Will offices return to full-time workspaces? Will employees remain remote, or will organizations adopt a hybrid model where workers divide their time between the office and their homes?

There’s one huge benefit to remote work and some key ways that technology can make remote and hybrid organizations more efficient.

Benefits of Virtual Work

Organizations that exclusively work on-site must overcome one major hurdle: the talent pool for potential new hires is limited to people in the area and people willing to relocate to the area.

The skills and knowledge an organization needs for any position may be difficult to find locally. Even if those skills and knowledge can be found, the organization may or may not find that the best available talent is local.

Working remotely immediately expands the talent pool of potential employees.

Beyond this significant advantage for employers, hybrid and remote work options go a long way toward keeping employees happy. Surveys show that 68% of American workers want to work remotely, and 23% would be willing to take a pay cut to do so. Over half of the companies surveyed said that working remotely means less absenteeism, another benefit of remote work. And managers agree that remote work is the future: 85% of managers surveyed said they expected remote teams to become the new norm.

A decentralized workforce also presents challenges—namely, communication and productivity. How can a fully or partially remote organization operate as efficiently as one where everyone works in the same facility?

Fortunately, the same technology that allowed businesses to operate during the pandemic can support organizations as they navigate post-pandemic operations.

Managing User Experience and Accountability

Ultimately, mobile tools in the field need to virtually recreate the on-premises experience., especially for end users. If a client calls in, the employee taking the call should be able to see and capture information, transfer calls, and do everything they could do on a desktop phone. The caller should have no idea whether the employee is in an office, at home, or even out running an errand.

Current UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service) technology supports all that and more. Just as importantly, these tools allow companies and managers to assure that callers are receiving a high level of service and that workers are productive and efficient.

Managers now can use sophisticated analytics, some driven by artificial intelligence, to manage on-premises, hybrid, and remote workforces and systems.

Today’s analytical tools go way beyond those offered by yesterday’s call centers. Managers can see how calls are managed by employee or type, how data flows through the software used for other aspects of operations, and much more. They can monitor call times, caller satisfaction, internal collaboration, and every metric related to quality of service. This wealth of information allows them to make data-driven decisions and effectively and efficiently manage staff no matter where they are. Analytics can also pinpoint potential problems, such as bottlenecks, in time to take proactive action before an issue occurs.

Organizations can also build, or have their service provider build, custom KPIs (key performance indicators) to manage the metrics and goals that are most important to them.

Adding Capabilities With Technology

Although it isn’t strictly a benefit of working remotely, another excellent strategy to boost the productivity of remote workers and streamline operations is by using APIs.

An application programming interface, or API, connects two pieces of software and helps them communicate. Some of the most popular client relationship management (CRM) software solutions—including Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, Fiserv, NetSuite, Zendesk, and a multitude of others—have APIs that link the application with an organization’s telecommunications system.

The Cloud9 UCaaS solution includes many popular APIs, and our engineering team can work with in-house IT experts to develop custom APIs.

VOIP Networks has worked with many remote and hybrid organizations to help them communicate and collaborate as effectively as if they were on the same premises. For more information, or to discuss your communications needs, please contact us.