At net2phone, we pride ourselves in helping remote workers get the most out of their own roles as well as those of their coworkers. If you manage a group of people, particularly right now when social and physical distancing is a must, this can be tricky without the right solutions in place. Fortunately, those solutions are a dime a dozen! Today, let’s go over the best tools to manage remote teams and stay open for business.
The most significant benefit to remote workers is a solid, dependable, and cost-effective alternative to traditional landlines. VoIP connectivity enables streamlined, higher-quality calls utilizing your established broadband internet setup. Even traditional landline phones can be hooked up using a VoIP adapter, meaning there’s no need to go out and buy a new dedicated VoIP phone.
Related: What is VoIP Phone and How Does It Work?
Speaking of which, we at net2phone are proud to offer free desk phones designed for VoIP in addition to free calling to 20 countries – not a bad way to ensure optimal communications and save money on your day-to-day! Other features of VoIP networking for remote management include improved uptime, dedicated 24/7 support that’s fast and effective, reduced latency and clearer audio, and support for connections to softphone apps such as Huddle.
Do you have important files on that computer at the office? Or are some of your remote workers using underpowered hardware at home and need their workplace systems? RemotePC is another one tool to manage remote teams a great way to address this. This is one of the most regarded remote desktop software solutions, enabling users to control one computer from another over a secure internet connection.
This makes it a breeze to find files, use software designed for more powerful systems in office settings, and perform tasks just like normal even with relatively limited hardware at home. No longer do your employees have to worry about sourcing capable computer equipment.
Collaboration is key to successful remote business operations, and if your team constantly works together on documents or planning for projects, then Google Suite’s software offerings are enormously useful. Markup and revise content in real-time, log and track data in dedicated sheets, create compelling presentations with all participants working together in real-time on any changes, and more.
Google Suite is designed for cloud-based computing and seamless connectivity as well, so there are never any concerns over critical progress being lost due to hardware malfunctions – everything synchronizes instantly to secure cloud storage! Adjusting editing, viewing and sharing permissions is easy, as is keeping the team updated on any file changes thanks to a dedicated edit history. It is a great and must-have tool to manage remote teams.
Need enhanced security and peace of mind when it comes to employees making hosted PBX calls from the comforts of home? SIP trunking solutions such as those from net2phone are an ideal choice. We offer four types of authentication that can quickly be implemented to protect your workforce and clients. In addition, we provide voice encryption with TLS or SRTP, depending on your setup or needs.
Related: What is SIP Trunking?
Plus, our platform’s flexibility, reliability and support for mobile integration make it easy to use wherever you are, supporting multi-site connectivity and remote operations right out of the box. If you already have a VoIP solution in place and want to get the most out of it amongst your workforce, combining voice and data with SIP trunking integration offers markedly improved employee collaboration and performance without the need for proprietary equipment.
Having a phone system that integrates seamlessly with business software solutions like these is crucial for remote workforce productivity – and with net2phone’s advanced cloud-based solution, integration with crucial business apps and software tools is easy.
net2phone’s Slack integration enables your remote teams to collaborate and communicate where it’s most convenient – right within Slack itself. Get call notifications and launch the net2phone video conferencing tool Huddle, set up call forwarding, manage workflows, keep track of missed calls, manage voicemail, and more – all from Slack.
As the stats show, adoption of Microsoft Teams has massively accelerated in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic to facilitate better collaboration across the dispersed workforce. With net2phone’s Microsoft Teams integration, your team members can initiate calls to their contacts, numbers or to extensions from within the Microsoft Teams environment.
With the net2phone Zoho integration, employees can answer inbound calls and make outbound calls with a single click right from the Zoho interface. All contact information is displayed to your agents, who can add follow up actions, set reminders, update account records, and capture important details while on the call.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many business organizations have decided to close their offices and ask all of their employees to work remotely. That’s the lucky ones who still have a viable business to run. With lockdowns and movement restrictions making impossible many traditional functions that rely on physical interaction, other enterprises whose livelihood depends on such dealings are finding themselves on the threshold of economic survival. Extended layoffs, pay cuts, and worst-case scenario closures have been the result in many cases.
