Driving growth by empowering your remote workforce

For many small businesses, having a robust framework in place for employee collaboration and communication is key to successful virtual operations. Here are ways businesses can empower a remote workforce.

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Driving growth by empowering your remote workforce

Key takeaways

  • As more businesses operate remotely, they must ensure employees are equipped with the necessary tools to work from home.
  • Providing the right device and securing those devices are vital to protecting businesses.
  • Digital platforms such as Microsoft Teams keep employees connected and enable efficient virtual collaboration.
  • By adding the Teams UC Direct Connect to Microsoft Teams, employees can make or receive Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) calls to or from their fixed line (business) number using the Microsoft Teams App, without the need for any additional hardware, improving the collaborative experience.

Driving growth by empowering your remote workforce

31 Mar 2021 | SMB, Digitalisation, Voice and Collaboration, Software-as-a-Service | 5 min read

A successful small business allows its employees to operate independently and empowers them to make decisions that drive growth and efficiency. As more SMBs allow staff to operate remotely, how do they ensure employees are equipped for an increasingly virtual world?

Here are five ways small businesses can empower a remote workforce.

Provide the right devices

Make sure each member of your team has the right device to do their job. Is a laptop enough, or do they need something as powerful as a desktop?

If they’re on the go and interacting with customers, they might require a more mobile option like a tablet. Or if they’re on call, a smartphone loaded with the necessary connectivity and collaboration apps might be best.

Keep your employees connected

Even if your employees are working from home, you can still keep them connected through digital platforms such as Microsoft Teams. As a Teams user, you can run scheduled and ad-hoc meetings anytime, anywhere.

Your employees can also do one-on-one or group audio or video calls to get advice from teammates on important decisions. For quick conversations, send messages through Chat. You can even set up a dedicated Channel for different projects or topics.

Collaborate with teams and customers

Collaboration is key when working remotely, and as a Teams user, you can do that with ease. Store files in the cloud so employees can readily access the documents they need to get their job done. They can view, edit, and share files with workmates in real time.

To get more out of Teams, connect to hundreds of external apps available in Microsoft AppSource — from project management and analytics to customer relationship management tools.

With Teams, you can also continue doing business with your customers. Enable guest access and invite them to a team so you can work directly with them. Collaboration happens all in one place: You can interact with customers through Chat and video calls, and you can share files outside of the office environment.

Prioritise security

Take the cybersecurity pressure off your workforce by securing their devices. Automating security updates also ensures your employees’ devices are protected and up-to-date — and they don’t have to do it themselves, thereby improving productivity.

Using multi-factor authentication (MFA) means employees can feel safe and secure when opening sensitive documents or accessing critical data. As a Microsoft 365 and Teams user, it’s as simple as turning on MFA, and with advanced security policies and standards built in, you can securely run your business, even with remote employees and customers as guest collaborators.

Enable unified communications

Unified Communications (UC) adds voice communication to the mix. By adding UC, employees are able to make and receive phone calls with a fixed-line number on Teams. This allows your staff to be contactable regardless of location for enhanced customer service and support, as well as better communication with external parties such as clients, partners, suppliers and vendors.

With the launch of Teams UC Direct Connect, customers can now run a complete end to end MS business solution including voice, collaboration and communication tools, with reliable service provided by Singtel.

The UC Connector is securely connected and cloud-based, requiring no on-premises equipment. Moreover, it integrates seamlessly with Teams, so you can call, chat, collaborate, and meet with ease under a single platform, in and out of the office.

Interested in Teams UC Direct Connect?

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