As a business leader, here's what you need to know

We made it through that mess! There's a little bit lingering but at least we're over the hump.  It does, however, beg the question, what now? Work at home declarations from the CDC and other government agencies have now become the new normal for so many of us. Many surveys from different sources have suggested that even though offices are open, over 65% of employees that have the option, say they would prefer and plan on staying at home or only a partial return to the office. 

So how can you as a business owner keep staff productive and efficient and a work-at-home team that still performs at a high level? 

We've created a step-by-step process to help.

Six Steps to Enable & Optimize Your Remote Workers:

1. High-Speed Internet - The first thing you need to do as a business owner is to survey your employees to see what kind of broadband they are using at home. To run business voice and video calls, they're going to need plenty of throughputs. A good standard that should provide enough horsepower is 50 Mb down, 5 Mb upload speed.
   
   

2. Move Your Phone System to the Cloud - Here are the key features of UCaaS that will enable your work-at-home employees by leveraging the benefits of unified communications in the Cloud: 

• Video Conferencing 

• Mobile App 

• Collaboration 

• CRM Integration
  
  

3. Move Your Desktop Workspace to the Cloud - With Active Directory, you can ensure certain file-sharing rules within your own Local Area Network. Two promising technologies address these features and move them all to the Cloud while maintaining centralized control over access permissions. 

• Workspace as a Service 

• Desktop as a Service
  
  

4. Move Your Contact Center to the Cloud - Does your business have a contact center or help desk in-office? Having a Cloud Contact Center solution allows your employees to support your clients while working from home.
   
   

5. Identify & Provide Necessary Devices - Don't let Coronavirus hold your company back; make sure that your employees have the technology they need:

• Mobile or soft phone

• Desktop or lap top computer
  
  

6. Remote File Share - When you send your workers home, they must be able to share, collaborate on, and store files in the Cloud. The most popular cloud file storage providers are: 

• Microsoft 365 (OneDrive) 

• Google Workspace (Google Drive) 

• Dropbox 

• Box.com

• and others like Zoho One

If you'd like assistance with optimizing your current work-at-home strategy or need help putting a plan in place, contact us and we'll set you up with one of our trusted advisers and a team of experts. Between them and our vendor-neutral engineering team we’ll find the perfect vendors, carriers, and service providers that will solve problems fast. For more information reach out to us now.

For many organizations, slow network connectivity has caused some problems. Have you experienced any of these issues?

• Delayed 911 Access Emergency Response 

• BYOD Productivity 

• Employee, guest, and resident dissatisfaction 

• Decreased property value and leasing renewal rates 

• Lower occupancy, lower rental revenue, lower lease renewal rates

• Decrease of IoT and network devices using corporate networks 

• IR/VR applications that need high bandwidth and low latency

• Rural Areas with poor bandwidth choices

If you have, then we are here to help you find the right solution. Wireless bandwidth services may be one solution. 

We’ve helped hundreds of clients solve thousands of problems. Below are just a few wireless/mobile-related services and technologies where Cloud 9 can help you find the right solutions and the best vendors, carriers, and service providers that deliver:

• 5G

• CBRS - Citizen Broadband Radio Service

• Private LTE

• WiFi 6

• Small Cells

• DAS - Distributed Antenna System

• Backup/Secondary Connectivity

• MDM - Mobile Device Management

• Expense Management

It's probably not surprising that remote workers outperform office workers in several key areas. Studies have shown that people working remotely are more productive, better at collaborating, and more present than their office-bound counterparts. In fact, 65% of workers say working remotely would boost their productivity. This is doubly true with the amount of time some workers spend just getting to and from the office. According to a report by Apartment List, the number of people who travel more than 90 minutes to work each way has increased by more than 31% since 2005. In contrast, the number of Americans who work from home has increased by 76% in the same period of time.

TJ Galati, CIO and thought leader who virtualized his entire company and workforce with the Effortless Suite, told Effortless, "There are many benefits to utilizing a remote workforce that companies are just starting to figure out. A few of my favorites are:

• Less cost. (Rent, desks, ergo keyboards, coffee, etc.)