In this short guide, we’ll be looking at ways to help avoid these misfortunes and stay open for business remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A mandatory conference call scheduled for the same time each day is another one tool to manage remote teams to keep everyone up to speed with what’s going on in your business. Having this meeting at the same time each day establishes a ritual, and making it a “must attend” event will require your people to prioritize this time and work other issues around it.
Related: Conference Call Etiquette: 12 Essential Dos and Don'ts
Depending on the size of your organization, these daily meetings may be for a subset of the enterprise — a management call with heads of department, interactive sessions for each business unit, etc. Whatever the scenario, each call should begin with a simple check in, allowing each participant a minute or two to say how they’re doing, or to share a personal story.
Situational updates on existing projects, business plans, and specific issues can then be addressed, with some time set aside at the end of the meeting for discussion and strategic planning.
Keeping in touch on a regular basis is critical when working remotely, and to make this happen you’ll need a reliable and versatile communications system which enables video conferencing, audio calls, and instant messaging, hosted on a secure and dependable network. Regular check-ins using these technologies will help keep everyone in your organization on the same page.
Employees working remotely will also require easy access to the information they need to do their jobs. A centralized virtual drive for digital information will enable you to pool relevant data in a single place. Enabling protections such as multi-factor authentication will help safeguard the integrity of this information and provide access only to authorized users, especially for cloud-based applications.
With a Unified Communications (UC) solution, access to this central reserve can also be made available to your workers via their authorized phones.
Organizations with links to health and government authorities have been publishing guidelines for business operators, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, the US Chamber of Commerce offers a coronavirus toolkit for businesses and workers across the country, with a compilation of recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC’s ).
Guidelines typically cover advice for limiting exposure to the virus, such as physical protocols to adopt, and recommendations for keeping work areas clean and sanitized. Following them can make it more likely that you’ll avoid low morale and sick leave requests, or even litigation.
Set up a remote work policy covering the times when you expect your team to be online or available, what’s expected of them work-wise, and how they can communicate. You’ll need to display some flexibility in this, as some workers may have to deal with local issues that prevent them from adhering to strict schedules.
With the best tools to manage remote teams we described earlier, such as screen-sharing, real-time edits from multiple contributors on the same document, and datasheet tracking, tools such as Google Suite, Huddle, and others make it easier for remote workers to keep production flowing, and have any issues quickly addressed.
If the shift to working remotely hasn’t already done so, the COVID-19 situation is precipitating the need to have online sales, marketing, and fulfillment options at the forefront of your business operations. Using social media as a sales and marketing platform, email marketing, and proactive use of video and conferencing are some of the examples you might consider.
If your organization suffers significant losses due to the COVID-19 lockdown, business interruption insurance may be an option that’s available to you. Ask your insurance broker if your existing policy provides cover against unexpected major events — and see what qualifies for coverage.
Many of your consumers will be experiencing similar challenges to the ones you’re facing, due to COVID-19. Even if their problems are minor by comparison, customers can empathize if your business is facing a crisis — as long as you communicate with them frankly and openly. That means being transparent about what your business is going through, and describing the steps that you are taking to meet your various challenges. If your organization is contributing to the COVID-19 effort in any way, this is something you should also talk about.
To manage your supply chain logistics and customer fulfillment options, you’ll also need frequent communications with suppliers, investors, partners, and relevant local officials.
As you may have noticed there’s a common thread running through all of these recommendations: the need for a stable and versatile business communications platform that will enable your business to remain accessible and operational throughout the COVID-19 crisis, and one that’s capable of providing the tools and connectivity required by all your staff who are working remotely.
net2phone provides a feature-filled, all-inclusive unified communications solution that can respond to the ways people communicate today — whether by voice, video, texting, messaging, or web chat — over an array of devices, in the office and on the go. The platform also offers powerful analytics, enabling you to make smarter business decisions, stand out from the crowd, and ultimately grow your business.
net2phone’s business phone system is the best all-in-one tool to manage remote teams with free calling to 40 countries, flexibility, reliability and support for mobile integration.
If you’d like to know how net2phone’s business communications solutions can help you manage your remote teams, contact one of the net2phone experts.