Two weeks ago, I wrote
a blog about how UC can positively impact the ability to work from home. In fact, it’s almost mandatory to have a UC system to
effectively work from home. That’s because you can have the same work phone number, you can access the same applications, you can be part of collaboration teams, your colleagues can dial you on a 3 or 4 digit extension, you can have instant messaging, etc. You’re basically at your desk at work, except the desk is now in your home.
As companies come to grips with how to handle the Coronavirus issue, more and more companies are instituting work from home policies of some sort. Companies are going to see how it works for them, whether they were prepared or not.
Obviously, some workers are not able to work from home just because of the job they do. But if you are a knowledge worker and your company utilizes a UC system, it will likely work out OK, certainly better than a company without a UC system.
And with these companies that institute some kind of work from home, or for employees who self quarantine, etc., whether the company intended it or not, this current work from home environment will be like a trial run for working from home, and its impact on operations.
So what is going on now will impact the future of working from home, most likely in a positive manner.
Many companies who utilize a UC system will probably see that employees working from home had less impact than they thought it might. Or it will bring up some vulnerabilities they didn’t think about before, such as VPN load. I’m guessing this will also spur some employees to get faster internet connections if they are not getting the “response” they desired. Either way, something positive about the work from home company experience will come out.
And from that, there could likely be some employee-friendly policies about working from home instituted from the employer, to help retain and/or recruit employees. This even helps companies get to their “green” goals given working from home can help reduce a company’s carbon footprint simply because employees aren’t driving to work.
Some companies will also see that they “needed” a UC system because it didn’t quite go that well. In 2008/2009 during the recession, many companies had been experimenting with VoIP. The recession, and the need to reduce as much cost as possible, was a key tipping point for companies to go all in on VoIP systems. This work from home time we are in now likely will further expand cloud and UC footprints.
If you are thinking of installing a business phone system to help your employees work better from home, then Switchvox Cloud can help you.