• Better quality of life for employees. (No commute, time with family, flex time, etc.)

• Bigger employee pool. (Instead of finding the best local person, now you find just the best person.)"

Enabling remote work is "truly transformative for companies who have not yet ventured to think that way," said Galati. There is, however, a dark side to working from home. You've probably seen the YouTube video where a serious BBC video interview is interrupted by a silly child walking into the room followed by a baby in a walker. But children interrupting video conferences is on the lighter side of some of the issues that can come up for remote workers. Problems related to security, internet connectivity, and general communications often arise. This is where Desktop as a Service (DaaS) is an ideal solution when it comes to supporting remote workers. Here are some of the pain points of remote workers, and how DaaS relieves them:

Security Woes

There are a number of ways that remote workers have the potential to create security vulnerabilities:

• Unsecured devices left open in the home or in public spaces

• Lack of endpoint security

• Sensitive data physically leaving the company premises

With DaaS, the desktop and its assets are kept in the cloud, away from any vulnerable endpoints. Devices used by remote workers merely become access points for the desktop, rather than the desktop itself.

Internet Issues

Even the most well-equipped remote worker can run into problems with internet connectivity, whether it be a slow connection or one that is unreliable. Remote workers without access to cloud-based solutions like DaaS are left without IT support when they need it most. A good DaaS provider offers round-the-clock support, so if things go wrong, your remote workers aren't left without a connection.

Communication

This may seem like a given, but it's important that remote workers have proper communication channels set up in order to do their jobs. DaaS allows workers to retain the full functionality of their work computers no matter where they go, and on any device. Remote employees can access all the communication, conferencing, and collaboration tools they need, as long as they have an internet connection.

If your remote staff is experiencing the darker side of working from home, or worse, unable to do so because you lack the technical means, Effortless can help. With Effortless Desktop, your staff can be powered by a remote desktop that is secure, lightning-fast, and accessible from any device with an internet connection. If you're ready to build the perfect desktop and access it on any device, contact Effortless. We'll help you solve any issues being faced by your remote employees.

• Working Online/Offline – Back in the late 90’s, for those old enough to remember, Lotus Notes pioneered this concept with the ability to replicate databases locally between servers and users’ local desktops. Today many technologies do this seamlessly, whether it’s email, files or other systems.
  
• Instant Gratification – Today users want access to information immediately and from any device. A mere 15 years ago expectations were very different. Employees had to be logged into a PC at the office to gain access to data. Expectations have taken a monumental shift thanks to the available technology, and now smartphones, tablets, broadband, WiFi, and 4/5G all make information accessible at our fingertips.
  
• Advanced Communication – Recent advances in infrastructure and hardware have enabled new ways to communicate and collaborate. The use of these new platforms differs based on age, culture and social boundaries. One thing that is not contested is the choice that’s now available – employees can communicate via more mediums than ever before (document sharing, enterprise social media, gamification, instant messaging, phone, text, email, video, video or voice chat, screen sharing).
  
• Device Choice – There’s also more choice around which devices can be used. Greater standardization and enhanced security allow users to access data on more devices than ever before, thus providing greater freedom.

• First, that on-premises deployments may be more vulnerable than cloud deployments, may require more patching and are vulnerable to insider misuse. Data in the cloud, on the other hand, is generally more standardized, patched and protected.
  
• Secondly, that all these breaches expose the inherent vulnerability of imperfect humans interacting with technology. Data stored in the cloud with up-to-date security controls can help mitigate these vulnerabilities.

• Something you know – usernames, passwords, PINs
  
• Something you have – one-time password tokens (OTP tokens), key fobs, smartphones with OTP apps
  
• Something you are – retina scans, iris scans, fingerprint scans, finger vein scans, facial recognition, voice recognition

A number of these challenges are related to security and protecting people from themselves, but at its core it’s about protecting business data. The goal is to keep data secure and accessible – or in other words, having your cake and eating it too.

Educate. 

Equip. 

Connect. 

Communicate. 

Work-From-Home declarations from the CDC and other local and federal government agencies may become new temporary law. Not only will it wind up being the new normal, but it might just be the safest way to protect your staff and the vulnerable from illness. Doing it right will be critical to business continuity and the bottom line. So how can your business prepare to transition your workforce into a work-from-home (WFH) team that can continue to perform at a high level?

