Mobile and remote work is becoming more common in the U.S. A 2016 Gallup survey of 15,000 employed Americans revealed 43 percent of them had spent some time that year working remotely – a 4 percentage point jump from the 2012 edition of the same study. In the real estate and insurance sectors, the four-year jump was even greater, at 8 points.
What's driving the ongoing increase in remote work? For starters, many employees see it as key job perk, and there is compelling evidence in that Gallup report that out-of-office work is influential on both decisions to accept a job offer and overall levels of employee engagement.
Beyond that, workers now have better tools with which to connect with colleagues, clients and customers from anywhere, most notably hosted VoIP and unified communications (UC) solutions. These services vastly extend the reach of organization communication systems, providing scalability, flexibility and cost-effectiveness not achievable with a typical private branch exchange (PBX) implementation.
Strengthen remote and branch site connections with hosted VoIP
Traditional business phone systems were not designed with mobile and remote operations in mind. In addition to being costly to scale, these legacy PBXes also lack the advanced functionality of hosted VoIP for distributing calls to different devices and integrating with UC solutions.
With a VoIP implementation at their fingertips, teams can reliably and affordably connect with each other and with the outside world, thanks to specific benefits including:
Softphone clients
Deskbound culture - i.e., needing to remain at your desk for long hours each day, even through lunch – has been associated with health issues such as unexpected weight gain. Unfortunately, many workers may feel they don't have a choice but to sit at their desks, lest they miss an important call to their office number.
This is a non-issue with a business VoIP solution. Softphone and UC clients can be configured so that calls are seamlessly routed to your other devices. For example, Telesystem’s Unified Communications enables you access to the same searchable directories and calling capabilities (including extension-to-extension dialing and on-the-go conferencing) on an iOS, Android or desktop client. You don't have to worry about missing a call ever again.
Flexible calling plans
Team members traveling or working remotely can easily incur significant charges from long-distance calling. An on-prem PBX installation usually does not include provisions for long distance, requiring an extra expense on top of the system's already pricey architecture and maintenance.
Hosted VoIP providers like Telesystem offer unlimited long distance in some plans, along with free calling anywhere in the world within the VoIP system's infrastructure. This on-network station-to-station calling can eliminate fees for calls traditionally billed as long distance.
Simplified moves, adds and changes
One of the fundamental weaknesses of remote and branch offices is their relative lack of IT resources and personnel. Similarly, workers operating out of their homes or shared workspaces often do not have access to the same amenities as their in-office counterparts. An old-fashioned PBX makes these issues worse by requiring vendor visits and other steps just to add a new line or change an existing one.
In hosted VoIP solutions, administrators have all the tools they need to respond quickly to changes across the organization, including the opening of new remote sites or the hiring of employees who will be predominantly mobile. Moves, adds and changes (aka M/A/Cs) can be performed on-demand from a convenient web interface, without the cost and delay that have historically limited the feasibility of branch and remote office strategies.
SD-WAN enhancement
To work well outside of a main company office, you will need reliable network service. While even a modest Wi-Fi or cellular connection might suffice for basic email and chat, more robust connectivity is necessary for supporting key applications like business VoIP and UC videoconferencing.
Enter software-defined wide area networks (SD-WANs). These platforms can aggregate multiple types of network transport (e.g., MPLS, broadband, etc.) and make precise decisions about routing based on constant measurement of path conditions. If one link is beset by jitter, latency and packet loss, critical hosted VoIP traffic can be effortlessly transitioned to one with better quality at the moment.
Plus, since SD-WAN is centrally managed through software, it can be quickly adjusted in response to the changing needs of mobile and remote workers. Time-consuming site visits are no longer necessary. Telesystem offers an SD-WAN with the software licenses, consolidated management portal and security equipment needed for an effective deployment.
Maximize mobility and remote productivity with hosted VoIP
Hosted VoIP is the perfect complement to today's increasingly mobile and distributed workforces. Telesystem can ensure you get a solution that meets your requirements for cost, performance and scalability. Contact our team to get started!
