Hosted Business Phone Systems - Stay Connected to Remote Workers
The "right" business technology - cloud based business phone systems
More and more people are seeking the work life balance than ever before, especially the 'facebook generation' who are more interested in 'the work' than the 'work place'. To attract and retain the best staff, it’s important to make sure you’ve got the right business technology available to support those looking for more flexible working conditions such as home or remote working.
Home working on the rise
According to the Office for National Statistics the number of home workers in the UK rose from 2.9 million in 1998 to a whopping 4.2 million in 2014. There has been consistent growth in the number of home workers in the UK over the past 5 years and with the 2014 Flexible Working Regulations legislation now in force, this number could be set to rise even more sharply over the coming years.
New regulations give employees the right to request more flexible conditions such as home working, but the benefits aren't only real for staff. Employers can hugely benefit too. Savings can be made in office space rental, equipment costs, parking facilities and energy costs. However, these can only be realised if the arrangement is workable.
Staying connected to remote workers, customers & partners
One key to making home working a success for business is to ensure communication channels are effective. The employer and employee still both need to feel that they are well-connected to each other and that customers can still speak to the right people in a seamless fashion.
Today there are many freely available tools such as Google Drive and Skype which help employees to better connect and to work collaboratively. Technology now means that physical location no longer has to be a barrier to working within teams and serving customers. The roll out of better broadband and fibre connections has certainly helped to move forward connectivity for home workers.
Hosted, Internet based phone systems - the perfect low cost solution
Another option to improve connectivity for home workers is the use of high quality Internet based or hosted phone systems. These hosted phone systems can provide a range of features that are perfect for all businesses with home or remote workers, these include:
A single phone system that can be used in multiple locations
- Staff that work in various locations can simply plug their handset in to any Internet connection and continue to use it as if they were at Head Office. All user profile settings including voicemail, quick dial numbers and extension numbers remain the same.
- Employees keep the same phone number wherever they are in the world, including area code. So customers have trust that they're speaking to the right organisation.
- A central online admin portal can be used to update the settings for each phone from anywhere.
Visibility of call data
- The admin portal allows you to view all call data so you can see how much time was spent on calls, which is ideal if you use this information to bill clients.
- All colleagues can see who is available to take calls and who might already be on a call. You can't peer over their desk, but you can still see who’s available to help with an enquiry.
- As the billing data is stored in one central location employers can easily analyse data to spot trends and opportunities to improve efficiency. If employees use various different phone systems, call data is too disparate and difficult to analyse.
Low cost calls
- Calls are made over the Internet and as such are generally lower cost than standard network call charges.
- When employees use their phones via the Internet overseas, the cost to make calls remains the same.
- Traditional call forwarding charges can be avoided as all employees working remotely are still on the same virtual office phone system.
Better connectivity
- Set up sequential ringing, so if a remote worker isn't at their desk the call could then be routed to the workers mobile. If the call still isn't connected it could then be routed to another location such as the workers workshop or studio, helping remote workers to never miss a call.
It’s really easy to get started with a hosted phone system too. Within a few days you could be connected, have all the handsets, headsets, video conferencing equipment and be taking calls. There’s relatively little capital investment required, so a hosted phone solution is a great choice for new business start-ups as no finance is required.
Get in Touch With Call Cloud
If you’d like to find out more about hosted phone systems and how they can help better connect your remote workforce, contact the team at Call Cloud on info@callcloud.co.uk or give us a call 0333 006 3091 or use our enquiry form.
