The modern workforce is increasingly mobile with many employees spending days or weeks working on the road, visiting clients, attending conferences and more. In addition to having reliable access to corporate systems and data, mobile workers also need tools to help them stay productive – here are our top three:
1. Unified Communications
To improve the flow of information and to keep your mobile workers connected to colleagues and customers, you need a unified communications (UC) platform. Wherever they are in the world, UC routes instant messages, phone and video calls through a central portal to remote workers.
Employees in the field then have a choice, allowing them to interact in whichever way is most appropriate, direct from their smartphone or tablet. Your business also has a record of communications that can be audited and analysed to ensure service standards are being upheld, and that any new leads or new project opportunities are properly captured and actioned.
2. Microsoft Office 365
Office 365 gives your workers access to the same productivity tools they rely on when working in the office – Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook. The Office 365 suite can be accessed on virtually any device, from smartphone to tablet to laptop, and because everything runs in a web browser, they can even use a PC in an Internet café on the other side of the world if needed.
Your employees can also make use of the OneDrive Cloud storage included with their subscription to ensure that files are backed up, and can be shared with colleagues. Storing files in the Cloud also prevents common issues of failed synchronisation, or file versioning problems inherent where copies are stored on mobile devices and company file servers.
3. A 3G enabled device
WiFi connectivity is pretty common these days, but your employees still need to be able to work when they cannot find a wireless network. Not being able to get online could mean lost productivity, incomplete data capture and ultimately lost sales.
Using a 3G-enabled tablet or other device, employees can fall back on the mobile networks when WiFi is unavailable – ensuring they can always communicate and offer clients the support they expect.
Obviously specific staff may need additional resources, depending on their roles – such as a full keyboard for tasks that demand lots of data entry. To get advice on options and sourcing for specific resources, give our expert team at Complete I.T. a call today – we can help your mobile workers be at their most productive while they’re on the road.
Want more information? Contact one of our offices in Birmingham, Bristol, London, Manchester, Oxford, Peterborough, Swindon or Thames Valley!