telling us something different now.  Companies that didn’t embrace this, have to sooner than later, which is a daunting task for many of them.

Technology partners are helping companies of all sizes navigate swiftly and efficiently through this journey.

5 Things to consider when moving to VOIP

UCaaS is disrupting and transforming UC. According to Gartner, by 2021, 90% of IT leaders will not purchase new premises-based UC infrastructure — up from 50% today — because future cloud UC offerings will be far ahead in terms of features, functions, portals, analytics and dashboards.

Staggering numbers. We’re helping companies transform and having conversations about UCaaS almost everyday. CIO’s tell us all the time that they don’t want to be in the phone business anymore. They want to spend time innovating so their company can stay a step ahead of their competition.

It’s very exciting, but are you ready to transform to UCaaS? Here are 5 things to consider before making the move:

  1. Will your company culture embrace the change to UCaaS?
  2. Does your ROI support the project – do you need help developing your ROI?
  3. Is your voice inventory current or do you need help auditing the inventory?
  4. Have you thought about a deployment strategy?
  5. Have you considered the network infrastructure to support the project, such as leveraging technologies like SD-WAN?

UCaaS is not only transformational for technology but it’s also transformational for a company’s culture. If you can answer these questions easily, then you’re ready for UCaaS.

If not, let’s talk through your strategy. It will be worth it – the efficiencies and cost savings can be extraordinary.

COVID-19 PUTS UCAAS & CCAAS FRONT & CENTER

Remote working for US employees has increased from 4.8% in 2019 to over 80% today.  The world has been forever changed by the COVID-19 crisis, and this has become very clear: remote working has quickly gone from a ‘nice to have’ to a ‘need to have.’

Companies that once didn’t fully embrace remote working are now reconsidering if they need corporate offices anymore.

Its various benefits are felt in different areas: workforce productivity, cost savings, employee motivation, mobility and business agility. Multiple factors have been driving adoption on an international scale for sometime, and as businesses recognize the benefits to their peers or competitors, instances of remote working are on the rise across the US and beyond.

Traditionally, the demand for remote working comes from employees seeking a better work/life balance and greater control of their lives – not as a radical overhaul of workplace philosophy, but simply as a continuation of their experience outside of work.

Enabled by technology, the evolution of workplace roles leads to the untethering of workers from their desks, as increasing numbers of tasks can be completed remotely.

The results of businesses switching to remote working are primarily people-focused, centered around empowering employees to operate at their most productive levels. It’s about creating a win-win situation for the business and the customer – whether that customer is internal or external.

We are finding many companies that were “considering” UCaaS & CCaaS are now having to get something in place by the end of the year.