At the start of the pandemic in March many businesses began to have employees work from home following the example of giants like Facebook and Twitter. As businesses of all sizes scrambled to get their staff set up properly and securely at home, Top Line Communications was with our clients ever step of the way. Making that initial time frame as stress free as possible considering the circumstances and “non-essential” businesses being forced to close their doors.

Everyone who owns a business or is employed by one knows that for their livelihoods and that of their family, all workers are essential workers and all businesses are essential as well. Where other Westchester NY business phone services were slow or unable to get their clients well established on the home front, Top Line Communications was with all clients established to work from home securely in a rapid time frame.

But the question looms, “will we be working from home forever?”. That seems unlikely but there are some real benefits to companies of all sizes in certain sectors to have a strong working from home infrastructure. Right now even as things are pretty much opened up many financial companies and investment banks continue to have staff work from home 100% of the time or the majority of the time. Entertainment companies and music labels have slated workers to keep working from home until at least the end of 2020.

Many employees prefer working from home

Recent studies have showed that almost 45% of people who used to commute and who began working from home when the pandemic hit – enjoyed the overall experience and even preferred working from home. It cuts out commute costs and time, and that can mean more productivity at home with more freedom at the same time. User engagement is up and that means increased productivity. When you think of the fatigue of a daily grinding commute, for some people over an hour each direction, it makes sense productivity at home would  be higher.

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Companies have showed productivity and employee satisfaction are up

There are two reasons working from home works for companies as well. Firstly, everyone is kept safe away from one another at home and there is no risk for an outbreak at the office. Secondly, having no commute and greater freedom leads to high employee satisfaction and improved productivity. As companies ironed out the details, with the help of their business phone systems company, everyone has find a groove working from home and it’s one companies are enjoying.

Everyone can’t work from home though

Not everyone is able to work from home though. Here at Top Line Communications we have technicians, surveyors, and other installation agents who must be on site to install equipment, update services, or fix an issue that arises. Other companies have similar personnel who cannot work from home. Also, studies have shown that employees still want some access to the office. Many financial companies are having staff come in 2 days a week either Monday or Wednesday or Tuesday and Thursday. This shows that having the proper business phone set up like VoIP and the Cloud are an absolute must.

Staff need to be able to not only work at the office the way they used but also at home. Using free services like Zoom or Skype of not suitable for business as they do not offer the same level of security as proprietary VoIP systems available through Westchester county telecommunications companies like us here at Top Line Communications.

Future work environments may stay changed

As businesses and employees alike see the benefits to a strong work from home platform, some companies may transition to a 100% work from home workforce. More than likely though a hybrid approach will be used as we’re seeing many school districts will use to re-open schools. Of course, some businesses will not have the ability to allow working from home for many of their staff (think restaurants and manufacturing plants) but many will.

Are you prepared for the remote working future?

Working remotely has become a permanent fixture in some corporate companies and for many local businesses and enterprises as well. As we move through the ongoing pandemic many employees will work from home permanently or partially. For the reasons we saw above, it is good for companies and employees. Businesses have seen in the months working from home that productivity didn’t go down as was feared but actually increased.

Businesses, organizations, institutions and the like will need to be prepared for the long working from home haul. It is the company’s responsibility to make sure their staff is properly equipped to maintain this level of productivity working from the home front. Having unified communications tools like those offered by Top Line Communications can make all of the difference.

Powerful video conferencing, Voip for business, cloud phones, messaging, file sharing, and more will be required to keep everyone moving forwards no matter where they are working from. Employees can access their work tools from any device with the cloud and that means great mobility. Switching from messaging to a voice or video conference is as easy as a click and so to is sharing a computer screen with someone else. Collaboration tools have improved dramatically and staff have gotten used to using them. Sure it’s not quite the same as walking over to another desk, but some would argue it’s actually more efficient and more effective when done remotely.

Be sure you have these basic services:

• Cost reduction for local & international calls (compared to traditional phone services)
• Conference calling
• Video calling + video conferencing
• Working from home availability
• Screen share & screen image capture
• Voicemail
• Multiple Lines (users)
• Scalability (adding users not physical lines)
• Call forwarding
• Call recording
• Local, national and international calling
• Cost effective rates (far cheaper than traditional phones)
• and more

For the best working from home set up contact Top Line Communications today. We’ve been in business more than 30 years and we proudly support the WBC (Westchester Business Counsel) and live right here where we operate. Stay safe from the entire team and we can get through this if we work together! 1-888-426-8647