1. High-Speed Internet at home; Tips & Tricks

The first thing on the list is good high-speed internet at home for each employee. Do a quick survey of all staff for more details... 

• Ask about their WiFi. Can they control and prioritize specific devices? Do they have a wired connection in their home office space? 
• Ask about smart-home devices (Ring, Nest, etc). These devices tend to eat up bandwidth.
• Ask staff to run a speedtest at home—simply, search on Google, “internet speed test”, then click “run speed test”. 
• A good rule-of-thumb is at least 10Mbps/active user, that’s both download and upload speed. Upload speeds become much more important at home when considering business applications, especially voice and video. If your at home talking on your business phone app, that's upload. If your caller says you sound "choppy" it is most likely your upload speed is lacking. 
  
• Keep in mind: the spouse and the kids will be home for a while too. Their spouse may be in the same boat and the kids may also need bandwidth for school. Prioritization and control of the bandwidth will be important.
• Further keep in mind that everyone else in your employee's entire neighborhood is likely doing the same thing; working-from-home. This can be especially challenging for most broadband cable networks, all of which are shared.
• Consider an additional reimbursement so staff can boost their internet speed. 
• If necessary, consider adding 4G Mobile hotspots for some employees to take home. They can be added to your corporate wireless carrier account. Satellite and other Wireless ISP solutions are available for remote staff without traditional broadband options at home.

2.   Move to a Cloud-based Phone System

You’ll want to migrate to a cloud-based phone system and leverage the benefits of unified communications that will give all users:

• Virtual/online meetings: audio, video, screenshare
• Desktop and/or Mobile app: make/take calls from anywhere as if in the office
• Virtual Faxing
• Business SMS texting
• Collaboration/Team Chat/Messaging: reduce annoying email chains, keep things simpler
• CRM and other important integrations

Another note: If your business isn't ready to move to a cloud phone system, consider a Live-Answer Virtual Receptionist service. Call Cloud 9 to help you find the right one for your business.

3.   Move to a Cloud-based Contact Center

Does your business have an in-office call center, contact center, or helpdesk? A cloud contact center solution allows agents to effectively and efficiently work from anywhere. Supervisors have all the same tools (if not more) and complete visibility to help support agents and other staff. Also see all of the benefits of number 2 above. A

4.   Migrate to Cloud Workspaces

The right Workspace as a Service (WaaS) solution allows your business to continue and maintain hyper-control over security, access, software, data, file sharing and other IT rules and policies without the need for cumbersome and annoyingly sensitive VPNs.

Move all staff workstations and literally your entire business LAN / WAN to the cloud. An entire business environment can be spun up in days, New users can be spun up in minutes. Staff can access the new “cloud” LAN and their Windows-based cloud workstation from any device, anywhere: PC, Mac, Chromebook, even a tablet or smartphone.

• Windows 10 Pro included
• Full Active Directory integration
• Workstation-level helpdesk included
• Drag-and-drop, “App-Store” style admin portal
• All s/w applications preloaded/provisioned; end-user workstation ready for use in minutes
• Multi-Factor Authentication available
• Shared Storage/File sharing, up to 10TB
• High-compute / high-GPU workstations available

 5.   Remote File Sharing

When working from home, staff must be able to access, share, store, and collaborate on important files.
Popular solutions include:

• Microsoft Office365: OneDrive, SharePoint
• Google G Suite: Google Drive
• Box.com, Dropbox.com
• Team Chat/Messaging apps, found with many top cloud communications solutions, also have simple and easy to use file-sharing capabilities.

6.   Identify & Provide Necessary Equipment

Make sure your employees have the tools, devices, and equipment they need to perform at their best. 

• Mobile phone, mobile app, or softphone
• Desktop or laptop PC
• Chromebook (in cases of WaaS/DaaS solution above)
• USB or Bluetooth headset
• Simple/easy USB speakerphone
• And, never underestimate the power of a white-noise machine.
  Especially for all the work-from-home parents!