Working remotely is the new workplace movement

Improving flexibility of operations during a global pandemic. Increasing employee quality of life. Decreasing company overhead. Helping the environment. Whichever of the many valid reasons relate to your situation, it’s entirely clear that the office of the future—and for many, the present—is in the home.

In fact, according to one 2019 study, remote workers in the U.S. work remotely full-time 66% more frequently than the global average. And with the rise of remote support and remote access, it is now possible for employees to keep tabs on every important aspect of their work from afar.

A happy staff is a productive staff

Remote support and remote access are now commonplace in virtually every business organization in the world. The ability to provide employees the option to work from home delivers numerous quality-of-life benefits today’s employees value. For one, the flexible schedule inherent to a remote office allows workers to plan their work around family. After all, it’s far easier to stay on the clock past 5:00pm when the dinner table is just a room away—and you don’t need to fight rush hour traffic to get to it.

The lack of a commute not only saves employees quite a chunk of transportation change, it also gives back what can add up to several hours of the day; time better spent with family and friends or even personal fitness. In the remote world, employees have the freedom to relocate without leaving the organization. Now, work can simply move with them.

And they’re getting that work done in spades. Numerous studies have shown that remote workers tend to not only be more productive than their in-office counterparts, they also start their days earlier and end later. The flexibility of the role allows employees to run errands or pick up children from soccer during the afternoon, and then happily log back on during the evening to finish the day.

Not just a worker benefit

Companies adopting the work-from-anywhere model not only reap the benefits of a happier workforce, they also gain significant savings, as a large portion of company overhead is people-related. The reduction in required office space, internal computing and office equipment, and all the other unpredictable costs associated with people shuffling in and out of a physical location every day are replaced by a single recurring cost for remote access tools and services.

Additionally, numerous studies suggest that employees would rather work from home than accept a significant pay raise, allowing employers to offer the option as a perk in lieu of a larger financial commitment, or even as a recruiting tool.

This remote technology also leads to a dramatic expansion in the hiring pool. No longer are employers bound by the limits of a candidate’s location or willingness to commute. New talent is ‘virtually’ accessible every hour of the day from any region of the world. The perks for your company? You can hire the best person for the job, regardless of where in the world they may be located. Imagine that!

How’s your image in the environment?

Corporate responsibility is more important in 2020 than ever before. The oversight of the modern world makes it critical to maintain a healthy corporate image and reputation. The environmental gains that can be made by companies moving to a remote worker model are staggering. With fewer vehicles on the road and more information transferred in the cloud, fossil fuel usage, the emissions of greenhouse gasses, and the creation of physical office waste across an entire workforce plummet. That’s something that any organization would be happy to brag about.

If everyone is everywhere, how do you keep providing support and superior service?

The obvious downside of having your employees and client staff spread across multiple locations is the changes to your support. For your staff, you can’t walk over to their desk and solve the issue and driving on-site to your clients’ offices might not be a thing for a while, if ever again. While their locations and work environments have changed, your support doesn’t need to suffer.

With remote access software, providing instant, real-time support is easier than ever. In the case of client support, it’s even better now that you don’t have to spend the time in your car driving to their offices to solve a simple issue. In just a few clicks, you can remote connect to an end user’s device and deploy the support to get them up and running in no time.

With the ability to instantly connect and resolve issues, your support and services will benefit, and your clients will never be happier. Decrease downtime and increase client satisfaction.

The support tools you need, from anywhere

Not all remote access software is created equal. To make sure your support and services don’t skip a beat, you need the features and functionality to make it just as easy to resolve an issue remotely as it is if you were in person.

Ideally, your solutions will keep the tools you need within reach. It doesn’t do you any good if you can remote connect to a device, but you don’t have any way of actually fixing the issue. You’ll want to get in and out quickly without the need to jump between different programs.

Stop sending important documents and files in insecure emails

Most meetings require shared screens and materials. But using email to share important files and company documents creates a massive security risk. These confidential materials tend to live on forever in each user’s email inbox—the least secure point in most corporate networks. Critical business discussions cannot afford to be limited by delays or security breaches.

The ability to seamlessly share files, folders, and documents of all kinds, to all users simultaneously, in a secure easy-to-use platform is a must in any remote support software.

Who are you, and what do you do here?

Having instant remote access to every client device has a major downside: security. It’s not just the access that creates a vulnerability; it’s who has access. Not everyone in your organization needs to be able to remote connect to an end user’s device. A way to limit the number of people who can access devices is with role-based security. Simply put, depending on the person’s role in the company, they either are or are not allowed to use remote access software.

You can use this even further with specific technicians. A Tier 1 tech might not need to provide remote support, so they have limited access to the tools. While your more experienced techs have more freedom and permission to remote connect to devices if needed.

Connect with your employees with ConnectWise ScreenConnect

As remote work becomes the new normal, ConnectWise is leading the charge by redefining the nature of utilities that support remote workers. ConnectWise ScreenConnect was built on years of experience providing remote support and access to clients all over the world. By leveraging our knowledge and expertise, we help companies like yours extend operations beyond the walls of the traditional office. Contact us today to see what we can do for you.